What you can learn from Nike’s partnership with Netflix

Nike’s approach to market has successfully turned it from retailer to membership brand. This has fundamentally shifted every area of its business, from marketing to product development. It has resulted in a digital strategy that has created distinct apps, Nike Training Club, Nike Run Club and Snkrs, around which they can build communities and learn the behaviors of their users. As with all successful membership businesses, Nike has had to develop content to power this ecosystem. Through an innovative partnership with Netflix they are distributing Nike Training Club content to a wider audience on the streaming platform. Here’s five takeaways from the deal that any small business can learn from.

1. Mutual business goals

Netflix and Nike are, on the surface, in completely different categories, but their launch of this partnership brings the two giant companies together through mutual business goals.

Netflix needs to expand its offering to engage more users and reduce its churn. A foray into fitness is the perfect opportunity, turning the streaming platform into your home workout partner. This is ideal for audiences such as remote workers, amongst others, as it fulfills a clear need. Netflix benefits because the more they are established as part of a user’s habits, the less likely they are to churn.

Nike, on the other hand, is looking to reach new users and recruit them into the Nike ecosystem. Netflix becomes the perfect channel to do this with over 223 million members worldwide.

TAKEAWAY: Develop partnership selection criteria that enable you to find a relevant partner with mutual business goals. Those goals don’t always have to be entirely in sync to work. For example if you’re a fitness brand, this may be a nutrition site or vice versa, where each is looking to add value.

2. Relevant platform

With content partnerships it’s important to consider whether the partner has the right content platform experience for the partnership to work. Netflix’s platform experience is ideal for Nike’s content: it’s in-home, often positioned in an area with some available space, such as a living room or moveable on an iPad. This makes it the ideal choice for a fitness partner looking to distribute. Other companies distribute with content platforms like Gas Station TV, which doesn’t make any sense for this kind of partnership.

TAKEAWAY: Define the needs your content can fulfill on and then look for partners that can deliver that at the right time in the right way. If you, for example, are a fitness coach and have workout content, ensure that is delivered through a partner in a way that can be browsed and used when relevant to the user, not just shared on social media or delivered solely via email.

3. Drive to subscribe

For Nike it’s unlikely reach is the only goal of their partnership, to make it measurable and effective it will be key for users to migrate into the Nike ecosystem and become members themselves. Whilst there is currently no direct ‘click to become a member’ CTA within Netflix, it’s likely to be added in future as Netflix develops its integrated & interactive platform capabilities. The ubiquity of QR codes also makes this kind of off-platform growth possible. The content distributed on Netflix acts as a taster for users as to what they could get by downloading Nike Training Club and becoming a Nike member.

TAKEAWAY: Ensure you have a way to path users into your ecosystem through any distribution partnership, enable tracking of the link so you can view conversions.

4. Timing is everything

Partnerships can live or die by the timing of their release. They are forms of acquisition and engagement marketing and getting the timing right is important. The Nike x Netflix deal is perfectly timed to appeal to those who are looking for a fresh start with their fitness going into a new year.

TAKEAWAY: Think about the right time to deliver a distribution partnership that works for both businesses involved by most importantly makes sense to the user who is going to engage with it.

5. Package to distribute

It’s Nike’s approach to content that ultimately makes this partnership possible, it’s well thought through and structured for relevant audiences. This makes it appealing to a platform like Netflix who can easily resurface well developed series. Too often brand’s fall into the trap of creating ad hoc content, that is unappealing to distribution partners.

TAKEAWAY: When you’re developing content ensure that from the start you begin to build series and formats that can be packaged and reused in the long term. This will mean you’re set up to develop distribution partnerships as you scale.