During the recent Nike Investor’s Day one of the primary tactics for the Consumer Direct Offense was to utilize Instagram as a means of getting to the customer where they are. Nike laid out the plans to do this in the discussion, but it’s adidas who leans into the finish line ahead of the Swoosh by creating a shoe designed via Instagram pollsters. It’s possibly the most democratic shoe development since… well since I used my Kickstarter campaign to allow the backers to choose the colors for the shoes that would be made at the end of the Kickstarter.
I’m sure there are other instances of fan designed footwear, but none have taken the actual polls presented via social to design footwear with as much fan input as this project. According to adidas:
“We are a creator brand first and foremost and we want to harness and celebrate the creativity of our social media community,” said Philipp Schapitz, Director Communications, adidas Running. “We are excited that for the first time in adidas Running we are using social media to enable creators all over the world to together create a unique design which we will then produce. We believe that customization is the best tool of self-expression and we are looking forward to seeing what our community creates for this iconic silhouette”.
After making the UltraBOOST customizable with XENO recently it’s another opportunity for the brand to do what they’ve done so successfully this year, listen to what the consumer wants. The design will be very limited, but it’s a great case study in connecting with the consumer and establishing if the consumer will pay a premium for product that has a more personal relationship. The poll started this morning and will run for 24 hours. Use the source link to read more.
