We interrupt this blog to give you an important message.
(I’m going to try to get through this without a Back to the Future reference, this is a blog on shoes and marketing not one of the best movies in history. Back to the blog.)
That’s right, Nike is telling you not to tie your shoes. You aren’t going to have to worry about that because their new shoe is going to do it for you.
Okay, so they aren’t going to send the rabbit around the tree and through the burrow but the new shoes will tighten as soon as you put your foot into them.
Nike isn’t breaking new ground, though. The idea of ‘power laces’ has been around for 30 years but in 2015 Nike showed off the Nike MAG, complete with the ‘power lace’ technology. Unfortunately, these shoes are very rare due to the fact they are a replica of shoes in a 1989 hit movie starring Michael J. Fox.
(I could have easily made a reference to Back to the Future there, so far so good.)
But this is the first time the technology will be released to the public.
This is a risky move by Nike. A lot of people like technology but that doesn’t necessarily mean people will buy it. The first generation of a new technology is quite expensive and could be riddled with flaws. While some technology has stood the test of time (looking at you smart watches), others have not.(..cough..cough…3D tv’s).
Few notes on the shoes:
Yes, they’re waterproof.
Yes, you’ll have to charge them, takes 3 hours to charge and it lasts about 2 weeks.
Are you stuck in them if the battery dies? No, there are self-adjusting buttons.
When it comes down to it, auto-lacing shoes are awesome but will people pay the premium for it? Can you convince people to charge their shoes? The technology is convenient but not necessary. Now, that doesn’t mean it can’t do well in the market, it just means Nike has to prove to the consumers the technology is worth it. Now, the shoe industry isn’t a stranger to products with cool ‘gimmicks’. Do we need light up shoes? No. Did we want them when we were kids? Yes.
That doesn’t mean it can’t do well in the market, it just means Nike has to prove to the consumers the technology is worth it. Now, the shoe industry isn’t a stranger to products with cool ‘gimmicks’. Do we need light up shoes? No. Did we want them when we were kids? Yes.
Goals.
Remember Reebok Pump?
So shoes have been adapting for 40 years but Nike has finally pushed technology forward. This could be a breakthrough that could allow older citizens who have disabilities tie their shoes. Frankly, I don’t see them wearing athletic shoes like this but it’s only the beginning.
Nike will have great sales when they come out on November 28th, but will they last? Anyone who really wants them will buy them in the first couple of month, they might even sell out and discontinue them. If that doesn’t happen and the shock factor dies down they’ll need to adjust their marketing strategy. This is what happened with the 3D TVs. Everyone wanted one but after a couple of months, people began to realize they didn’t want to watch TV with glasses on.
Nike will need to focus on the everyday uses of the shoe, not just the tech.
In Nike’s announcement video they brought up an example of how marathon runners feet swell during races and they could become useful. They’ll need to do more than that. Since this is the first shoe to come out with this technology it means that not only athletes will buy them. They’ll need to find out who is buying them, is it the tech junkie or the die-hard athlete? If it’s the tech junkie they might be in trouble because at the end of the day Nike is an athletic apparel company.
Since you have to book an appointment to try on and purchase the shoes I would suggest the sales person ask the customer to fill out a survey how why they are purchasing the shoes and what they’ll use them for. This gives Nike information about how to proceed in marketing the shoes.
Welcome to the future, and no we don’t dress like this.
(Okay, I tried not to make a Back to the Future reference but come on….POWER LACES.)
–N
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