Nike Case Quiz

social strategy

Users create value for one another, while Nike captures business value.

Concept:

digital marketing

Nike changes the channel but still creates/distributes the message. 

Concept:

social media execution

Consumers react to/share/create around Nike's content

Concept:

gate question

If Nike stopped speaking, would users still do something valuable for one another? 

Concept:

relationship bargain

What does the user gain, and what does Nike gain in return? 

Concept:

user value

Progress, motivation, belonging, recognition, competition, support, discovery. 

Concept:

nike value capture

Willingness to pay, retention, data/content, lower acquisition costs.

Concept:

value flywheel

Activity → data → feedback → social payoff → return/share/invite → repeat. 

Concept:

platform job

Think verbs: record, compare, cheer, discover, showcase, invite—not “Facebook.” 

Concept:

community mechanism

Repeatable user-to-user action: challenge, cheer, route, leaderboard, shared workout, invitation. 

Concept:

measurement chain

Exposure → attention → participation → relationship → customer behavior → economics. 

Concept:

vanity metrics

Views/likes/followers alone do not prove business value

Concept:

vanity metrics

Does it solve a relationship problem, encourage returning, remain easy, and compound in value? 

Concept:

touch of gold

Ex:

Viral YouTube success → Nike learned to go where consumers already were

joga.com

Ex:

Huge initial community (1M members), but weak continuity/usability and Nike stopped supporting it → large audience ≠ durable community. 

nike+

Ex:

Most important example. Tracking gives individual utility; sharing, challenges, cheers, routes and comparisons add social value.

the grid

Ex:

Running became a social game; participants competed/strategized and even organized their own wrap party → strong user participation. 

run for china

Ex:

Nike tried to make running more socially meaningful/cool where it was viewed as boring or punishment

write the future

Ex:

Huge Facebook/viral campaign → successful social media execution, but don't confuse viral reach with the deeper Nike+ social strategy. 

the chance

Ex:

Users became participants by creating profiles/videos and promoting themselves. 

balllers network

Ex:

Weak community with fewer than 300 users; wasn't connected to product utility and didn't fit basketball's competitive nature. 

nike+ basketball

Ex:

Improved on that by connecting actual basketball performance to stats, competition, bragging rights and sharing.

fuelband

Ex:

Expanded Nike+ beyond running; NikeFuel created a common metric across different activities. 

digital sport division

Ex:

Shows Nike built an organizational capability around product + technology + data + social interaction—not merely a marketing campaign. 

data value

A runner uploads routes to Nike+, which improves route recommendations for other runners. Which source of value does this best illustrate? 

strengthening an existing rls thru motivation/support

Nike+ lets a runner's Facebook friends send cheers during a run. What is the primary user relationship benefit? 

engagement, economic

#MakeItCount receives thousands of tweets, but Nike cannot show any resulting increase in product use, retention, or purchases. What can Nike conclude? 

The tweets demonstrate ______/activity, but don't establish _____ value. 

people meet, willingness to pay

The four Nike value-capture combinations 

Help ____ _____+ ____ __ ____/stay 

Nike helps runners discover other runners, routes, peers or comparable competitors. 

Nike benefits because compatible products become the gateway to a more valuable experience. 

existing rls, willingness to pay

The four Nike value-capture combinations 

Strengthen _____ _____ + increase ____ ___ ___/stay 

Friends provide cheers, challenges, accountability, recognition and competition. 

That makes Nike+ more motivating and potentially harder to abandon. 

people meet, costs

The four Nike value-capture combinations 

Help _____ _____ + lower ___ 

Users contribute routes, activity data, comparisons and content. 

Nike receives useful resources/data from users. 

existing rls, costs

The four Nike value-capture combinations 

Strengthen _____ ____ + lower ___

People share progress, invite friends and expose their networks to Nike. 

That can reduce Nike's customer acquisition costs. 

These exchanges are laid out explicitly in the Companion.  

activity, behavioral, progress, social payoff, invite

Nike+ flywheel

1. Do _____ 
↓ 
2. Capture _____ data 
↓ 
3. Show _____/feedback 
↓ 
4. Create ____ _____
↓ 
5. Return, share or ___ 
↺ 

feature, behavior, relationships, trust

why it's difficult for a competitor to copy: the competitor can copy a feature, but not instantly recreate accumulated _____, history, _____, routines, ___ and Nike's organizational learning. 

Exposure, Attention, Participation, Relationship, Customer Behavior, Economics

the measurement chain 

____: Saw Nike+ invitation 
_____:→ opened it 
______:→ accepted challenge 
______:→ repeatedly interacted with friend 
______:→ ran/used Nike+ more 
_______:→ Nike generated incremental economic value 

likes

___ ≠ strategy success. 

behavior, economics

Likes ≠ strategy success. 

Neither do: 

• views  

• followers  

• shares  

• hashtag uses  

Those can be useful indicators, but Nike ultimately needs a credible connection to _____ and _____. 

behavior/business outcome

Know the five-line strategy 

1. Objective: What _______ outcome should change? 

want, difficult

Know the five-line strategy 

2. Audience tension: What does the user ___, and what's making it ____? 

do

Know the five-line strategy 

3. Platform job: What must the platform enable them to __? 

repeatable, value

Know the five-line strategy 

4. Community mechanism: What _____ user-to-user action creates ___? 

participation, value

Know the five-line strategy 

5. Measurement chain: How would we demonstrate that _______ led to business ___? 

objective

Know the five-line strategy 

For Nike: 

_______: More activity/use + retention/acquisition/willingness to pay. 

tension

Know the five-line strategy 

For Nike: 

____: Exercise can feel boring, lonely, invisible or difficult to sustain. 

platform job

Know the five-line strategy 

For Nike: 

_____ ____: Track, compare, cheer, challenge, share, discover. 

mechanism

Know the five-line strategy 

For Nike: 

_______: Challenges, cheers, routes, leaderboards, invitations. 

measurement

Know the five-line strategy 

For Nike: 

________: Social action → activity → product/customer behavior → economic value.