When's the last time we actually innovated instead of recycle old stuff?
14 replies (most recent on top)
Shout out to the team that brought us Skims and RTFKT. Biz dev where you at?!
@qs that was one of the more astute takedowns I’ve read. Thank you. That’s been my worry too. The bigger they are the harder they fall.
The last real innovation I remember - as in, this really IS a better product - was React. Back in 2018 or 2019 I think? If there has been any other legit, market-moving innovation since React you’ll have to tell me what it was. Because I honestly don’t know.
@bc is also correct. Nike almost invented “influencer marketing” back in the early 1980’s. Or at least, Nike perfected and turned it into a highly profitable art form. The problem? These days “influencers” are a dime and dozen, and boring. Which further means younger consumers aren’t as swayed into buying things simply because an “influencer” is marketing that product.
Basically, the primary demand engine that has driven Nike’s monsterous growth for decades doesn’t work anymore. Far fewer consumers these days are inclined to think, “Oh, that cool person where’s XXXXX product. That means I should ALSO wear that product!” In some sense this is actually a good thing because it means consumers have wised-up. But if you run a large company that relies on people being so easily swayed into buying and consuming, it’s obviously NOT a good thing.
Can anyone here honestly say that most Nike products are qualitatively better than similar products sold by dozens of other companies? With only a few exceptions…no. So without a powerful marketing vehicle like Nike used to have, the company is now having to face the reality that its competitive advantages are far less powerful than they used to be. This is why the company is shrinking and - unless leadership can pull a rabbit out of a hat - will continue to shrink.
@p0 the best part is you HAVE to buy Nike, so just get some cheap stuff and wear it for the uniform.
I left the company in 2019 and have been a lifelong Nike brand consumer. I was flipping through the website yesterday and the new product is just not appealing to me. Granted at 50+ I'm not the target consumer, but I'd still expect to find something I'd like.
The Fuelband was kinda innovative. NOT!!
@bc I would also add to that the marketing nowadays is shoving the product down the consumers throats. Trying to simply win off hype. It’s not genuine storytelling anymore where the campaigns would highlight the athlete or an idea and think of the product as secondary.
The NSRL Nike Mind shoe, big marketing and money
Let's be honest. Nike sold dreams not products. Kids didn't want the shoes because of the quality or the stitching or how innovative the material was. They bought them because the athletes they wanted to be like sold them. Nowadays kids have wised up to corporate tricks and they aren't as effective as they once were.
there is no distinctive culture in the US to sell to anymore
you are just an expensive clothing company and money is tight today
Last time Nike had something complete original WOW shoes was Critiano Ronaldo shoes, Nike Zoom Mercurial Superfly for 2014 Brazil world cup. Since then it has been rerun of old TV shows.
I have recently talked to sneaker heads and now they don't even care for AJ4, AJ11 or AJ12. Great job Nike, you finally got everyone get sick of total classics.
FlyEase was pretty innovative, even if not something that was ever going to be a mainstream success
react sole and the metcon I think were the last actually useful innovations, maybe the flyknit, kinda mixed up in there somewhere
pretty much nothing since then, different colors and destroyed anything about the dunks
I think a high school kid could have been better at deciding the direction of product
2012