Meng Lingjin/Wen
Beijing time, Nike released its first quarter financial report for the 2023 fiscal year, with disclosed revenue of US$12.687 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10% while the exchange rate remains unchanged, of which the proprietary business has increased by 14% year-on-year. It is worth noting that Nike's brand's digital business revenue increased by 23% year-on-year, effectively driving the increase in total revenue.
At present, the new generation of people are gradually becoming the main consumer force in the market. They advocate the concept of environmental protection and sustainability, love innovative fashion products, and their consumption habits are traceable but changeable. For major brands, better attracting young consumer groups has become one of the top priorities in their future development.
As an internationally renowned sports brand, Nike has long begun to explore how to further deepen its connection with Generation Z, and through innovations in product design, consumer experience, brand communication and other fields, grasping the consumption preferences of young people and accelerating the expansion of the young consumer market.
focuses on digital innovation, Nike is the first to seize the emerging track
Digital economy era is gradually changing people's views on the consumer industry and related needs. Concepts such as the meta universe have become extremely hot, and young consumers' attention to the track has also increased rapidly. From an industry perspective, perhaps whoever has the right to speak in this field first means who is the first to break through the boundaries with the Z generation consumer group.
According to the Finance Network Life, Nike (Nike) previously created a virtual world called "NIKELAND" on the game platform Roblox, becoming one of the first international brands to enter the "metaverse (Metaverse)". After Nikeland went online, it attracted a lot of attention. Data shows that more than 21 million people around the world have visited Nikeland.
In December 2021, Nike officially announced the acquisition of virtual sneakers and fashion brand RTFKT Studios, completing a big step in entering the NFT industry and the metaverse.
is returning to the Chinese market. In this world's most important digital market, Nike is also constantly increasing its investment in the field of digital innovation to create more digital experiences full of surprises for local consumers. The "Nike Member Advanced Program" launched in November last year with Tmall is one of the examples of Nike's local digital innovation. After the project was launched, it won praise from many users for its innovative interactive methods and personalized image customization functions. This year, 618, this plan has been upgraded again, further innovating in many aspects such as 3D virtual characters (Avatar), interactive content, member rights, etc., attracting many young consumers to participate in the interaction. This result is also directly reflected in Nike's performance during the 6.18 Shopping Festival. Nike continued to defend the ranking first in the outdoor industry's store and brand rankings at this year's Tmall "618" Shopping Festival.
Nike clearly stated at the financial report briefing that Nike App continued to be the first in the brand shopping application market in the first quarter, and the demand for Generation Z members on Nike digital platform increased by more than 25%. Such achievements make them full of confidence in the long-term development of the Chinese market in the future.
expands the market boundaries and explores the new consumer market in multiple dimensions
After many studies, it has shown that Z generation hopes that brands can provide personalized and customized products and experiences that are unique. Therefore, in order to further tap the potential of the young market, brands need to give full play to their unique innovative advantages and enter the circle of interest of young consumers.
Based on in-depth insights into the new generation of consumers, Nike has long begun to deploy new generation consumer markets such as street dance and skateboard, and further integrates with the Z-generation interest circle. Taking the street dance sector as an example, Nike teamed up with dancers including Dating to express the brand’s thoughts on street dance, and launched exclusive products for women’s street dance series this summer. At the same time, it cooperated with video platforms to launch street dance-themed reality show, cooperated with popular street dance studios to carry out offline activities in major cities in China, and deeply connected young street dance communities.The
Z generation's pursuit of fresh trends is also accompanied by high requirements for product innovation, and product innovation is one of the core competitiveness of Nike's firmly sitting at the top of global sports brands. In the past three months alone, Nike has launched a number of innovative products, such as the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 2 and Nike Air Zoom GT Cut 2.0, which are important innovations in the running and basketball categories. Nike said at the financial report briefing that the above products were in short supply in the first quarter. In addition, the product series launched in a cross-border collaboration with Jacquemus has created a new sporty fashion style for new generations of women, which has attracted a lot of attention. In addition to the
product, retail concept innovation is also another magic weapon for Nike to attract young consumers. At the end of September, China's first Nike Style retail concept store - NIKE Huaihai Trendy Experience Store was launched in Shanghai. This new store, defined as a "sports trend creation space", not only updated to 11:00-23:00 to fit the living habits of young audiences, but also brought consumers a new perspective to experience sports culture. For example, the store has Nike's first gender-free trendy product area in China, allowing consumers to get rid of the limitations of gender and size and choose products more calmly; the store will also regularly hold store membership activities with local trend culture communities to more closely connect local communities; the store also integrates Nike's newly upgraded and highly localized Nike digital ecosystem, providing a variety of digital interactive experiences, highly reflecting the new generation's demand for digital and social experiences, and at the same time, allowing consumers to enjoy Nike's shopping and sports experiences when and where, and in what form they hope to do.
Insight and study green consumption trends, close to the public welfare concerns of young people
In fact, with the improvement of people's consumption level and the transformation of consumption awareness, sustainable fashion is ushering in a period of rapid development. Compared with millennial , Gen Z young people are more concerned about sustainability issues and attach more importance to popular environmental protection concepts. The study found that 54% of Gen Z said they were keen to buy clothing that was produced in a sustainable way. Nike's continued insights into green consumption trends and related innovations are also in line with the current enthusiasm of young consumers for sustainable and environmentally friendly products.
In recent years, while is innovating and upgrading its product , Nike has started to make arrangements in terms of raw materials, products, logistics, etc., and has always taken into account the sustainable development of the industry.
data shows that Nike's recently launched Nike Forward has abandoned the traditional knitting and weaving processes, and has brought disruptive changes to clothing manufacturing through the innovative use of needle machine . In addition, industrial waste and post-consumer waste have become raw materials for the product, greatly reducing carbon emissions in the production and manufacturing process. Nike said that Nike Forward is a major breakthrough in sustainable development innovation for more than 30 years. Its significance is enough to be comparable to Nike Air, Flyknit, Flyleather, Space Hippie and Next Nature, and has huge market potential.
It is worth noting that Nike is also constantly innovating consumer communication and participation in the field of sustainability, and continuously deepening its connection with Generation Z. Just this month, the "Green Energy Action" launched by Nike and Ant Group launched the "Nike Old Shoes New" mini program on Alipay . Consumers can complete the recycling of old shoes through mini programs, and can obtain the corresponding "green energy" of ant forests through low-carbon contributions made by recycling, unlocking new green achievements. The recycled old shoes will be used to build environmentally friendly courts after being processed by Nike Grind technology. Nike's brand influence, coupled with the over 600 million user base of Ant Forest, has given the "Old Shoes New" plan a wide range of public participation. The innovative gameplay of the project itself, whether it is the green energy after the sneakers are recycled or the lighting certification of the public welfare stadium, gives the project the greatest feature to attract the general audience, especially young people, from an emotional level - public welfare co-creation.
Conclusion: Bain once predicted that "millennials" and "Gen Z" will account for 45% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2025. These young shoppers are also the people who contribute the most market growth in shopping.No brand wants to be marginalized in the competition for young consumers. Of course, the same is true in the fashion sports field. To win the industry in the future, we need to make efforts in many aspects. Through the study of life in Finance Network, it is not difficult to find that with the support of innovation capabilities and the guidance of sustainability concepts, Nike may have become one step ahead in winning generation Z.
