How can Nike win in multi-brand retail?

Last week saw the return of Elliott Hill to Nike, re-joining the business as CEO, with a clear objective from day one.

Much has been written about how to get the Swoosh back on track. One consistent theme being discussed is the need for the brand to re-engage with 3^rd party retailers across the globe and do a better job of showcasing its brand and product in their stores.

Over the last 10 years of working with Nike, we’ve been at the forefront doing exactly this with multi-brand retailers across Europe, and we take great encouragement from the results we’ve seen our work achieve, and what this might mean for the brand moving forward.

The north star that has guided all our work with Nike, has been our mission at The One Off - Inspiring Customers, Creating Profit. This mission reflects our ability to understand consumer mindsets, and to align these with both the brands mission to “bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world” as well as the operational and commercial considerations that drive each of the retailers’ businesses.

We see 4 key areas that Nike can leverage to get back on the front foot in 3^rd party retail:

Category Leadership

Nike’s dominance in key categories, most notably running and football has been put under pressure in recent years, both by well-established competitors and new challenger brands that have enjoyed strong growth during Nike’s focus on DTC channels.

This influx of new brands however creates an opportunity for Nike. With more brands fighting for share of voice within multi-brand retailers, and retailers often lacking the resources to provide an experience that will grab attention, and help shoppers understand the right product for them. There is the need for a category leader to drive the elevation of the category and inspire and engage shoppers.

Nike’s new Football boot concept has been implemented into several European retailers. Premium materials and production techniques have been used to elevate the feel of the department within the retailers. Innovation stories, linked to end uses, allowing shoppers to understand which products suit their needs and goals. A combination of physical and digital media is also used to facilitate decision making, allowing shoppers to validate any research they have done prior to visiting a physical store and driving conversion.

The new running category concept for Sports Direct, developed in collaboration with Nike, had a truly consumer-centric approach, guided by a desire to create the ideal shopper journey through the department.

This meant that brands took a step back, and shoppers were allowed to navigate the space and range by end use, rather than brand.

Communications from the retailer were developed at a category level to help educate shoppers, who might be new to running, with O2O product finders utilised to help shoppers choose, find and purchase according to their needs.

Remove Friction

Post pandemic, discretionary spending has been driven down for most shoppers. In tandem, retailers have come under increased financial pressure in part due to the cost of returns, a result of shopper behaviour, purchasing multiple items online to try on at home.

This has created a space where Nike can play an important role adding value to both the shopper journey, and the retailers’ operational challenges by helping guide shoppers to the right product for them.

Swiss sports retailer Ochner were experiencing challenges within their running category, and the treadmills that were once a key feature in all their stores to drive footfall were increasingly underutilised by shoppers.

An RFID enabled lift and learn table allowed shoppers to learn about the benefits of trail, road, and track Nike shoes and to compare models. QR codes linked shoppers to the best local running routes, expert product reviews and the ability to shop the product online if they weren’t ready to complete their purchase just yet.

The results spoke for themselves with 46% of shoppers in the running department engaging with the experience, and a 79% increase in Nike running shoes.

Sports Bra’s has historically been a category that is very hard for women to shop in multi-brand retail. Typically ranged within brand departments with each brand using different terminology and communications making it hard for shoppers to compare and understand which would be the right product for their body and the types of activity they would doing.

The “Bra Studio” developed in partnership with Nike and Sports Direct brought all brands together into one space, ranged by levels of support – aligned to specific sports activities to give the shopper a simplified journey.

The physical space is supported by a Bra Finder app, accessed through touch screens, on the retailer’s website, and on a shoppers own mobile device. The communications journey for this was developed in collaboration with a breast health expert, to ensure we could guide shoppers through their purchase journey to find the right product first time.

Retail Theatre

Increasingly, consumers prefer shopping physical stores that offer experiences beyond traditional shopping.

As a brand, Nike is steeped in history, has compelling innovation stories inherent in its products and is interwoven with popular culture. Each of these areas gives us the ability to create memorable engagements at retail through storytelling and experiences.

Shopping is increasingly seen as a social activity in younger cohorts of consumers, and by providing opportunities for shoppers to engage with simple physical challenges in store, we have been able to bring to life the Nike brand in highly engaging ways.

The AI powered Jumpman experience, developed in collaboration with Jordan saw over 20,000 engagements within the first 4 months of being in-store, providing shoppers with a unique experience, and the retailer with valuable insights into the shoppers they had in-store, and the ability to re-market to them following engagement.

Despite all the changes in how we shop today, newness is still one of the primary drivers of footfall into physical retail. By celebrating new product launches in theatrical ways that hero the product and allow shoppers to experience it in a highly engaging way we can create excitement, re-invigorate interest in the Nike brand and drive product demand.

Community and Connection

Since Covid-19 lockdowns, consumers crave community bonds and expect brands to help facilitate connection and reflect their communities authentically and with respect.

The need for stores to move away from a “one fit out for all locations” model to one that better reflects the communities and people that it serves has never been more apparent. It’s here that Nike can add value to its retail partners in the way that its brand shows up in store.

In-store communications within brand areas in multi-brand retailers presents an opportunity for Nike to bring to life the brands core messages and heritage through the lens of local artists. By ensuring we are partnering with up-and-coming talent The One Off have been able to give Nike a credible link to the communities that the retailer serves and have met Gen-Z’s preference for anything under-the-radar.

Once reserved for app-based groups or brand store activations, recent years have seen the proliferation of store based community groups from multi-brand retailers.

By thinking outside of their own communities, and partnering with retailers Nike can reach new audiences, and consumers that have moved away from the brand who may not choose to engage with one of their DTC channels.

In Summary

Whilst there is work to be done, in part to re-build relationships with retailers, Nike have innovated in 3^rd party retail over the last 4 years with several ground-breaking initiatives that have helped build the brand and drive sales. If the success, we have had in working with Nike to “Inspire Customers. Create Profit.” can be replicated across other retail accounts, we are confident in Nike’s ability to win in 3^rd party retail again.

Please get in touch via Hello@theoneoff.com if you’d like to find out more about our previous work with Nike, or how we can help you.