Introducing the New Nike “Smart Kix”. This sneaker combines all the features one would have from a smart watch – it will track your steps, your pulse, sleep patterns, distance traveled. Smart Kicks can tell each user, through Bluetooth connection on one’s phone and through the Nike app, your activity levels that day. Also, through the app, a user can share their progress with friends in a virtual “smart kix” community. For safe activity at night, the souls of each sneaker will illuminate if the user so desires (they can select a schedule for the souls to illuminate and the colors through the Nike App). All of these amazing features plus more! But first, before we go straight to manufacturing a product, our marketing team is charged with the research needed to gain our market demo target (18-35 individuals living an active lifestyle). Further, we must examine industry trends in the sneaker market, as well as any limitations with respect to legal and / or ethical standards.
Industry Trends
Within the next twelve months, the explosion of smart watches has plateaued. The market has been saturated with these products. “Smart Kix” can use this opportunity to crash onto the scene with their never been done before combination of active shoe wear / smart fit tracker. There would be no competition at this time that crosses product types such as this. Within the next 1-3 years our competitors will be scrambling to create a comparable product. Gen Z / Millennials will continue to look for the “next big thing” in the tech realm. This is where “Smart Kix” can capitalize. Striking while the iron is hot now and taking advantage of Nike’s stronghold on the competition allows it to crossover into new arenas, and the smart, wearable athletic attire is just one of these arenas in which we will venture into and conquer.
Ethical / Legal Considerations
While considering any legal or ethical ramifications from our test, there is a need to be careful in test markets so as to not have competitors sabotage it “…If they know that a firm is testing, they may attempt to disrupt test-market results with increased promotions and lower prices for their own products, among other potential acts of test-market sabotage…” (Babin 2018). Competitors could also buy up the product test samples off the shelf in some cases so as to 1) make it harder for a test market to be conducted if the competitor bought a huge supply of it and 2) the competitor can gain an advantage by knowing your product’s new “secret” if applicable. With that considered, our plan is to acquire participants through email marketing of existing Nike product loyalists as previously stated (activewear or shoe wear). We cannot promote a trial or study via social media because it is certain to gain the attention of our competition.
Limitations
Limitations I encountered during my research was minimal. I feel that the public’s interest in such a product is warranted, given the rise in the focus of active lifestyle and the importance of health. Wearable technology (smart watches, fitbits) is here to stay. In 2020, 90% of Americans used a fitness tracker and a mobile health app (Kumar, 2021). Coupling this with a sneaker that draws the interest of the younger generation will be key.
The biggest hurdle was gathering the right mix of participants for research studies we needed to conduct. In order to perform this effectively, we needed to focus on cities commonly used for test marketing. They represent the adequate sample frame for our research. These cities are:
- Cedar Rapids, IA
- Grand Junction, CO
- Columbus, OH
- Birmingham, AL
We will select participants via email marketing of Nike brand loyalists. To gain participant interest in our research, we will offer a free 1-month membership to a local gym for participating or other option is a promo code on the Nike site for $25 off their next purchase. Each group will be under the same conditions in a gym while performing physical activities (running, pick-up basketball game, rock-climbing).
These observations will be research conducted in a qualitative, primary method. Our market analysts in each of the selected cities will observe the performance of the participants and record them. Further, quantitative research will be conducted by surveying each active member of the trial group after their gym assessment. Each answer in the survey will be represented as a selected rating of 0-10. The higher the score when all data is collected and analyzed, the more likely we will go to market with this product. We feel the market will get a “Kix” out of our product!
References:
Babin, Barry J. Essentials of Marketing Research. Cengage Learning US, 2018. [MBS Direct].
Kumar, Sandeep. 7 June 2021. 24+ Wearable Technology Statistics (2021 Trends and More). 16best.net Retrieved from: https://www.16best.net/wearable-technology-statistics/
