Nike+ Gamification = Success!

Gamification in digital marketing has been a key trend which used correctly has benefitted businesses greatly within integrated marketing campaigns and helped them to achieve and exceed marketing objectives. Within the fashion industry, Nike are a great example of using this key trend to their advantage with the launch of their Nike+ Fuel band which is a bracelet that uses special technology to track movements. Integrated within the Nike+ app the technology helps users monitor step counts, calories burned as well as providing other useful feedback.

The gamification is used by awarding users with animations and goals achieved as well as pushing social drivers such as being able to challenge friends and local users also. The technology has completely changed the industry as it has introduced a new and effective motivations for consumers to use the brands that use this technology. Receiving both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards through the technology is a key driver for users to choose brands over others offering the same or similar products.

Evidence of this change is proven with Nike with a 120% uptake over two years taking sales from 5 million up to 11 million due to the success of their gamification. Increased sales revenue for Nike is not the only benefit from implementing gamification, they have integrated technology within their consumers that are generating a huge database of their daily activities creating extremely detailed marketing research for Nike. Nike have accessed a new level of detail into consumers that they can further exploit, knowing how long it will take for them to need new trainers and other Nike products in which they can market directly at the optimum times.

With knowledge of the market, Nike can track how long trainers take to wear out and therefore can target their 11 million users at the right time with direct marketing or sales promotions. In more recent years Nike+ have refined the gamification into the Nike+ Running Club available on the iWatch by Apple, still maintaining the idea of gamification when wearing other wearable technology away from the original fuel band. The communication is supported strongly through celebrity endorsements such as Kevin Hart and has really gained from the consistent use of their gamification. This is a great example of how gamification can be used in the fashion industry and how beneficial digital marketing techniques can be to brands.