RSS Feeds
Nike+ iPod = A Relevant Partnership
Partnership marketing can be an extremely successful customer loyalty and relationship marketing strategy. In terms of relationship marketing, partnership marketing is basically a brand-to-brand (and thus leveraged) form of referrals.
There are countless examples of partnership marketing, ranging from those that are purely promotional (e.g., think “back of cereal box”) to those that are absolutely strategic, like Delta Air Lines and American Express. Those in the latter category illustrate how crucial fit and execution are in terms of creating a situation where 1+1=3.
It is all too uncommon to see partnerships done to perfection but what Nike and Apple are doing with Nike+ comes as close as to perfect anything. Here’s my experience, which will probably sound like a script from the Nike+ brand manager!
A few weeks back my old iPod Photo crashed. After scheduling an appointment and making a visit to the Genius Bar, it was determined (to my disappointment) that it was time for a new iPod. Ten minutes later I was out of the store with a new 8GB Nano, thinking that the flash memory would hold up better in case I went running with it.
The following weekend I went to my local Fleet Feet running store intent on switching running shoes. To make a long story short, I tried a new pair of Nike shoes that were highly rated by Runners World. After a short run in them, the store’s owner mentioned that it comes with an optional chip that will track your time, distance and pace in conjunction with an iPod Nano. The chip, which fits underneath the insole of the shoe, transmits your running data to the iPod, which can then upload the data to the Nike+ website, via iTunes.
Sold.
While the term “plug and play” is often overused and an overstatement, it fits here perfectly. The iPod, chip and transmitter worked perfectly together right out of their respective boxes. It’s customizable and yet wonderfully easy to use at the same time.
More importantly, this combination is not only satisfying in terms of how it functions, but running with the combination is a new and great experience. After the first week I was convinced I was running faster and farther, and the proof was easily viewed graphically via the Nike+ website!
So upon uploading my run yesterday, here’s what I’m greeted with:
Stay tuned…
