Nike launched its newest green product at the Summer of Innovation event in London on Monday — the Nike GS. This isn’t just a soccer boot. It’s a “re-imagined football” boot made of castor beans, recycled bottles and other recycled materials.
Nike describes the Nike GS as “the lightest, fastest production boot Nike has ever made, and the most environmentally friendly boot available. Every component of the Nike GS has been optimized to reduce weight and waste, creating Nike’s lightest football boot ever at 160 grams for a size nine.”
To increase the exclusive perception of the Nike GS brand, just 2012 pairs will be available in August through select retailers. The $300.00 price tag will undoubtedly add to the premium brand position that Nike is trying to give the GS. Nike is also driving additional excitement to the GS with a web page that asks, “The Nike GS is built for a new generation of players known for explosive speed. Which athlete will debut the Nike GS?”
So far, the GS design, positioning, and marketing are a great example of a powerful brand gaining additional positive publicity by pairing a social cause with its product innovation. And announcing it just before the Olympic Games are held in London is great timing.
It’s a strategy that is likely to pay off quite well for Nike. As long as the company’s claims about its product are true and the product performs as Nike claims it does, this seems like a winner for the company and the brand. And if the comments and thousands of shares on the Nike Facebook Page where pictures of the new Nike GS were published are any indication, consumers like what they’ve seen and heard about this environmentally-friendly, high-performance product.
To further explain the product, hard-hitting copy accompanies the launch announcement and marketing materials. “Faster. Meaner. Lighter. Greener. The Nike GS, deadly by nature.” That sums things up quite well, don’t you think? Leave a comment and share your opinion.
Image: Nike
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
