Is Nike’s Air innovation blueprint a game-changer?

As the world’s top athletes gear up for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in July, US sportswear giant Nike is poised to make its own Olympic comeback with a renewed focus on serving athletes through innovation. Nike’s head designer and innovation team were in Shanghai last week to present the Nike On Air showcase, the event’s first stop after debuting in Paris, a nod to Nike’s strategic focus on China. The event spotlit Nike’s newest footwear and apparel set to spur record-breaking Olympic performances, and gathered Chinese athletes including tennis legend Li Na, professional track and field athletes Su Bingtian (sprint) and Zhang Deshun (marathon), and professional breaking athlete Guo Pu, to discuss their experiences working with the sportswear innovator. Amid intense competition in the sportswear market, Nike’s Greater China revenue grew a modest 5% YoY in fiscal Q3 2024, reaching $2.08 billion. The company is readying for a sport-obsessed summer by unleashing a “super cycle of innovation” based around its iconic platform, Air. Jing Daily spoke with the Nike team for this sponsored feature during the Shanghai event to find out more about how Air is evolving and upcoming developments in China, including the launch of a Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) that will focus on China market insights. Powering forward Since aerospace engineer Frank Rudy approached Nike in 1977 with the idea of using air cushioning in athletic shoes, Nike Air technology has been a cornerstone of Nike’s identity. “It’s still the best underfoot cushion, giving maximum energy return (i.e. bounce) and durability to make athletes faster and more efficient,” says Martin Lotti, Nike’s Chief Design Officer. From Michael Jordan to Eliud Kipchoge, Nike Air has been associated with generational record-breaking performances across different disciplines, notably running, basketball, tennis, football, and skateboarding. “If you asked me 10 years ago if we would put Air into a football boot, I would have told you it was not possible,” said Lotti. But Nike just did it. Powering athletes’ performance Nike’s new Air releases, some of which have been under development for up to a decade, are set to power the company’s product pipeline over the coming several years. Among 13 new models are the Alphafly 3, the latest iteration of the “super-shoe” that powered Chinese runner Zhang Deshun to break the domestic women’s marathon record this year; the G.T. Hustle 3 basketball shoe with double Zoom Air units; and Nike Jam, designed specially for the newest Olympic sport of breaking. Introducing the 2024 national uniforms and kits, Vice President of NXT Apparel Innovation Janett Nichol explained that the apparel prioritizes high performance and breathability, but also offers the element of personal expression, with nearly 50 unique silhouettes for athletes to choose from. “This enables athletes to express themselves and their country with pride. If you look good, you feel good, you play good,” said Nichol. Nike’s performance innovations have trickle-down benefits for regular consumers, too. “I love that we can create beautiful products that perform at the highest level, like the Alphafly 3, and then expand on that technology to apply it to the Pegasus Premium,” said Lotti. Set to be released in 2025, the Pegasus Premium running shoe incorporates a contoured airbag for the first time. Nike x China sports Expect to witness a sea of swooshes at the Paris Olympics as Nike is sponsoring hundreds of national teams and individual athletes. “To deserve a swoosh, a Nike product needs three elements: performance, style and soul – an emotional connection that you can fall in love with,” says Lotti. “However designing for sports is no longer about just creating a product,” he adds. “We want to ensure that we can provide an entire ecosystem around the product and connect with communities.” Nike has sponsored the China national track and field team since 1982 and national basketball teams since 1996. The company has also been closely associated with the development of China sports through grassroots initiatives and integrating sports into the broader cultural landscape of Chinese youth. Training camps, like the 18th Nike All-Asia Basketball Training Camp held in Haikou in May, enable talented youth to train with NBA stars. Meanwhile, the Nike China Highschool Basketball League promotes the sport in schools, with more than 600 teams from across Greater China involved in the 2023-24 season. Other recent initiatives have seen Nike stars, such as Eliud Kipchoge and Li Na, visit schools in China to educate on the importance of sports and environmental sustainability, through programs like Recycle-a-Shoe, where materials from end-of-life Nike shoes are repurposed as environmentally-friendly Nike Grind basketball courts and running tracks. Later this year the company will unveil its first Nike Sports Research Lab (NSRL) focused on R&D specifically for the Chinese market at its Greater China headquarters in Shanghai. “We felt that it was really important that we were on the ground in China so that we can really get after those needs that are specific to the Chinese consumer, specifically the female Chinese consumer,” said Nichol. Young generations’ interest in sports and wellbeing in China is booming, with female consumers driving double-digit growth for Nike’s womenswear segment in 2023. China’s General Administration of Sport projects that the total value of the outdoor sports industry will exceed RMB 3 trillion (approximately $410.8 billion) by 2025. “Combining sports with culture and youth helps us expand our footprint so to speak,” said Lotti. From form and function … to fantasy Looking to the future of sportswear innovation, Kathy Gomez, Vice President of Nike NXT Footwear Innovation, says that AI and digital design tools have changed the design process dramatically over the past five years. “We can make better products faster, with more precision, creativity and deeper collaboration,” she said. Nichol also points to the sustainability benefits of utilizing technology like 4D motion capture data to create without the need for prototypes and unnecessary waste. Nike is exploring the future of AI tools and athlete co-creation through an initiative it calls AIR, or Athlete-Imagined Revolution. The project initially invited 13 athletes to work with Nike’s innovation team and generative AI to envision their dream shoe. The highly futuristic 3D-printed results on display in Shanghai point to the infinite possibilities of future designs. Nike’s return to its core values of driving innovation and serving athletes, coupled with its vast resources and ecosystems, enhances its competitive advantage. “We're already working on the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” said Lotti.

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Is Nike’s Air innovation blueprint a game-changer?