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Co‐creating value through customers' experiences: the Nike case

Venkat Ramaswamy (Hallman Fellow and Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan)

Strategy & Leadership

ISSN: 1087-8572

Article publication date: 5 September 2008

44560

Abstract

Purpose

This case aims to demonstrate how leading firms are learning how to sustain competitive advantage by co‐creating experiences of value with customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The shoe company Nike provides a glimpse of the next “best practices” of value co‐creation with customers. By engaging with informed, connected, and networked customers around the globe, Nike has found their shared experiences to be a new source of value.

Findings

The paper finds that customers are now informed, connected, networked, and empowered on a scale as never before, thanks to search engines, engagement platforms, the growth of internet‐based interest groups, and widespread high‐bandwidth communication and social interaction technologies. Customers have learned how to use these new tools to make their opinions and ideas heard.

Practical implications

A few leading companies like Nike are involving customers in the value creation process by offering Internet sites where they can share their interactions and experiences. These range from customers' ideas about how to improve or customize products to their feelings when they use products.). For Nike, the learning from these interactions creates new strategic capital. The company can now learn directly from customers' direct input on their preferences. Nike can build relationships and trust with the Nike+ community and experiment with new offerings, all the while enhancing its brand.

Originality/value

The strategic opportunity for Nike is to build and promote the use of Internet engagement platforms through which the firm can build customer relationships on a scale and scope as never before. Effectively managing these new initiatives initially posed a new challenge for Nike, a traditionally product‐centric organization. Now their viewpoint is reversed. “In the past the product was the end point of the consumer experience. Now it is the starting point.”

Keywords

Citation

Ramaswamy, V. (2008), "Co‐creating value through customers' experiences: the Nike case", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 9-14. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570810902068

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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