Nike’s Market Shake-Up: Facing the Niche Players
Nike’s recent stock dip is sending shockwaves through the marketing world. One of the most interesting aspects of this crisis, from a branding perspective, is Nike’s loss of market share to niche brands in the running shoe category, like Hoka and On.
This battle is a familiar one for conglomerate brands—giant companies selling a wide array of products across categories—when a focused niche brand emerges. These niche brands, specializing in one area, have a clear advantage in positioning themselves as the best within that specific category.
For instance, on Hoka’s website, you’ll find a clear story centered entirely on running, with messages like “Designed for long days and big goals,” along with imagery that immerses users in the running world. In contrast, Nike often comes across as a ‘supermarket’ of sorts—while it offers everything, it can seem less specialized in any one area.
Nike has faced similar challenges before, like in the skateboarding shoe market. In the late ’90s, Nike struggled to gain a foothold in skateboarding. Ironically, being a big brand worked against them: skaters felt Nike’s skate shoes lacked the authentic performance they sought. To gain “street cred,” Nike launched its Nike SB line, adopting niche-brand tactics: exclusive sales in specialized skate shops, ads in skateboarding magazines only, a signature shoe for skater Paul Rodriguez, skate competitions, pop-up stores, a skateboarding documentary, and more.
It’s likely that Nike will adopt a similar approach with running shoes—and perhaps in other categories. Nike appears to view this as a transition period, during which it is phasing out outdated models and launching a new line of running shoes with specialized soles. As we know, Nike is sure to ramp up targeted marketing for the running community to convince runners it’s the best in this category too.
Let’s not forget that, in the end, Nike is Nike. It has the resources to innovate at a level that small brands can’t easily compete with. Just days ago, Nike and Hyperice announced the ‘HyperBoot’—a unique shoe that combines foot massage, air compression, and heat,
aimed at helping athletes recover post-training. Developed with Olympic athletes in mind, the HyperBoot is also available for general use and will be featured at the Paris Olympics this summer. It’s sure to generate a lot of buzz.
