Nike: Just Do It Yourself
June 7, 2005 | Levent OZLER
Nike has a message for shoppers looking for the hottest shoe design: Just do it -- yourself.
The world's largest athletic shoemaker has relaunched a Web site where shoppers design their own shoes, choosing everything from the colour of the famous Nike swoosh to personalising the tongue with a word or phrase.
The bid to target shoppers who want to stand out marks part of a growing trend toward customisation in retail that analysts see as a way for companies to charge a premium for self-styled products.
customisation also connects shoppers more closely with a brand and helps companies attract fickle but lucrative young shoppers by giving them the power to put their personal stamp on everything from sneakers to jeans to digital music players.
Whether it's a cell phone ring tone of a favourite song, a faux-fur skin for an iPod, or a pair of ice pink and black Nikes, young shoppers see customisation as a way to express themselves and build on what they like about certain brands.
"It is really a democratic desire," said Sharon Lee, co-founder of Los Angeles-based consumer research and trend consulting company Look-Look Inc. "Every person wants to say this is much more me and I'm not part of this kind of mass culture."
Lee sees the customisation trend growing, especially in the coveted youth market. Yet even as these
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