The Perks of Being Digital. Nikeland: A Case Study

Fashion is a complex phenomenon that has always interested many scholars. Among these, one that played a significant role was the German sociologist and philosopher George Simmel, fascinated by fashion and its impact on society, whose reflections appear particularly remarkable and current. Fashion, according to Simmel, has for the modern individual the charm of beginning and end at the same time, the charm of new and the charm of caducity [1]. Given what Giacomo Leopardi wrote in his Operette Morali about the parallel between Fashion and death [2], one might argue that he could have found a solid substantiation of his ideas if he had had the opportunity to experience modern society. Inserted in the metropolis in which everything proceeds with a fast and chaotic movement, the modern human being is driven by the propensity for the new, transitory and changeable, favored by the intensification of the “nervous life”, produced by the rapid and uninterrupted alteration of external and inner impressions [3]. Within the modern metropolis – or liquid society, as Bauman defines it [4]- the short life of fashion is highly encouraged by the hyper-connection to the digital world, to which all individuals are now subjected daily.

From the moment the internet entered our homes and lives, the race toward the digitalization of life has never stopped. The accelerator was hit by the spread of Covid-19, which had a very strong impact on our lives – both psychologically and economically. The fashion industry is now facing a digital transformation, attracted by the potential of technology and the digital dimension, from how products are being produced to the communication between retailers and consumers and individuals’ shopping habits [5]. During the sanitary hazard period, as the in-person purchase was not allowed, the fashion companies needed to quickly find a new way to communicate and to promote their new releases, to adapt to the new demands of their audience, and to minimize losses due to the situation [6]. These circumstances showed how necessary it was to invest in the digital front, to find alternatives to the in-person shopping experience. Digital tools are the perfect allies for the fashion industry: through them, companies can quickly adapt their businesses and communication models to expand their reach and to keep feeding the vicious life and death-cycle of fashion products. Above all, digital tools can satisfy consumers’ hunger for more and more new products, offered at the speed of a simple click or scroll.

This paper aims to reflect on how the Fashion industry no longer uses technology as a simple medium to better promote its products in a way we already used to see. The small big and digital world that dwells in cyberspace, called Nikeland, will be investigated to demonstrate how the Nike brand has used users’ enthusiasm for Metaverse, creating one by collaborating with Roblox. The aim is to illustrate the perks of being digital for a company and how the combination of these tools and competent and creative professionals can be, nowadays, a trump card.

According to the Nike brand, anyone who owns a body is in itself an athlete and therefore a perfect customer of this brand whose mission has always been to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world [7]. The brand has constantly stood out for its interest in innovation and digital transformation considering tools such as Artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce, in-store experiential technology and smartphone applications – i.e. Nike Training Club and Nike Run Club - as integral parts of their business and communication strategy [8]. Since January 2020, John Donahoe, who has become an expert in the field of digital commerce and technology, has become CEO of Nike [9], intending to pursue the mission of serving consumers better, offering them more and more engaging experiences, obviously giving priority to the digital future of the company. Shortly after the announcement of the ambitious Metaverse project by Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in November 2021 Nike and Roblox announced their partnership in creating a branded metaverse, called Nikeland [10]. Roblox is a famous platform, launched in 2006, that allows users to live many virtual experiences in specific digital spaces, within which they can play and socialize with other users. Nikeland is a part of this virtual universe, modeled after the company’s real-life headquarters in Oregon, in which users can wander around in a totally branded world -even clouds are marked with the famous swoosh - through their avatars, obviously dressed in Nike-branded clothes.

To enhance a connection between the virtual online world and the physical one, the Roblox engine uses smartphone accelerometers and augmented reality (AR) hardware to interpret a user’s movement during online play such as long jumps or running [11].

Through this paper, we have seen how the social context we inhabit is strongly influenced by technology, whose speed is reflected in many aspects of our daily lives. Due to the period of health hazards, which forced potential customers to stay at home and exclusively buy online, the major fashion companies have understood the need to invest even more in the digital sector. Undoubtedly, they creatively and boldly used both digital tools and consumers’ need for novelty. The digitalization and the push of the fashion industry towards the digital dimension have brought the need for the creation of new professional figures with the digital skill to take care of the new media platforms [17] with a creative and fashionable touch. Fashion companies have made their appearances on various screens and platforms, through collaborations with video games – such as Fortnite, The Sims, Animal Crossing [18], etc. – and social networks platforms – such as the famous Habbo and Second life [19]. The Zuckerberg Metaverse, as we know it up to now, is just a work in progress and ambitious project, but the audience seems to be excited about it. Many companies are already starting to use similar platforms, such as Roblox, to test the strengths of this new way of marketing and communicating their brand. As we have seen, the Nike brand has proved to be very far-sighted in the use of digital tools by collaborating with Roblox and creating its virtual world. The idea of creating a virtual space was obviously not new in the fashion field, which due to the spread of Covid-19 has found in these spaces a possible alternative to the crowded catwalks and fashion design events [20].

In Sect. 3.1 were mentioned the advantages that the brand has gained thanks to the creation of this experience. The brand has gained in terms of visibility around the world for the free access and novelty of the branded game – securing ads from the video game community on various platforms such as Twitch and Youtube – but also in terms of image communicating its values through the game itself. The possibility to socialize and play with others allowed the brand to implement a marketing strategy that reaches players in a less “aggressive” way. Within the game it’s possible to make a more consumer-friendly marketing strategy: the consumer is not interrupted during the game by advertising, since this becomes an integral part of the gaming experience. The promoted object can be proposed in three-dimensional form and can be an actual object of the game, such as an item of clothing or a piece of furniture of the avatar’s house. Above all, this project has shown how the use of these tools can bring brands and fashion to younger generations that identify the most with technology [21] and use these platforms on a daily basis – we have reason to believe that their usage will not decrease with the arrival of the official Metaverse of Meta. Gamification is used to provide brand co-creation and participation; consumers might feel they are part of the brand itself [22] and feel a sense of proximity with it [23].

The conversation between the brand and the consumer has been enriched thanks to technology and interactivity [24] and having the data on the preferences and needs of the users is a real game changer in fashion advertisement because it allows orienting not only sales and advertising but especially the production of the favorite products of the public.

We have briefly seen how the digital transformation is changing the way and the speed with which fashion is produced and consumed and how being digital can be beneficial to a fashion brand in general. It is no longer possible to conceive fashion adv only in a traditional way – with magazines, film, television and outdoor media [23]. It is mandatory to conceive consumers as an integral part of product creation and promotion. Digital strategies are numerous and often very lucrative on several fronts and not only from the simple consumer’s purchase. However, it will be necessary to ethically question the type of relationship that is being created between brands and costumers and how this can be exploited by the brands themselves. In order to be ethically correct, brands should be transparent about the use of personal data and users’ creations, essential for building trust and maintaining a positive reputation. Being transparent about how they use user data is not only an ethical obligation for brands but also helps users make educated decisions about their engagement with the brand itself. When brands take responsibility and consider the ethical implications of their actions, they foster responsible behavior, benefiting the user as well as the brand itself. Ultimately, transparency is the cornerstone of building a mutually beneficial and trustworthy relationship between brands and their users, making it essential for creating an ethical and sustainable business model.