Nike has followed Apple's lead. The retail sports company has now become a platform business. According to Harvard Business Review, platform businesses are something that lifts you up and on which others can stand. By building a digital platform, other businesses can easily connect their business with yours, build products and services on top of it, and co-create value. This ability to "plug-and-play" is a defining characteristic of Platform Thinking.
What does this have to do with Nike? Fortune has it that platform businesses are disrupting the traditional landscape. Nike is doing this right now. The company is seeking newer ways to survive the industry and thrives in the world of platforms.
Looking back, in January 2012, Nike brought out a wearable technology device called the FuelBand. It tracks user fitness activities, including steps walked and calories burned. It started focusing on apps, like other companies did. To become successful in the business and engaged with its customers, Nike is building an ecosystem of users using the data it captures about them. Over time, it can leverage this data to create more relevant experiences for its users and connect them with one another to enable valuable interactions. The FuelBand is just one of the many products Nike is using to penetrate the ever-changing needs of the market and the ever-expanding technology base.
Nike continues to find ways to transform itself in the everchanging economy. Right now, it works for them. The brand continues to hire software developers and expand its product line. They may look like they're copy-cats but it's a call for staying ahead in the game.
The leaders of incumbent companies who understand the new business model can begin building tomorrow's platforms in a way that not only leverages their existing assets, but strengthens and reinforces them.
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