Nike Debuts Wave of Innovation With Adaptive Lacing and Nike+ App

This afternoon Mark Parker, President & CEO, NIKE, Inc., took the stage in New York City to unveil an unprecedented breadth of innovation that includes: Nike Air VaporMax, the latest expression of a global icon; Nike Anti-Clog Traction, a mud-beating polymer; Nike HyperAdapt 1.0, which introduces the future of sport-informed adaptive lacing; and the new Nike+ app, a personalized service for athletes, and more. These products represent Nike’s unrelenting drive to not only exceed expectations but also inspire all athletes by manifesting the unimaginable.

The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 is the payoff of significant research into digital, electrical and mechanical engineering. Powered by an underfoot-lacing mechanism, the shoe proposes a groundbreaking solution to individual idiosyncrasies in lacing and fit preferences. That means the undue pressure caused by tight tying and slippage resulting from loose laces are relics of the past. Precise, consistent, personalized lockdown can now be manually adjusted on the go.

“These products represent Nike’s unrelenting drive to not only exceed expectations but also inspire all athletes by manifesting the unimaginable.”

Tinker Hatfield and Tiffany Beers, Senior Innovator, NIKE, Inc., led the project. Together with Parker, they envision a future where the product changes as the wearer changes, thus serving the needs of athletes instantaneously. This shoe is just the tip of that adaptive iceberg — one step closer to facilitating complete synchronicity between body and athletic footwear.

The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 is also just one of Nike’s significant statements inaugurating the “Era of Personalized Performance” introduced by Parker. The new Nike+, which provides an all-access pass to athletic potential, similarly characterizes this period.

“We are surrounded by technology and data, but for athletes to truly achieve their potential they require something richer and more meaningful. They don’t need a dashboard; they need a relationship,” Parker says.

Connecting Nike’s wealth of sport knowledge with its footwear and apparel offerings, Nike+ translates the “plus” to “personal,” providing members with customized guidance, support and a host of tailored resources that unlock the best of Nike.

Dynamic coaching and training programs help improve a full gamut of activity — a runner’s times, a weightlifter’s strength and a yogi’s flexibility. In person, Nike+ Run Club and Nike+ Training Club sessions bring communities of athletes together for shared inspiration and motivation, whether in intimate neighborhood sessions or at international marathons.

This engagement also applies to new athletes. Nike’s suite of digital products welcomes them with starter programs as well as shoe and product suggestions. As such, Nike+ realizes a universal truth in sport: Community is a potent motivator.

“We have the most personal solutions to today’s most common challenges,” asserts Parker. “We know athletes better than anyone else. Today, for the first time, all athletes can benefit from that expertise.”

The best of Nike will be linked by the new Nike+ app — a virtual golden ticket to the company’s most coveted products and events via one seamless sign-on. Beyond running and training clubs, Nike+ connects to a full-range of digital products, including NIKEiD, which makes it easier for a basketball player to match the Kyrie 2 to the colors of his uniform or a football player to add individual flare to her Tiempo Legend VI boots. Because, as Nike has learned over the years, when athletes look and feel good they perform better.

This in mind, the new app also features refreshed thinking about shopping. It introduces personalized shops for members, filled with tailored product recommendations, including reserved shoes dialed to their interests. It serves every step of athletic life: from competition to training to sport style. It means an evolution of how the best and brightest product in the world reaches athletes.

Nike knows that when personal service meets personalized product true magic can occur, as exemplified by the greatest athletic performances of the past few decades — from legendary sprints in Atlanta to record-breaking performances last summer in Beijing. Each of these achievements resets the bar of expectation. And each time Nike rises to the call with its next stage of invention.