Case Study: Nike achieves a 28M-strong mobile community and competitive edge with Carnival.io

28M-Strong Mobile Community Gives Nike Competitive Edge

Nike, long known for its marketing and sports ties, faced a strategic challenge when it chose to exit the FuelBand hardware race—prompting some to question its commitment to mobile. In reality the brand has doubled down on mobile software and community: Nike+ now connects some 28 million users, proving Nike’s challenge wasn’t a lack of ambition but competing against tech giants in device hardware.

Nike responded by shifting spend from traditional media to building an accessible, beautifully designed app focused on social sharing and utility. That strategy—dating to a 2006 push under CEO Mark Parker—grew Nike+ into a sticky community, helped lift revenues nearly 70% since 2006 and increased U.S. market share from about 48% to 61%, and positions Nike to prioritize the application layer over building proprietary devices.

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