How Nike is Leveraging the Power of Roblox

It’s safe to say the metaverse concept hasn’t gotten off to the best start.

With experiences such as Decentraland and Meta’s Horizon Worlds struggling to attract and retain users and drawing a heady mix of shrugged shoulders and outright mockery from the general public, and other projects such as Earth 2 becoming mired in development issues and accusations of fraud, Web3 as the new way to experience the internet seems pretty far away from the initial vision.

However, a handful of brands are finding ways to succeed in digital spaces outside of the usual mix of ecommerce platforms, social media, and influencer marketing. One such brand is sportswear giant Nike which has found itself an interesting niche on a most unlikely platform – video game content creation platform, Roblox.

Roblox

Anyone reading this article who has teenage children will almost certainly been intimately familiar with the Roblox gaming platform.

According to Statista, the platform enjoys 58.8 million daily users worldwide, with its biggest daily audience segment being those aged 13 and up. Per quarter, these users spend 13.4 billion hours engaged with content on Roblox and the company generates $1.92 billion per year from the sale of microtransactions and subscription fees.

To engage with this lucrative market, Nike knew it had to create a platform within the Roblox ecosystem which users would want to visit and engage with. After much brainstorming and innovative development, Nike launched Nikeland, a purpose-built virtual space which leverages the advantages of the Roblox platform to allow fans to meet, socialize, take advantage of exclusive promotions, and engage with a host of unique brand experiences.

Since it launched in November 2021, Nikeland has attracted in excess of 20 million unique visitors from 224 countries, and exposed entire new audiences to the Nike brand and other exciting experiences.

"During NBA All-Star Week, LeBron James visited Nikeland on Roblox to inspire its community towards physical movement in play,” said Nike, Inc. CEO and President, Jack Donahoe during a Q3 2022 earnings call. "On the Nikeland court, LeBron coached and engaged with players, and participants were rewarded for physical gameplay with the ability to unlock virtual products. We plan to continue driving energy there with virtual products like LeBron 19 styles special to Roblox.”

When a user visits Nikeland for the first time, they are also given their own yard – a personal space which they can customize with digital collectibles they have earned in-game and decorate to match their personality.

World Cup 2022

At time of writing, France and Argentina are getting ready to see which country will be crowned the champions of the World Cup soccer tournament of 2022. And, as one of the world’s biggest and most widely recognized sports brands, you can bet Nike and Nikeland are taking part in the celebrations.

At the beginning of the tournament, Nikeland offered its users the opportunity to claim two free FIFA-style soccer jerseys to show their support for the beautiful game.

"Users can easily claim their favorite Nike-sponsored jerseys in the Roblox world of Nikeland for free by simply participating in the Cup Clash special in-game event. They can actively take part in the World Cup season celebrations by exploring the interactive map of Nikeland. With their newly acquired jerseys, they will get to show off their own unique fashion aesthetic.”

To claim their digital items, users needed to follow the following steps within the Nikeland environment:

• Connect to the server by launching Nikeland on Roblox.
• Players should spawn in front of the football stadium. If not, click on the map to be teleported there.
• Players must cross the brown racing track and walk beneath the enormous silver-colored circular arch.
• On their left side, players can see a large octopus performing football tricks.
• Simply approach the octopus, and a little pop-up stating "UGC Jerseys" will appear.
• Users must now communicate with the octopus by pressing the "E" button on their keyboards.
• A new interface will appear on the screen.
• At this point, players can select their desired shirts and click the green "Redeem" button when they're done.

Once these steps are completed, users can enjoy the competition, whilst representing their team both in and out of the Roblox virtual world.

Final Thoughts

The jury might still be well and truly out on whether metaverses will function as a way for the average user to engage online. However, by leveraging the power of an already incredibly popular platform such as Roblox, Nike has created a successful portal through which it can engage with a wider audience.

The current state of the metaverse and its potential for ecommerce is sure to be a hotly debated issue at eTail Connect 2023, being held in April at the Hilton West Palm Beach, Florida.

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