Hopping on a treadmill may seem like the definition of running in place, but with virtual reality, Nike is taking some runners past the Great Wall of China and the Statue of Liberty.
To promote the new Nike React Flyknit running shoe, the brand teamed up with longtime advertising partners Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai to launch an interactive video game in which shoppers, after lacing up their sneakers, become characters in the world of “Reactland.” Customers create avatars of themselves and then navigate through the game’s forests and rooftops while jogging on a treadmill for three minutes.
Nike hopes the experience, which was open for a few weeks earlier this month, will sell players on the light and bouncy design of its shoe. Yet the brand’s use of virtual reality also reinforces the importance of technology for retailers looking for innovative ways to boost brick-and-mortar sales.
“The realm between digital and physical will continue to blend or merge to enhance the in-store customer experience,” said Ellen Schmidt-Devlin, executive director of the sports product management program at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. ”
