Nike's Air Native

This week, Nike unveiled the new Air Native N7, a shoe designed and marketed specifically to Native Americans to promote health and wellness issues toward a population affected by high obesity rates. The shoe was designed to have a "culturally specific" fit and look, and it will be distributed solely to those populations through tribal wellness programs and schools at wholesale prices. In some cases, individuals may receive the shoes at no cost.

Niche marketing and cultural segmentation are certainly not new ideas, nor is Nike's approach to giving back to a particular community. But Nike's approach here is not altruistic, nor is it pure public relations. It's good business. I think it leads a trend we'll see that capitalizes on increasing consumer personalization, cultural affinity, and global consciousness. And it's a good thing.

Nike's Sport Culture division has taken these insights into account for the past several years to create trend-forward products appealing to credible "connectors" or "mavens", as Malcolm Gladwell calls them, on the streets of Manhattan or at Miami Beach. I predict Nike's efforts to serve the Native American market will be rewarded with consumer loyalty and commercial success.