Sports apparel giant Adidas thinks people should be able to do more with their mobile devices, including design their own customized shoe. In August, the company announced the U.S. launch of its awkwardly-named #miZXFLUX app, which allows customers to apply any high-resolution image they wish, including their own photographs, to the upper of the company’s ZXFLUX model athletic shoe. The mobile app is available for both Android and iOS devices. Previous to the app’s launch in the U.S., it was available only in Europe.
Once the customer chooses an image, the app provides him with a 360-degree 3D preview thanks to a technology called projection mapping. Customers can rotate, scale and position their chosen design and tweak it to their satisfaction. They can then save the design and share it with friends on social media. Users simply select their gender, country and size via the app, choose an image from the device’s gallery, place the design on the shoe, review and then place the order.
Via the app, the personally customized ZXFLUX sneaker runs about $110. Orders take about four to six weeks to fill.
Customization of high-end sneakers isn’t a completely new concept, but the self-design mobile app takes it a step further, Philip Ryan, global trends and foresight lead at Vivaldi Partners Group in New York, told Mobile Marketer.
“This is a genius idea from Adidas,” he said. “Step 1.0 of customization was the ability to choose the colors of your sneakers, but, if you think about it, that’s kind of limiting. “For a next step, Adidas could have allowed people free reign on the design of their shoe. The problem with that is that most people will struggle to look at a blank canvas and then create something that they love. With this initiative, Adidas are on to a winner because it’s really easy to find images you love and that you feel represent you. In fact, we do this on Instagram every day. This initiative will allow people to not just share their photos but actually let their feet do the talking about their favorite ones.”
The mobile app, which adds a “fun” element to the customization process, also brings custom shoe designs into the realm of social media, which allows buyers, who are predominantly young, to share designs in a social networking framework, something previous customization programs have not offered. Essentially, customers of the #miZXFLUX app become free marketers for Adidas as they share the concept with friends.
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