Nike ID Delivers

With all the hype and drama around Nike ID (a pair of shoes you build yourself online, down to a personal insignia), I really didn't know what to make of it. The truth was I hadn't tried to make any myself. But I was definitely curious.

In the spirit of R&D, we had a willing buyer in-house. After 30 long, quiet days of not knowing where his order stood, his Nike ID shoes showed up in the mail yesterday, and today he showed up at my desk to show them off. So Nike did nothing to confirm his order to build up excitement for the custom shoes (a la BMW Mini), but in the end, he was still pretty geeked about them.

Heck, I was so excited and they weren't even mine. Sure, seeing your own (or your creative director's) creation is a bit of a thrill, but it was how the shoes were presented that struck me the most. A very sturdy, high quality box lined with a suede-like fabric on 5 sides. The shoes rest inside a drawstring tote of the same material.

Right before my eyes, Nike took a pair of sneakers and made them truly special, and, dare I say, almost precious!

And the icing on the cake--the shoes can be returned within 30 days if they're not worn, a new and admirable return policy.