Nike Snowboarding launches

Today Nike launched their snowboard brand, appropriately entitled Nike Snowboarding. Via Transworld:

We have been waiting for it ever since rumors started coming around last year. This season Nike is finally introducing their own snowboarding brand - Nike Snowboarding. Applying the same principals to snowboarding that have made them successful in the skateboarding world in recent years, Nike introduces the Zoom Force 1 Boot in a variety of color and material options for both men and women. Along the boots they also introduce apparel, for the moment consisting of pants and jackets. Let’s see if we will eventually also be seeing hard goods from them.

My take
It took Nike years to become a credible player in skateboarding, but they should be able to penetrate snowboarding much quicker by leveraging their skateboarding cred. I've never been close to the snowboarding world, but it seems like the launch is going over well so far in the industry. F0r some excellent analysis of Nike's ability to enter one sport after the next, leveraging their credibility and relationships each time, read Unstoppable, by Bain's Chris Zook.

Like it says in the Transworld blurb, though, they really have to make some hard goods (snowboards, bindings, helmets, etc) before they can be completely credible. This is the test of authenticity for action sports brands, and although it's not at the core of their business, Nike's best move would be to develop the best hard goods in the industry.

As is now extremely common in the streetwear universe, Nike enlisted graffiti artist Stash to create a signature print for one of the jackets. This is a good move, considering that his Air Force 1s are highly prized by collectors and fetch well over $1000. As a West Coast graffiti guy myself, his work doesn't do much for me, but he is a good choice.