Maybe the subtle hints with the new Chosen - Just Do It commercial made you wonder "What happened to 6.0"? The short answer: Nike 6.0 is no more. What used to act as the answer to corporate from preventing the distro to an audience outside of core shops is a time gone by. The focus is now on building a strong Snowboarding, Skate, and Surf Brand according to Sandy Bodecker. So what's this mean for you?
According to Shop-Eat-Surf, basically Nike is transitioning the dilution of the 6.0 brand to focus on Snowboarding, Surf, and Skate. The BMX riders for instance will be under new contracts from Nike but perhaps you will see them wearing signature sneakers such as Koston 1s or other Nike athletic models.
The signature series will most likely follow suit with where the SB distro is in Hong Kong with Nike SB Signature Products being sold at Niketown / Nike Sportswear outlets. We imagine the new SB will become what is currently the "Below the Line" series to core shops, better quality products, premium releases.
As reported on Shop-Eat-Surf.com, Nike 6.0 will be reworking the “Extreme Sports” branded division of the company and transitioning it under the simplified “Nike” title, dropping the 6.0. While little is set to change in products or development, as they will be focusing on premium quality kicks and softgoods for Extreme athletes, a few things were said in the interview that might raise an eyebrow or two among BMXers.
“Going forward, instead of focusing on a wide range of action sports - the Nike 6.0 strategy - the company will target and invest the most in skate, surf and snowboarding, though Nike says it will still support the other sports, such as wakeboarding, moto and BMX” writes Tiffany Montgomery; SES Editor and Chief
This in itself isn’t enough to make us worry about their lack of involvement in BMX, as they could cut their current efforts in half and still be a huge asset to the sport, but the outlook of the new Nike branding was a little less broad spectrum when it came straight from the horses mouth.
“There will be an overall thread that ties everything together, but we are committed to being a great skateboard brand, a great surf brand and a great snowboard brand.” Sandy Bodecker of Nike action sports.
When we contacted the 6.0 crew directly, the response was a little more diplomatic and took some of the sting out of the initial interview.
“Nothing changes for the sports we’re involved in. BMX -as well as all the sports involved in 6.0- continues to be important for us as does our world class BMX team. No one is getting kicked off, none of our marketing initiatives will be lessened. Nike 6.0 and our BMX team’s involvement at the US Open of Surfing is a good indicator of this.” Said Kevin Imamura
While it appears that there are a few different views, or a few different interpretations going on, the changes are set to take place slowly over the next few years and with any luck, as Kevin put it, the only change will be the removal of the 6.0 branding from the classic Nike swoosh.
Nike as a whole has been great to BMX, so we can only hope they carry on with the same support, same great team and same great events. Events such as the famed Banksgiving Jam will hopefully stick around as the Nike 6.0 brand takes on a slightly new face in Extreme Sports.
“Going forward, instead of focusing on a wide range of action sports - the Nike 6.0 strategy - the company will target and invest the most in skate, surf and snowboarding, though Nike says it will still support the other sports, such as wakeboarding, moto and BMX” writes Tiffany Montgomery; SES Editor and Chief
This in itself isn’t enough to make us worry about their lack of involvement in BMX, as they could cut their current efforts in half and still be a huge asset to the sport, but the outlook of the new Nike branding was a little less broad spectrum when it came straight from the horses mouth.
“There will be an overall thread that ties everything together, but we are committed to being a great skateboard brand, a great surf brand and a great snowboard brand.” Sandy Bodecker of Nike action sports.
When we contacted the 6.0 crew directly, the response was a little more diplomatic and took some of the sting out of the initial interview.
“Nothing changes for the sports we’re involved in. BMX -as well as all the sports involved in 6.0- continues to be important for us as does our world class BMX team. No one is getting kicked off, none of our marketing initiatives will be lessened. Nike 6.0 and our BMX team’s involvement at the US Open of Surfing is a good indicator of this.” Said Kevin Imamura
While it appears that there are a few different views, or a few different interpretations going on, the changes are set to take place slowly over the next few years and with any luck, as Kevin put it, the only change will be the removal of the 6.0 branding from the classic Nike swoosh.
Nike as a whole has been great to BMX, so we can only hope they carry on with the same support, same great team and same great events. Events such as the famed Banksgiving Jam will hopefully stick around as the Nike 6.0 brand takes on a slightly new face in Extreme Sports.
