Nike Run Club + Headspace is an in-app collaboration that makes sense

As if Nike’s brand isn’t strong enough, the company is taking mobile to the next level by partnering with the wellness app of the century, Headspace.

Headspace compliments the Nike+ Run Club perfectly. Nike’s highly-rated running app seamlessly tracks and stores all of the information on your runs. This includes pace, distance, GPS route, elevation, heart rate, and mile splits. The app even gamifies working out by challenges, leaderboards, and badges. It’s everything a runner could possibly want, and the addition of Headspace brings the fitness app full-circle.

The first of their kind Audio Guided Runs (AGRs), feature tutorials from world-renowned athletes to help users improve their runs. The point? To gain newfound strength and peace. Apptopia User Graph tells us that 21.2% of active users of Nike Run Club are highly likely to already be users of Headspace. According to Ryan Flaherty, Senior Director of Performance with Nike Training:

“It’s a different way of thinking about and approaching sport and sports psychology, and ultimately another tool athletes can use to be better. For Nike to share Headspace with our athletes, it will help them perform better, which also informs how we innovate and serve our everyday athletes.”

Since the update in early March, the Nike Run Club app has boosted U.S. 30th day retention rates on iOS from 7% to 8.5%. The collaboration is a match made in Heaven. Headspace’s modern day approach to meditation is the icing to Nike’s “Just Do It.” Most collaborations are forced and almost feel fake. But in this case, both brands compliment and elevate each other. There’s nothing sales-y or unnatural about it.

Gone are the days where users care about trendy cross-promotion on social media. Marketing starts with the product. That said, the future of effective app marketing is in complementary partnerships and valuable feature expansions.