Nike'S High-Tech Application Football Field Introduces Socks With Spikes.

These two football stars with high profile. shoes It is a new generation of Magista and Mercurial Superfly, and its manufacturing process is bold and novel. The two new boots have found the best endorser. Mercurial Superfly has brought the fastest speed change to players like Cristiano Ronaldo, and Magista's enhanced sense of possession is ready for the offensive organizers like Andre Iniesta. This is Nike's first application of Flyknit technology in the field of soccer. This technology allows the foot to get closer to the ball, and this is the key factor in high-speed dribble. After four years of research and development, Nike also hopes to win glory in the world cup with its new soccer products.

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"Give me a pair of socks with studs". When Martin Lodi asked football players what their best football shoes were, it was almost the answer of all the respondents.

In the past four years of research and development, Loti and his team have found that football has changed and become fiercer and fiercer. The competition needs 14 players instead of 11 players on the pitch. "Players are more adaptive to the game, stronger and more technical. Therefore, our products also need to be changed accordingly. Loti told Global Entrepreneur.

How to combine the expectations of athletes with Nike's technology and make them faster and stronger on the field? This is a problem that Loti and his leading design team need to solve. In fact, Loti has been studying these problems for 18 years. Since graduating from school at the age of 21, he has started working at Nike. His work is from women's clothing design, running shoes to full devotion to football products.

On March 2014, at the press conference held in Barcelona, Spain, Andre, Iniesta, the attacking organizer of the Barcelona club, formally unveiled the Magista of Nike's new football shoes. This sneaker looks like a sock, with Nike's original Flyknit technology, that is, the use of special silk threads to make the upper, and all the structural and supporting performance design of the shoes are also knitted. Traditional shoemaking is cutting. Leatherwear A multi-level shoe upper is needed to achieve great friction, but the distance between the foot and the sphere is increased, and all the cutting parts are wasted. Nike's Flyknit technology is directly used to sew the surface of shoes with frictional silk thread. The new generation of Magista's 3D weaving technology makes the vamp texture clear, so that the friction between the ball and the ball is enhanced. The innovation of this kind of sneakers is to use the middle shoe collar to wrap the ankles directly, locking feet firmly in the shoes. "This design connects feet, ankles, and calves, and they work as a common part of the body to enhance the sense of touch and touch." Loti explained.

In order to provide extra power for multidirectional sports, the designer also added a Briocables to the sneakers. This is similar to the working principle of suspension bridges, and you can simply understand them as "steel cables" on suspension bridges. These cables are directly woven into the integrated vamp, and then connected to the outsole by locking the eyelet. It can provide solid support for the shoes to extend to the heel, thus improving the strength of the shoes.

The first Flyknit technology used in football shoes came out in 2012. Although there are many similarities between running shoes and football shoes, there are still many differences in their application. The biggest difference comes from the waterproof and temperature control of the shoes. "We need to consider the use of football shoes in different weather conditions, such as rainy days. It is important to ensure that Flyknit does not affect the touch of the ball due to rain. Loti said. To this end, Nike design team developed a special material called "NIKESKIN", which is covered on Flyknit vamp. This material is thinner than the paper. The thickness is less than 0.1 millimeters. It is integrated with the vamp to play a waterproof and protective function.

"This is so unique that it doesn't even feel it in it. It allows me to make instinctive action on the pitch and become more confident." On the day of the release of the new Magista football shoes, Iniesta said excitedly.

Compared with the attackers' pursuit of control, speed football players value the weight of their shoes better. The new generation of MercurialSuperfly shoes, which are light and thin like paper, extend and cover the entire shoe of the whole ankle. Flyknit technology is also used in the material. In addition, a more flexible new full palm carbon fiber chassis is adopted, which helps players acquire more effective reaction force from the ground. In addition, MercurialSuperfly's shoes heel and forefoot parts are newly added with spikes, which makes players get stronger grip and propelling force in a moment before pushing. This is a proposal made by C Lo with Nike.

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Loti described the relationship between Nike design team and players as "inseparable". In the process of designing Magista or MercurialSuperfly, Nike will invite hundreds of players to test new sneakers and improve the design of shoes by collecting players' feedback. "Good. Designer It must be a good listener. Because you are not designing for yourself, but solving problems. " Loti said.

The players are regular customers of Nike's innovative kitchen. This is also the place where designers can carry out design creativity. Sewing machines, laser instruments, toys, software, inspirational pictures... The designer can cut and splice a shoe from the beginning to the end, and then test equipment to see the continuous improvement of the product. For example, when Flyknit technology is applied to Mercurial, designers will watch videos captured by high-speed motion cameras and find products that can enhance skid resistance. Athletes tell designers that the last ten percent is very important for a product, so the design team has added additional protective layers in the front to enhance the performance of the ground.

The four annual football feast is just like the stars who want to show their talents in the green field. The major sports brands also regard it as the most important arena. Nike timely introduces the new boots with novel appearance and subversive technology, and is undoubtedly hoping to enhance its product's influence in the football market through the world cup.

According to REPUCOMandSPORT+MARKT, a sports research advisory body, soccer has around 2 billion fans worldwide and 1 billion 200 million of basketball fans rank second. Thanks to the rise of European soccer, Adidas, a European company, has been the champion of the football equipment market. According to industry figures, its soccer revenue last year was as high as $2 billion 400 million, and it was the official sponsor of the previous World Cup. But it is clear that Nike, the leader in running and basketball, will not easily let go of this huge market of football. Although Nike worked closely with soccer players in the United States in 1978 and became a sponsor of the Brazil national football team in 1996, competition has been rapid in recent years. According to Nike's 2013 earnings report, soccer revenue has reached $1 billion 900 million.

In the Brazil World Cup, Nike also surpassed Adidas for the first time, becoming the most competitive team. clothing Brand suppliers provide clothing for 10 teams including host Brazil. Just like sports shoes, Nike has created innovative elements for the World Cup team's jerseys, such as laser cutting, breathability and grid design and NikeDri-FIT technology, which helps to keep players dry. And every shirt. cloth All recycled plastic bottles are environmentally friendly. In addition, Nike has prepared a series of products for players at different times during the tournament.

Although Nike has only started to attach importance to football in the past 20 years, it has now changed from pursuers to counterparties, threatening Adidas's dominance in the football market. "When we start designing this world cup product, we need to build products that only Nike can design." Loti said.

In the contest of football feast, Adidas, who regards football as DNA, will not despise the enemy. In addition to providing the official match ball to the world cup and providing equipment for 9 teams, Adidas also launched the new Primeknit boots. The shoes of this football shoes also use knitted fabrics, including ball socks and sneakers. In addition, Adidas has launched an offensive in the marketing department that Nike is good at, and tens of millions of dollars have been invested in advertising related to the world cup, especially focusing on social media.

"We want to prove clearly to the world that we are the eldest in the field of football products." Adidas CEO Herbert Heiner (HerbertHainer) even said that Adidas's sales from the football market this year are expected to reach 2 billion euros (about 2 billion 800 million US dollars), while Nike predicts that its soccer revenue will exceed 2 billion dollars.

However, David Grasso, chief marketing officer of Nike (DavideGrasso), interprets the Nike World Cup marketing video as well as the declaration of war. If you are ready to take all risks, you will be omnipotent. This is everything. " At the same time, Loti said that their design team has begun to design new equipment for the 2018 World Cup, and the European Cup in 2016 will also launch new products. "Our task will be very heavy, but the next step will be to develop more supernatural boots and make them part of the body."