After decades of footwear companies like Adidas and Nike being household names, running shoes like On Cloud are making their way ‘Onto’ consumers’ feet.
On is a Swiss performance running company claiming that it is revolutionizing the sensation of running. They are becoming known for their On Cloud running shoes made with their proprietary CloudTec technology, aiming to give wearers the sensation of “running on clouds.”
With On / On Cloud running shoes gaining brand awareness and market share, CivicScience took the pulse of U.S. adults to better understand how consumers like the brand and who’s in the market for On Cloud shoes.
Brand Favorability + Awareness
Recent survey results show that roughly one-third of U.S. adults who are familiar with On / On Cloud are favorable toward the shoes, and slightly more than a quarter are unfavorable.
Compared to other popular shoe brands, On Cloud favorability is higher than Hoka One One Shoes but lower than Adidas and Nike. Yet, the percentage of those favorable to On / On Cloud shoes is not far off from Adidas (by 5pp) and Nike (by 4pp), which shows that the brand could close the gap between its competitors.
When it comes to experience with the brand, nearly 1-in-10 Americans own a pair of On Cloud shoes, which is the same percentage of respondents who answered ‘intends to own’ and ‘not interested’ (n=3,331).
Nearly three-fourths of respondents are unfamiliar with On / On Cloud, which shows that the company has the potential to grow brand awareness.
U.S. adults aged 18-24 are most likely to own (30%) and intend to own (28%) On Cloud shoes, with those aged 25-34 ranking second. And, Americans 55+ are most likely to be unfamiliar with the brand (91%). Ownership among men and women is nearly equivalent.
Who’s in the Market?
Since On Cloud shoes are designed to improve running performance, it may be no surprise that nearly 80% of owners run or jog every week, which is more than twice the percentage of people who are not interested in wearing On Cloud shoes. This shows that On Cloud ownership and awareness are high among avid runners.
In the same vein, the majority of U.S. adults who intend to own a pair of On Cloud shoes say they’re passionate about health and fitness activities (52%).
Recently, On announced a new foam sole – CleanCloud – that uses carbon emissions as a raw material. Interestingly, people who are not interested in the brand are more likely to be ‘a little / not at all concerned’ about climate change and the environment than all other respondents.
Sixty percent of those unfamiliar with the brand say they’re ‘very / somewhat concerned’ about the environment right now, which shows that On could potentially grow its market share by highlighting its sustainability efforts.
With athletes and teams representing On Cloud shoes, as well as collaborations with athletes like Roger Federer, how much does social media influence the products consumers buy? The data show that two-fifths of people who own On Cloud shoes are influenced ‘a lot’ by their contacts on social media.
Additionally, nearly 7-in-10 owners and intenders of the brand say fashion trends influence what they wear to some extent.
Brand or price? On Cloud owners and intenders are more likely to value brand over price, whereas all other respondents are more likely to value price.
On Cloud popularity is just at the beginning. Despite many Americans being unfamiliar with the company, they have the potential to reach new heights. Currently, avid runners are mainly familiar with the brand, but On could tap into other avenues like its sustainability initiatives to increase market share and overall awareness.
