Fashionable Fitness

According to dicitionary.com, the word “creative” is defined as being characterized by originality and expressiveness, or imaginative.

An experience that I think is a good example of something creative is walking shoes that create a natural instability thereby activating your muscles as you walk. There are multiple examples of these types of shoes on the market including FitFlops, MBT’s anti-shoe, and Reebok’s new line of EasyTone walking shoes. I think of this as a very creative type of product experience because it approaches the idea of “working out” and weight loss in a completely new and different way.

As a student at The University of Texas at Austin, my schedule can quickly fill up with group project meetings, catching up with reading and studying, as well as going to class and doing other class-related activities. Although there are multiple accessible gyms on campus, it is definitely a challenge for me to fit in time for fitness and exercise. However, another key aspect of my schedule includes quite a bit of walking on campus. From my bus-stop to classes, and from one class to another, I walk at least 30 minutes Monday through Thursday. Walking shoes that allow me to exercise and tone my body without taking any extra time from my schedule definitely requires creativity and imagination.

I definitely believe that change results from a series of choices made consistently over time. These shoes allow you to do just that. MBT equates its “anti-shoe” with walking on a sandy beach which activates and strengthens the small supporting muscles which are the body's "natural shock absorbers" (us.mbt.com). MBT reports that its shoes are scientifically-proven to improve gait, reduce stress on joints and the back, and train the body even while standing (us.mbt.com).

This walking shoe phenomenon can potentially have a tremendous positive impact on its wearers in the long-run. Not only are they a practical approach to fitness and exercise, especially for those who are short on time, but also they have the ability to enhance lives and improve health. Being able to find creative ways to meet the needs and wants of consumers is a core aspect of marketing.

As mentioned in the article, “The New, Faster Face of Innovation” by Erik Brynjolfsson and Michael Schrage, companies are now able to test new ideas at incredible speeds and cheap prices. As companies identify the needs of people, they can find innovative ways to meet those needs at a low cost and short amount of time. Even the failures of these companies can be used to learn about what works and indicates the way to success.

The economic savings allowed by the use of technology and online data/feedback from customers allow companies like MBT to concentrate its resources on products that are backed by science and are appealing to customers. The risks are substantially mitigated by the relatively low cost of technological advances in research and develop and the rewards that can result are substantially heightened on a much greater scale. The advent of using the Internet to collect customer feedback and discover new insights can cover a lot more people at a much lower cost to companies worldwide.

With the new opportunities made available by technology, companies will be much better equipped to develop creative and innovative products and create great experiences for customers such as combining fashion, fitness, and function to produce an amazingly creative pair of shoes.