The turbulent yet very eventful year 2020 is coming to an end and therefore now is the perfect moment to sit back and look back on an eventful year.
2020 will go down in history as the extraordinary year of the coronavirus, yet it actually began quite normally. In February, the world still seemed to be intact, the virus still far away from us, and so we headed off to Engelberg with the entire team for the NIKIN Ski Day to demonstrate our skills on the slopes. We enjoyed a fantastic day on the mountain and strengthened our team spirit for the numerous upcoming projects in 2020.
In March we say goodbye to the home office
And then what we all feared happened: The coronavirus reached Switzerland, and the federal government declared a nationwide lockdown in March. Like all companies, we were faced with the question of what to do next? Within a very short time, we switched our entire operations, with the exception of logistics, to working from home. While it took some getting used to at first, it fortunately didn't pose any major problems because most of our processes can also be handled online.
And yet, we had to keep going, because we had so much planned for this year. Over the course of the year, we were delighted to welcome numerous new, motivated employees to the NIKIN family, who can take us to the next level with their expertise in various areas such as marketing, product, logistics, events, and customer service. Many of them started working from home, which could be challenging given the limited interpersonal contact, but were managed with regular online meetings with the entire NIKIN team. Our team has now grown to almost 50 employees, who work tirelessly every day to further advance NIKIN and our vision. This growth also enabled us to establish NIKIN AG in the summer. These developments make us incredibly proud!
Events – a no-go in times of Corona?
We actually had quite a few events planned for 2020, both internal and external. Most of them had to be postponed or, unfortunately, canceled. Among other things, various TreePlanting Days, where we wanted to get involved with our community and help reforest our local forests, fell victim. When the festival season was officially canceled, our event team had to quickly re-arrange plans. But there was no shortage of alternatives, and with strict safety measures in place, various events could still take place. For example, in September, on the occasion of International Clean-Up Day, with the help of many dedicated volunteers from our community, we were able to clear our hometown of kilos of garbage – it was shocking to see how much waste was carelessly dumped where it definitely didn't belong.
Our "Alaska" room, which we lovingly converted into our first in-house shop for direct sales in the spring, unfortunately had to wait for its first customers due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, we organized our first online outlet sale, which was so successful that at one point our website even succumbed to the onslaught and crashed. With the relaxation of restrictions, we were finally able to open our in-house shop in the summer and regularly open our doors for direct sales – always observing the necessary safety measures, of course. On release days, the brand-new products can be purchased directly from us on site. Since visitor traffic is particularly high on these days, we had to expect longer wait times on a few occasions, but we bridged these times with free beer and Indian delicacies from the food truck for those waiting in line.
This year, we were also able to expand our network of shops, where selected NIKIN products are available, to over 100 partner shops across Europe. So you're sure to find us somewhere near you. We also successfully opened a temporary pop-up store for the second time during the summer months, this time in Basel.
We have (almost) everything you need – and sustainably
For over four years, NIKIN has pursued the philosophy of cool, stylish, and sustainable products at fair prices. We want to make sustainable fashion accessible to everyone and inspire a conscious and sustainable lifestyle. If everyone thought just a little more sustainably, the world would benefit greatly.
Zeitgeist, innovation, and creativity are the qualities our product team consistently demonstrates. Consequently, we regularly present new products that not only look great and are comfortable, but are also made from sustainable materials and, to the greatest extent possible, manufactured in Europe. We are particularly proud of our SwimWear Collection made from Econyl®/Seaqual® – recycled plastic from the oceans – and our new Treeanies made from Polylana®, a more sustainable alternative to conventional acrylic. Incidentally, we are the first brand to manufacture and offer products made from this material in Europe.
Throughout the year, we regularly released new products, for which our marketing and content teams launched broad and creative advertising campaigns and produced a lot of great content – you've probably come across one of our advertisements before.
The absolute high-flyer of the year: the TreeMask
The best-selling product in 2020 was by far the TreeMask, but this requires some explanation. At the beginning of the crisis, we actively decided against selling protective masks because we don't think it's right to profit from a crisis. Yet, we received inquiries almost daily asking when NIKIN protective masks would finally be available. We publicly asked our community several times whether there was a need for a NIKIN mask. The result was clear: we initially had 2,000 produced (we didn't know how long the epidemic would last), and they were all sold out in just 40 minutes. This sustainable and comfortable mask is a hit, and this is also evident in public; there's hardly a train on which someone isn't wearing a TreeMask.
However, we remain committed to our stance and sell the masks without profit. We offer the protective mask at cost, including one tree planted. We also offer the mask at an additional cost, which will be donated directly to Caritas Switzerland's Corona aid program. We have masks available again—so protect yourself and those around you now with a TreeMask.
NIKIN without its community? – unimaginable!
As a brand, we thrive on our community, which supports and inspires us every day, helping us grow. Our fantastic community is indispensable and plays a key role in shaping NIKIN. We regularly offer social media surveys, giving people the opportunity to influence our work and share their wishes. Due to the many event cancellations, we unfortunately had to significantly reduce personal contact with our community – but we've been all the more connected online! Our social media team informs and entertains you, so you're always up to date and don't miss a thing. You can now find us on practically all social media platforms under @nikinclothing. With the total number of followers across all our platforms, we could fill stadiums (Instagram is the leader with around 115,000 followers)!
The fact that our community can truly influence the design was demonstrated by the "Crowd Design" competition in the spring, where anyone could submit designs for a TreeShirt. The crowd then selected the winning design via online voting, which was then realized and ultimately offered across all our sales channels. In total, we received over 1,200 designs, of which Dominique's "TreeCompass" design prevailed. It was sold out just hours after its release in August.
In April, half a million trees were planted – in December, the full million!
"The one with the trees": NIKIN wouldn't be NIKIN without the trees. At the beginning of April, the tree counter on our website exceeded the 500,000 mark! Half a million trees – that's a striking number. Symbolically, we planted the 500,000th tree in our hometown of Lenzburg, where it can be admired today at Markus-Roth-Platz. A sign beneath the Norway maple (Acer platanoides) commemorates this special milestone in NIKIN's history.
As in previous years, at the end of November we celebrated "Green Friday" instead of Black Friday. We consciously decided not to participate in the unbridled price war that Black Friday is all about. Therefore, we intentionally didn't offer any discounts throughout the entire Green Friday weekend. Instead, we planted two trees for every product sold. And that raised a considerable amount of money; a total of around 42,000 additional trees will be planted on Green Friday.
During the Christmas season, our tree counter raced upwards, gradually approaching the full million trees planted – and on the morning of December 19th, the moment finally arrived: the million mark was reached! 1,000,000 trees planted! We are once again completely overwhelmed by this gigantic milestone in NIKIN's history and can hardly express our joy and pride in words.
Of course, we will also celebrate this milestone appropriately and symbolically immortalize it in our history. In the new year, NIKIN will sponsor a tree in our hometown of Lenzburg, which will continue to grow like us and will serve as a reminder of this major milestone for a long time to come.
That's it – and now into 2021 with renewed vigor!
For NIKIN, the Christmas season always begins in spring. Effective organization in advance is essential to be ideally prepared for our peak season at the end of autumn. The (pre-)Christmas period is very intense, sometimes even nerve-wracking, but still the most wonderful time of the year. All of our teams work tirelessly during these weeks to ensure you have a wonderful holiday season. Finally, our logistics team, together with customer service, ensures that all gifts are under the Christmas tree in time. Over the past four years, NIKIN has grown from a small seed into a strong tree that will continue to grow in all directions in the new year.
