Nike has awarded its e-commerce mandate to Madison HiveMinds, giving the Madison World-owned digital and performance marketing agency a significant account win as the sportswear giant reworks its digital commerce strategy in India.
Storyboard18 has learnt that the mandate will cover key aspects of Nike’s e-commerce marketing and performance-led commerce activity, with areas such as digital commerce, performance optimisation and retail media expected to be central to the engagement.
The move comes at an important point for Nike in India.
Nike is rebuilding its India e-commerce play
Nike has made several changes to its India digital business this year. In February, the company moved the operations of Nike.com in India to local partner Nykaa, effectively giving its online business a more locally managed model.
Nike said at the time that Nykaa would handle Nike.com operations in India, with the relaunched experience offering free shipping, exchanges and faster delivery. The transition also meant changes to Nike’s existing membership system, while Nike By You and SNKRS Web were discontinued in India.
The partnership has since become part of a broader push by Nykaa into premium fashion. Nykaa’s fashion business grew 54% in the June quarter and turned EBITDA-positive for the first time, with the company specifically pointing to partnerships including Nike as part of the expansion.
For Nike, the HiveMinds mandate adds another layer to this India reset, this time around the marketing and performance engine supporting e-commerce.
From Nike.com to a wider commerce ecosystem
Nike’s India strategy is increasingly being built across digital and physical touchpoints.
In June, the company opened its first Nike Rise concept store in Mumbai’s Infiniti Mall in Malad. The format is designed around a more connected retail experience, with product drops, local sports engagement and personalised experiences rather than a purely transactional store model.
That makes the e-commerce mandate particularly relevant. Nike is not simply looking to drive traffic to a website. The larger challenge is connecting product discovery, performance marketing, retail, consumer data and conversion across channels.
That is where an agency such as HiveMinds comes in.
Why the mandate matters for HiveMinds
HiveMinds has built its positioning around performance marketing, e-commerce and data-led growth. The Nike win gives the agency a marquee global sports brand at a time when commerce marketing is becoming increasingly integrated with media and performance.
For Madison World, the account also strengthens its presence in digital commerce, performance marketing and retail media.
The mandate comes as brands increasingly want agencies to work beyond conventional media buying. E-commerce teams are now expected to influence the full journey, from product discovery and search to marketplace visibility, conversion, repeat purchases and customer acquisition costs.
Nike itself is changing the playbook
Globally, Nike is in the middle of a much larger reset under CEO Elliott Hill.
The company spent years pushing its direct-to-consumer strategy, reducing its dependence on wholesale partners and putting Nike’s own stores and digital channels at the centre of its business.
That strategy has since been recalibrated.
Nike’s latest full-year results showed wholesale revenue rising 6% to $27.5 billion, while Nike Direct revenue declined 7%. Nike Brand digital revenue was down 12% in the fourth quarter.
Hill has been rebuilding wholesale relationships while putting more emphasis on sport, product innovation and performance categories.
The shift is already showing some signs of progress in running. Nike has recorded five consecutive quarters of double-digit sales growth in its running division, according to the Financial Times.
But the turnaround remains a work in progress. Nike continues to face pressure in China, inventory challenges and intense competition from brands such as On, Hoka, Adidas and fast-growing regional players.
India becomes an important test market
India presents a different opportunity.
The market has a growing appetite for premium sportswear, sneakers and athleisure, but consumers are also highly price-sensitive. Nike therefore has to balance brand positioning with accessibility, while competing across its own stores, marketplaces, partner platforms and its revamped digital operation.
The Nykaa partnership, the Mumbai Nike Rise store and now the Madison HiveMinds mandate point to a more locally integrated approach.
Instead of relying only on Nike-owned digital properties, the brand is building a broader ecosystem around Indian consumers.
The bigger opportunity for HiveMinds
For HiveMinds, the Nike account comes at a time when e-commerce is moving from a specialist digital function to a central part of brand strategy.
Retail media, creator-led commerce, personalised recommendations, marketplace performance and first-party data are increasingly becoming part of the same conversation.
Nike is one of the brands where that convergence is particularly visible.
The immediate task for HiveMinds will be to turn Nike’s renewed digital presence into measurable commerce growth. The larger opportunity is to connect performance marketing with the brand’s wider retail and consumer strategy.
For Nike, the mandate arrives as the company tries to make its India business more locally relevant while its global leadership works to restore growth, product momentum and market share.
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First Published on September 9, 2026, 12:21:34 IST
