Athletic Apparel & Footwear · CDP Implementation · Nike
CDP Implementation Project Manager Simulation — Nike
Deploy Twilio Segment CDP at Nike to unify 200M+ customer profiles across nike.com, SNKRS, Nike App, 1,034 retail stores, and wholesale channels. What Accenture scoped as a 'standard 12-source integration' turns out to be 23+ fragmented data systems with no universal customer ID, incomplete privacy consent records across 40+ countries, and a SNKRS identity graph that doesn't match anything else. The deeper you dig, the bigger the iceberg gets. Gain hands-on project management experience over 27 days of real decisions, stakeholders, and PMO deliverables — no prior experience required.
The scenario
Nike, Inc. — $51B in annual revenue, 79,000+ employees, 1,034 retail stores, and a digital ecosystem spanning nike.com, the Nike App, and SNKRS (the company's coveted sneaker launch platform) — has commissioned a Customer Data Platform implementation to unify 200M+ customer profiles across Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), retail, and wholesale channels. The platform selected is Twilio Segment, chosen after an 8-week evaluation that beat Adobe CDP and Salesforce CDP on real-time event processing, composability, and developer ecosystem. The business driver is stark: Nike's own analysis estimates $340M/year in lost revenue from fragmented customer data. A Nike Member who buys running shoes on nike.com, enters a draw on SNKRS, and visits a Nike Factory Store is treated as three separate people. Marketing campaigns are duplicated or contradictory. Personalization — the centerpiece of Nike's 'Consumer Direct Acceleration' strategy — is impossible without a unified customer view. Accenture Song was engaged as the system integrator under an $8.5M fixed-price contract. Their pre-sales assessment identified 12 primary data sources and characterized the implementation as 'moderately complex — standard for enterprise retail CDP.' The total project budget is $12M ($8.5M SI, $2M Segment licensing, $1.5M internal costs). You are joining as PM at project kickoff. The requirements phase is complete, the vendor is mobilized, and stakeholders are aligned. Everything looks clean. It is not.
What you'll do as the project manager
- →Deploy Twilio Segment CDP as the unified customer data layer across all Nike consumer touchpoints — nike.com, Nike App, SNKRS, retail stores, and wholesale partner feeds
- →Implement identity resolution to merge 200M+ fragmented profiles into unified consumer records with a single persistent Nike Member ID
- →Integrate real-time event streaming from all digital and physical touchpoints to enable personalized marketing activation within 30 seconds of a customer interaction
- →Build audience activation pipelines to Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze (push/email), Adobe Analytics (attribution), and Meta/Google ad platforms
- →Achieve GDPR, CCPA, and state-level privacy compliance with centralized consent management — ensuring no data flows to any downstream system without verified consent
Project management skills you'll build
The challenges you'll navigate
- •Data source complexity may exceed Accenture's initial 12-source assessment — unknown regional variants and legacy systems could expand the integration scope
- •SNKRS identity graph operates independently of Nike Member ID — merging these without disrupting SNKRS launch mechanics is technically unproven
- •Privacy consent records across 40+ countries may have gaps — any gap is a GDPR exposure given Nike's Dutch DPA monitoring status
- •In-store POS customer identification rate may be lower than the estimated 65% — retail store data quality is largely unaudited
- •Wholesale channel has no direct consumer relationship — building even a partial identity layer for wholesale requires partner cooperation that is not yet secured
Technology & stakeholders
You'll manage 6 stakeholders, including Nicole Graham (EVP & Chief Marketing Officer), Cheryan Jacob (Chief Information Officer), Alan John (Global VP, Chief Data & AI Officer), and more.
What you'll walk away with
A verified, shareable record of a completed enterprise project — plus the PMO deliverables you produced along the way (charter, project plan, SteerCo deck, closure document). It's real, demonstrable project management experience you can put on your resume and speak to in interviews.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need project management experience to start?
No. This simulation is built for aspiring and practicing project managers alike — you learn by doing. You make real decisions and get feedback, with no PMP or prior PM job required.
How long does this simulation take?
It runs over 27 days, roughly 26 minutes per day, covering the full project lifecycle from initiation to closure.
What will I learn?
You practice the core of project management — stakeholder management, budget and schedule control, risk, scope, and PMO governance — in the context of cdp implementation in athletic apparel & footwear.
Is this based on the real Nike?
It's a realistic scenario inspired by Nike and the Athletic Apparel & Footwear sector. Details and names are fictionalized for training — it's a simulation, not a record of any actual project.
What do I get at the end?
A verified project completion plus the PMO deliverables you produced (charter, plan, SteerCo deck, closure) — proof of hands-on experience you can show employers.
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