Company Background Of Under Armour

Under Armour’s rapid rise in the sports apparel industry under its founder and CEO Kevin Plank has surprised many. Plank has turned a company that he started in his grandmother’s basement into a powerful opposing force to Nike. The company’s competitive advantage comes through its focus on performance, and its products have been well received by athletes. The company currently enjoys a strong position as professional athletes and movie and video game creators clamor for its products.

Competitors in the industry can wreak havoc on the bottom line for a company. With rivals, a price competition usually ensues, which benefits the customers but hurts the competing businesses that share a common strategy. In reviewing rival sellers, many competitors exist within the sports apparel and footwear industry, but most of them are unable to compete with the industry giants, Nike and Adidas. They are well seated in the industry and their sales reveal this ultimate strength, however, Under Armour is putting pressure on these mammoths. In 2015, global sales of sports clothing and footwear equated to $250 billion, of which Nike grabbed $30.6 billion, Adidas held in its grasp $18.8 billion and Under Armour had a much smaller piece of the pie, at $3.9 billion globally. In reviewing these numbers, it looks like Under Armour is really subpar to the industry giants, but this is not exactly the case. Under Armour in the past couple of

In 1996, Kevin Plank, a former special teams captain at the University of Maryland had an idea for clothing that would revolutionize the way athletics would be played. In his days in college playing football and going through two-a-days, he knew there had to be a better solution to dealing with perspiration than changing his cotton shirts. Plank created a shirt with moisture-wicking performance fibers, engineered to keep athletes cool, dry, and light even in the most hot and brutal conditions. In 1997, Under Armour created clothes for all seasons, whether it’s cold or hot. As Plank began to search the East coast, he came from selling gear out of the trunk of his car to 1998 where he moved into a new warehouse ("Under Armour, Inc. - History.").

Under Armour (UA) was founded by a then 23-year old football player from the University of Maryland in 1996 named Kevin Plank. Kevin started the company from his grandmother’s basement in Washington, D.C. As a player he became tired of having to change his undershirts which became quickly soaked with perspiration. A revelation he made was that his compression shorts worn during practice remained dry even with heavy sweating. This inspired him to make a t-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric. After graduating, Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland teammates and friends who had gone on to play in the NFL. He soon perfected the design of the shirt which utilized microfibers that quickly wicked

a. Under Armour’s approach towards innovation is very unique, they think and plan out their projects thoroughly in order to create a one of a kind product that could be appealing to their consumers. The company has been extremely progressive throughout the years in order to stay ahead of the other competitive companies in their targeted industry. By constantly updating and coming up with different product lines, such as compression shirts and cleats, Under Armour is able to compete with other top athletic wear company’s in their market. If

The also place a big emphasizes on the Under Armour logo and pushed for brand recognition. Under Armour became the official uniform sponsor for many colleges and sport teams. Under Armour’s strategy was to design and make varies styles of sports apparel with their moisture-wicking fabrics to satisfy the needs of athletes of all levels and all sports. Their growth strategy was to continue to expand on the products they offered their consumers. They wanted to create more products that encompassed several sports and activities. By doing this they would be targeting additional consumers with their new performance products. Part of the growth strategy was to expand sales in foreign countries, become a global competitor in sports apparel and strengthening the appeal of their products and brand

Under Armour’s (UA) current CEO Kevin Kant founded the company in 1996, which has witnessed the company grow in recent years to become a key player in the sporting gear and apparel industry. UA focuses its products and marketing efforts towards the youth, men, and women. The amount of resources that are allocated to each group of customers differs in that initially, UA primary source of revenue was from men even if youth and women products were also produced and sold. The specificity of UA’s products and their sporting activities selectivity can be attributed to UA’s limited global market share in the sporting gear and apparel industry. The company’s mission statement is inspiring, but in order to gain competitive advantages against larger

Under Armour is a well-known brand for all ages known for its quality products. UA has high brand recognition and offers a variety of products, with a variety of styles and product purposes. UA continues to grow and is already the third largest athletic brand in the world (Chapman, 2017). They have sponsorships with big name athletes including championship athletes. They have a strong marketing message that encourages consumers to work hard at their goals like the underdog athletes they sponsor that end up on top. Another strength is their retail stores; they offer hands-on stores that allow consumers to see their innovative technologies.

Under Armour is in the Textile- Apparel Clothing industry, in the consumer goods sector. The market has been driven by economic recovery, new product offerings and a

The competitors of Under Armour include Nike, Adidas, Sport Hill and Columbia Sportswear. These companies will use many strategic to attract customer in order to purchase their products. For example, companies can spend out more money in advertising and quality of products to increase their competition advantages in the sportswear market. Therefore, Under Armour need spend more cost to hire the skilled workers and purchase more machines in the production in order to compete with other competitors. The effect of high intensity of rivalry among competitors lead to Under Armour cannot maximizing their optimal profit and increase the burden of

Founded in 1996 by University of Maryland graduate Kevin Plank, Under Armour has become the leading supplier of the athletic performance apparel industry. Under Armour began with simple idea to create a t-shirt that would enhance athletic performance by regulating body temperature and removing perspiration

Under Armour Inc. based in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the leading designers, marketers, and distributors of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. The Company engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of a range of apparels and accessories utilizing various synthetic microfiber fabrications in the United States and internationally. It offers a wide variety of merchandises including sporting goods and lifestyle products. Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former football player with the University of Maryland. Plank came up with a synthetic fabric design which enabled sweat to be "wicked-­away" during high levels of physical activity. The company was originally named KP sports and changed their name to Under Armour in 2005 when the company went public. Plank believed that Under Armour’s potential for long-­term growth was achievable due to the company’s ability to build an incredibly powerful brand in a relatively short time, significant opportunities to expand, and the fact that company was only in the early stages of establishing its brand and penetrating markets outside North America (Thompson).

The rapid success of Under Armour is not a mistake. The company dominates the performance apparel category. According to Founder Kevin Plank, “The mission of Under Armour is to make technically advanced products that are engineered with superior fabric construction, to provide proven innovation available to the masses-aimed at making athletes perform better” (UnderArmour.com). Under Armour uses many marketing initiatives including athlete endorsement, product placement, and popular culture which illustrates the success of Under Armour.

Under Armour is currently one of the leading companies in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation”.1 When Under Armour first broke into the sports apparel industry it was a disruptive pioneer that initially made the two giants, Nike and Adidas, a little weary. Under Armour revolutionized the sports apparel industry by creating apparel that used synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers, such as cotton, or other materials, such as polyester. This all-important switch to these materials resulted in a 2“shirt that provided compression and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it. A

Under Armour is a very popular and well-known brand throughout the world, there are many reasons why this is the case and why they are very successful as a company. Under Armour creates value for their customers in many ways, one of these ways is with their basketball shoes. Customers wouldn't want to buy shoes if they didn't think it would be durable and a good shoe. Customers can trust Under Armour’s basketball shoe because it is a shoe that somebody in the NBA wears. This shows that someone is willing to trust their million-dollar contract with their shoes to help them get their well-earned money, and that shows to confidence in Under Armour. Under Armour also gives many different options that the customer can choose from. They offer different technologies, materials, and articles of clothing. There are many different technologies they have, but I will only list a few. One of these technologies is cool switch, this helps athletes perform longer because the clothing will keep them cool and save them from sweating as much which helps save energy. Also, they offer many different materials in case a customer is allergic to a certain type of material there is always another so that they don't lose a customer. They also offer all different types of clothing so that whatever you need they'll have. Based on this research it proves that Under Armour has done so much to get where they are and be as successful as they are.