Kevin Plank's Under Armour

New market opportunities could be a way to push Under Armour forward. Expanding the product service lines by under armour could help them raise sales and increase their portfolio. Expanding into other markets could be a possibility for under armour. Forming strategic alliances and joint ventures is an opportunity for under armour to maximize profit and gain new business. Reduce prices of the products. Increase number of retail outlets.

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

Under Armour was started in 1995 by a man called Kevin Plank. A young college graduate made it his goal to find a new kind of T-shirt for athletes. Kevin found the kind of fabric he was looking for, went to a tailor and had numerous prototypes made. Kevin then handed these prototypes out to friends that he had known from playing football for his a large portion of his life. His old teammates too these products, spread the word and before Kevin knew it he was selling thousands of shirts to athletes all around the world.

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

Under Armour, an American based apparel company was developed by Kevin Plank in 1995. As team captain on Maryland’s football team, Plank realized that there was a need for performance wear in the world of sport and so the story goes. Plank has developed a multi-billion dollar company in the past two decades with high expectations for the future. Under Amour has signed with some of the greatest of the greats as it relates to the world of sport such as Cam Newton, Steph Curry, Tom Brady and Lindsey Vonn to name a few.

1. Under Armour was founded in 1995 by Kevin Plank. Kevin played football at the University of Maryland and noticed how often he and he’s teammates had to change their undershirts because of all of the sweat they absorbed. The sweat the shirts absorbed made the shirts much heavier and more uncomfortable. He then noticed that the compressions shorts he was wearing were not nearing as heavy and didn’t absorb the sweat the shirt did. This one simple observation kick-started his experimentation to develop a t-shirt for athletes. He experimented with different fabrics in his grandmothers basements until he thought he created the perfect shirt. He sent the shirts to friends that played in the NFL. After receiving feedback, he perfected the design and made his first deal with Georgia Tech, from there the company took off.

Under Armour, a publicly traded company, was founded in 1996 by its CEO, Kevin Plank. Plank attended the University of Maryland where he played football. He was tired of having to change his cotton shirts over and over again when the football team had multiple practices a day, so he came up with a solution for the cotton shirts. This solution would re-design athletic apparel for the market. Plank designed a t-shirt that was, according to Under Armour (Under Armour), “…engineered with moisture-wicking performance fibers.” This design would help keep athletes cool, dry, and light while training and competing in the heat. Plank started selling his design from the trunk of his car as he drove up and down the East Coast, and his sales sky-rocketed

Under Armour began as a vision of former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank in 1996 for athletic wear made with more durable and practical material (“The Business of Under Armour”). The Fortune 500 company (Glassdoor) “...has been known to mainly act ethical especially since on Indeed.com they were given four out of five stars for job work/life balance (Indeed.com, 2014)” (Dinerstein). I believe Glassdoor to be trustworthy, as it is a website created to help prospective employees how the experience is at many companies, based on reviews and ratings. While Carl Dinerstein is not very reliable, considering the website is a blog for an ethics class, he does cite many sources, showing that there is some merit to his work. To expand exponentially as Under Armour did, it would not be surprising if there were many shortcuts taken for the sake of profit. Athleticwear brand Under Armour has been historically comparably socially conscious; however, there are still many flaws within the company in regards to child labor and

Under Armour’s strategy is to offer superior alternatives to competitor products. They strive to dominate by offering the best products on the market. Under Armour has expanded its business by acquiring MapMyFitness and partnering in joint ventures with DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment. Analysis and

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

With Nike having such deep pockets for things as research and development they always have the newest and most innovative gear in the market. The first products Under Armour sold were shirts. Kevin Plank started the company because he was frustrated at his two a day practices. He had to wear the same sweaty and wet cotton T-shirt all day.

Under Armour is lack of international presence when compared to rivals like Nike and Adidas. The company’s international sales accounts only 15% of its total revenues, which is far less than Nike which its non-U.S. sales contributes almost half of the net revenues.

As shown in Figure 2 of the Appendix, a Porter Five Force Analysis makes it clear that the overall rivalry within the athletic apparel industry is medium to high. Because Nike and Adidas already have a substantial amount of capital resources and other assets, Under Armour struggles against them to gain market share. 8Also, private labels of retailers and newer sports apparel companies could potentially pose a threat to Under Armour, but mostly due to the fact that Under Armour does not hold any fabric or process patents. This makes it extremely easy for any competitor to duplicate a product or process with no consequence. However, the threat of new entrants is not too troublesome within the industry because of the great capital cost required for branding, advertising, and meeting product demand. Furthermore, the sports apparel industry is in the maturity phase of the industry life cycle. This means that each company included in the oligopoly must