Under Armour Case Study Analysis

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank , a then 23-year old former special team’s captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmother 's basement in Washington, D.C. As a fullback at the University of Maryland , Plank got tired of having to change out of the sweat-soaked T-shirts worn under his jersey; however, he noticed that his compression shorts worn during practice stayed dry. This inspired him to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric. After graduating from the University of Maryland , Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland

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.

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

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.

​Under Armour is a great American success story by a young man with the determination to succeed in life. Mr. Plank grew his company by being different and becoming flexible in working in small

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank (Current CEO and Chairman of the company) and became publicly traded on NYSE in 2006. Under Armour’s core products were performance sport apparel, footwear, and accessories. Its main market is North America (95% of its revenue). Now, it is the second largest sports apparel companies in the U.S.

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 is a sports apparel company founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former football player in University of Maryland. The company specializes in sports clothing that compresses and wicks perspiration off the wearer’s skin rather than absorb it. The company uses a mechanistic organizational structure which involves a clear, well-defined, and vertical hierarchies of control. Under Armour’s organization structure is centralized and follows a vertical hierarchy of control and authority.

At first I thought that Under Armor would be an exception to this but then I realized that they don’t have exclusive deals with the manufacturers that they acquire their fabrics from to make their products. Therefore if one of its rivals ever wanted to they could possible acquire some of the innovative fabric that Under Armour uses and then use the fabric you produce similar products.

Under Armour is a product line based company. Under Armour sells sports clothing and Accessories Company. The company is a supplier of a wide range of sportswear and casual apparel mainly focusing on hi-tech sportswear for professional athletes. The products of Under Armour Performance Apparel have become the top choice of athletes around the world to wear under their uniforms or during workouts. It all began with college football player Kevin Plank, who designed a T-shirt to draw sweat away from the body and into a lightweight microfiber fabric. Though moisture-wicking fabric was not a new concept, Plank's lingerie-feeling garments became a sensation when they kept football players at the University of Maryland, Georgia

Under Armour was founded by CEO Kevin Plank. The 23-year-old former University of Maryland special team’s captain, dedicated his time to seek an innovative material that would wick the moisture and sweat from his body like compression shorts. This technology would support for a more comfortable and effective performance on the field. He found, in his experience, that the traditional cotton shirts under his gear was holding all of the sweat, resulting in Mr. Plank to change into a dry undershirt. Mr. Plank then developed the company with very limited funding. He had about $20,000 in previous entrepreneurial savings from activities such as selling flowers on Valentine’s Day and selling T-shirts at concerts. He also ended up using $40,000 in credit spread across five cards with the addition of a $250,000 Small Business Loan.

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.

The following is an environmental analysis of the “performance apparel” business sector of the athletic apparel industry, with an analysis on Under Armour, the 3rd largest athletic apparel company. The company is clearly rapidly growing, touching markets that have been dominated before, but continues to pride themselves on the performance of their products. The first section of this analysis will cover the trends in technology, economics, demographics, socialites and culture, as well as politics and legalities. It also includes coverage over Porter’s 5 forces and analysis’ of the industry and competitors. It will be concluded with strategies of success of the company as well as alternative strategies.

To understand the significance of Under Armour’s recent success, a brief history of the company is needed. It was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former football player from the University of Maryland. Under Armour’s original product was a shirt designed with synthetic fibers and wicking material to keep athletes cool and dry, even in the hottest weather. As the success of his t-shirts grew, Plank continued to innovate and developed many new products. Currently, Under Armour sells shoes, shirts, socks, backpacks, headbands, sports equipment, shorts and much more. It has traditionally played second-string to Nike, but with Curry’s support, Under Armour has surpassed its biggest competitor. Today, Under Armour is a very profitable company, specializing in sports apparel.