Essay Under Armour Case Study

Under Armour, Nike and Adidas are the top three brands known worldwide. These three companies were able to gain a strong brand to make a name for themselves in the sports apparel market today. On the other hand, Under Armour has become one of the top leading distributing companies to offer athletic apparel, footwear amongst many other things. “In 2013, Under Armour had a 14.7 percent share of the U.S market, compared quite favorably with Nike’s 27 percent market share and Adidas’s 7.4 percent market share.” (C-50) However, the company’s path of success can come crashing down as you take a look

The Rivalry among competing sellers of sporting goods such as Under Armour, Nike, and Adidas-Reebok is strong and likely to intensify. The rivalry among sporting good sellers of energy will keep growing and will become stronger in coming years. Under Armour. Nike, and Adidas-Reebok have similar or competing product offerings and that is why competition among them is so high. If these companies want to stay in business they need to come up with different strategies that will set them apart from the opposition. Competition is intense and revolves around performance,

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’s business strategy towards market segmentation is broken down into three different basis; Age, Gender, Uses. The first major market segmentation is by age, different age groups demand different products and Under Armour has produced certain merchandise to appeal to each generation. The second is Gender, both male and female respectively make up roughly 50% of the market equally.To appeal to females UA produces apparel in brighter colo, as a fashion forward athletic wear. While for males they they cater toward masculine vibe of tight fitting and resistant to wear and tear. Lastly, UA segments by the range of uses for their products.

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

Sociocultural/Demographic – Under Armour was able to build its brand image through extensive sponsorship. Under Armour now provides gear to the NFL, MLB, MLS, NHL the USA baseball and Ski teams including other professional leagues abroad. In 2005, Under Armour was supplying over 100 NCAA division I-A football programs and 30 NFL teams. Only four years since its founding Under Armour had become a globally recognized brand, and was still looking for areas to branch into within the performance apparel industry and introduced a women’s and youth line.

In today’s athletic market world, being the number one is what many athletes strive for—that is what sets the standards for many sport clothing companies, to deliver products that allow athletes increase their performance while striving to take the number “one” spot. Under Armour works to deliver products that do that and more. Under Armour is currently one of the leading companies in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation” (Under Armour, Inc). Baltimore, Maryland-based Under Armour, founded in 1996 by ex-football player Kevin Plank, who transformed 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. Plank’s mission was to develop a shirt using synthetic materials that handled perspiration most efficiently than was previously expected. Under Armour’s ability to target their products to a wide range of potential clients has enhanced their ability to continue to grow within the athletic marketplace. Under Armour, it is classified as a high-end fitness clothing supplier that appeals to a diverse income audience. This audience has been reached by the outstanding advertising strategies and that include men, women and children. Under Armour currently uses a mixture of pull marketing and different campaigns for its diverse product lines. The overall goal for Under

Under Armour, Inc. is ranked among the established sports Kit producers across the globe. It thus enjoys massive sales in several markets. Under Armour has its headquarters Baltimore, Maryland with Kevin Plank as the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Robin Thurston as the Chief Finance Office. The company is committed to developing its brand continuously through advertisement. It is presently listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market with a share price of $46.99. The company through its CEO believes that for the company to remain viable in the market, it has to ensure that that its products satisfy the taste of the consumers (Thompson, 2015). Clearly, this has bored fruits, basing the argument on the high consumer

More outreach using their strengths of brand publicity and high profile celebrity endorsements will be key in the brand’s outreach to the world. Under Armour has their largest target market as athletes and sports minded people. With their largest advertising as endorsing professional athletes, like pro golfer Jordan Spieth, pro basketball player Stephan Curry, and pro skier Lindsey Vonn. With their slogan as “I will” meaning that they are targeting any athlete saying they can be however good as they want to be. Under Armour builds their company on brand loyalty and innovation in new products.

For men and women, the company offers variety of products such as shirts and tops such as short sleeves, sleeveless and tanks, graphic t-shirts, long sleeves, and hoodies and sweatshirts; underwear; warm-ups and jackets; bottom such as shorts, pants, leggings, and tights; outwear for men; and sports bra for women. For boys and girls, the company offers shirts, tops, and bottoms. It footwear line includes footwear for sports such as training, running, and basketball footwear, and hunting boots. The accessories line consists of backpacks and bags, headwear, gloves, socks, sunglasses, equipment, protective gear, and mouth guards for all age. At the end of 2013, the company generated 77.4% of its revenue from apparel, 13.1% from footwear, and 9.5% from accessories. So the broad product offering have been proven to be the company’s strength as it aids UA in supplying to different markets and it reduces the risks of being dependent on single segment for

Under Armour should exercise a focused, differentiated approach by exclusively developing performance apparel. Its non-standardized products are good for customers who prefer performance than price. For this reason, the corporation should have more emphasis on research and development to offer products, which are superior to what is in the market. On the other hand, its focus strategy should aim at particular sports, serving each sport’s needs more precisely than the broad apparel companies like Adidas and Nike. Combining a focus differentiation strategy will enable the firm to create a fertile niche positioning meanwhile meeting the customer’s specific needs (Kenyon,

Although the primary reason for sports and athletic wear was initially intended for athletes, many individuals whom do not pursue sports such as students, stay at home mothers, senior citizens, among many others, wear athletic wear daily and do not participate in sports or athletic activities. In conclusion, Under Armors mission statement is short, sweet, simple and to the point. Under Armor’s top competitors consist of a strong mix of new as well as established companies expanding into performance products such as footwear, apparel, work-out wear and sports accessories. Under Armor also competes against sporting goods stores such as Academy, Dicks and Cabela’s. In addition, it competes with companies that specialize in outdoor apparel such as Nike, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear and The

Under Armour adopt a differentiate product strategy through striving to offer superior products in its lineup of offerings to foster an innovation culture for the company. Moreover, it also worked with high-tech companies to produce innovative products such as Connected Fitness to step into a newer market segment.

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.

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