Under Armour Is An American Athletic Apparel Brand

​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 is a very famous sportswear company in the world. It sold products in three categories: apparel, footwear, and accessories. It had a wide variety of innerwear and outerwear in the apparel segment, a broad line of footwear, and a line of accessories for both men and women. Kevin A. Plank, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Under Armour (UA), was a walk-on special team’s player for University of Maryland football team. As an athlete, he knew what kind of sportswear material would be popular for athletes. Under Armour created a new category of sports apparel: “performance apparel” which focused on the athlete’s performance. In this segment, it had a 78% market in 2009. Because, it paid more attentions on quality, performance

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,

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by a former collegiate football player named Kevin Plank. Plank first developed the idea for this brand through his own personal need and desire, as a collegiate athlete at the University of Maryland, for a product that didn’t exist in the market at the time. Since its inception, Under Armour has continued to grow immensely and expand upon its continued success. However, Under Armour still has a lot more room to grow and a lot of potential within their industry. Perhaps their biggest strategic issue right now is that they rely too heavily on North America for their business. They have done very well from themselves in North America so far. Now is the time for them to leave their comfort zone within North America

In the meantime Under Armour has been the pioneer in the latest technology in athletics gear; the second step would be how to transfer the technology into fashionable designs that could satisfy female’s needs and taste. By centering on direct market segment, UA can be the leader and innovator of the female’s market with most fashionable and technologically athletics gear products.

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

Doing so is a huge opportunity to grow their brand and sales significantly. • Under Armour needs to continue to innovate in order to remain competitive with other companies like Nike, Adidas, and

Overall, Under Armour has shocked the business world with its success. Its marketing strategy is a lesson for small up and coming companies (and old companies too) that innovation, quality products and good marketing tools and tactics with a relentless pursuit of goals can reap tremendous

Under Armour, Inc. is the frontier for innovation of athletic performance products that enable consumers, men women and youth, to maximize their potential throughout the duration of a game, practice, or workout. The company was founded by Kevin A. Plank in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Under Armour develops and sells products in three primary categories, “In 2015, sales of apparel, footwear and accessories represented 71%, 17% and 9% of net revenues, respectively” (Under, 1). The remaining 3% of net revenues is generated through licensing arrangements. Sales are primarily driven by wholesale channels, but Under Armour “also generate net revenue from the sale of our products through our direct to consumer sales channel…and

Consistency tends to be the best assets that Under Armour has to their advantage. According to Plank, he states that the success of a business, "starts with a good product," and he continued to say that after you have a good product, "use front-end hustle with back-end muscle." Due to this consistent product that Under Armour produces, it has obtained a heavy customer loyalty. Sales and revenue speak for themselves. In 1996, Under Armour had revenues of fifty thousand dollars compared to 200 million in 2004.

As the name indicates, Under Armour (UA) is an athletic sport apparel company that was built under the concept of creating superior base layer apparel that acts as a performance enhancer for serious athletes. Created by Kevin Plank, a former college football player at the University of Maryland, Under Armour has experienced exponential growth since it was founded in 1996 in Baltimore.

Under Armour has infused their products and their brand image in various visual media forms, including over a dozen popular television shows and numerous motion pictures (Shank, 2009). The look and appeal of Under Armour was ideal as it was the combination of the intense, hard core athletic gear that could help with performance coupled with a hip, fresh look that would be able to appeal to consumers. To differentiate its product line from its competitors Under Armour leveraged its sophisticated design software, new manufacturing techniques, the latest in material engineering, and robust information technology systems to produce virtually everything it makes (Shank, 2009). The utilization of the marketing technique of product placement in television, movies, and video games has allowed Under Armour to promote the benefits of its product line to a larger audience (Shank, 2009). In 1998, Warner Brothers studio was

Under Armour is an originator of performance apparel. Although being the first in the market it doesn’t automatically mean they will be the industry leaders. In Under Armour’s case they are not, but they do have strengths that make them a contender amongst the bigger companies.

Cheng, Andria. "Underdog Under Armour Still Has a Long Way to Go to Catch up with Nike." Behind the Storefront RSS. N.p., 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. .

Under Armour 's mission is to have all athletes better with passion, design and innovation.