Under Armour: Shoe Marketing Analysis

It should be noted that Under Armour and its competitors form a segment of the Apparel Clothing market geared toward recreational and formal athletics. Under Armour, and its main competitors of Columbia Sportswear and Nike, are recognizible and prestigious brand names in the United States and in many other countries, yet affordable, to an extent, to most middle class Americans. They are popular among teenagers and young adults, and also worn by practical middle aged people and senior citizens. The desirability, versatility, and practicality of these items are intrinsic to the companies and help lead to their success. Specific practical yet luxurious products are offered, such as shirts and pants for running, that help the runner in either too hot or too cold climates. With more and more people trying to exercise for health, beauty, athletic, and other reasons, these types of products are in demand. It seems that there are some Niche markets, and unique products, among each of Under Amour and its competitors, so there is not much threat between the different brands. Also, some recreational and formal athletes would purchase all three brands of items. The industry is considered to be a growth industry, but also somewhat mature as all the brand names are recognized. The following article explains how the author, at the end of 2014, considered Under Armour to be “a great growth stock” http://investorplace.com/2014/12/under-armour-inc-ua-stock-growth/ (Navellier

In this paper, we present an elaborate analysis of the marketing mix employed by Nike in its marketing strategy. The marketing mix is conducted on the basis of the concept of "marketing mix" which is usually referred to as the "4Ps" as an important means of effectively interpreting as well as translating the marketing strategy into practice as noted by Bennett (1997).A recommendation is also provided.

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

Companies today face many challenges to maintain market share and differentiate themselves from a highly competitive and ever evolving market place. Marketing is crucial to a company’s long term success. The aim of this paper is to use the “Nike - The art of selling air” case study and concepts from strategic marketing

1.What is your assessment of the strength of competitive pressures stemming from rivalry among Under Armour, Nike and Adidas-Reebok?

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,

The athletic industry is a demanding market where brands battle for consumer’s attention and try to hold on to them through brand loyalty. To compete with one another, companies have to come out with new trends regularly. Nike is a leading competitor in the market and has been for the last fifty years. However, Under Armour, an up and coming competitor is challenging Nike through new styles and lower prices. These two companies look fairly similar; however, Under Armour’s strategy is different and it should be putting Nike on edge.

Comparing the two graphics shows that Footwear has seen a growth of 1% from 2010 – 2014. The biggest growth was seen in the product category of Accessories, where they was a spike of 4.1% in 2010 to 9.1 % in 2014 (Levitt, 2011) and (Soni, 2014). The growth of these products are something that Under Armour needs to continue to grow, while maintaining there underdog strategy in a highly competitive market. One recommendation to management is to continue to grow the product area such as Footwear and Accessories through your top athletes such a Stephen Curry who also represent your underlying strategy of being the underdog. Signing these underdog athlete can only help the products that they sponsor grow as they bloom into their for potential, just as Curry has in the last two

UA competitive strategy can be described as a brand differentiation strategy; this strategy is a perfect fit for the UA organizational structure. The brand differentiation strategy is befitting UA, because of its innovative status in the sports performance apparel industry, certainly the company has differentiated its products, and has avoided numerous pitfalls associated with the pursuant of the differentiation

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 turnover that the company enjoys. Moreover, the company has various opportunities to expand in the American markets. All the employees in the organization have to undergo a form of training on the operations of the company. The company is appreciated by several consumers across the globe as a result of the high-quality products it produces and the unique marketing strategies. It is founded on the slogan “protect this house.”

Even though footwear sales have improved for Under Armour, when looking at the Composition of Revenues for Under Armour in 2012-2015 (Exhibit 3, C-79) and comparing their composition to that of Nike and the Adidas Group, it’s evident that footwear sales are

Acting as two of the largest companies in the athletic apparel business by market share, both Nike and Under Amour, like the wearers of their products, know how to win. Whether it is the Air Mag, Nikes newest product invention or Under Armours 10 year partnership with Major League Baseball commencing in 2020, each company is taking a different approach to grow their business and become the “it” player in its industry. Although long term strategies devised by Nike CEO Mark Parker and Under Armours Kevin Plank may focus on different growth initiatives, when looked at more closely, one will find the many similarities between both firms. The grounds of comparison and contrast I will be using fall into the categories of product development, brand

Brands use different strategies to create competitive advantages to beat with their rivals. Some companies use “Overall Cost Leadership” to increase profit by reducing costs and increase market share by lowering price. Some companies use “Focus Strategies” to select a group of market and tailor its strategy to serve that group. The others use “Product Differentiation” as a strategy to obtain a premium price by making unique products. Nike, with its differentiation strategy, the company is continuing to separate its self from the competitors by using its superior technology and innovation. This paper mainly discusses on the company’s product differentiation and analysis how the company using this strategy to build its brand image and become a market leader in sportswear industry. A brief discuss about Nike competitive advantage which related to its broad differentiation aspect and the company product life cycle are also presented on this paper.

Our team has reviewed and compiled an assortment of financial statements and documents pertaining to the firm’s progress and financial position in comparison to its direct competitor, Nike. Through our financial analysis, we have identified potential areas of strength and weakness for Under Armour and Nike, which we plan to address and call to the attention of Under Armour’s management team.