Under Armour's Strategy in 2013: Good Enough to Win Market Share from Nike & Adidas

4. Further Research—Gather information on Nike’s recent moves and accomplishments, and those of its rival Adidas. Are both firms following the same strategies and using the same structures to support them? Or, is one doing something quite different from the other? Based on what you learn, what do you predict for the future? Will Nike stay on top, or is Adidas the next industry leader?

How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer.

company has been in existence for a little over 15 years and has made huge strides in the textile,

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,

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.

As the brand name of Nike continue to soar, other companies in the industry; learning from the success Nike has experienced, start focusing more on brand development to keep up with the increasing levels of competition. These companies resort to brand maintenance, which has become the main target in this industry due to product differentiation made by Nike. Nike, being market-advantaged, produces an extensive range of products, through which it gains a balanced level of profits. This has influenced rival companies to initiate a new range of products in their businesses too. Previously these companies had high risks of failing in business, if their single products did not appeal to the market. Due to the impact of Nike’s business strategy, the other companies are also enlarging their product range,

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

1. We chose to study Under Armour because of their explosive growth over the last five years in a very competitive industry. From a marketing standpoint, it is quite apparent that the company is doing well and one could assume that because the firm appears to have had great success in aggressively expanding their market share, they are by extension creating value for investors. By studying the financial information, we aimed to confirm or deny whether Under Armour is indeed creating value.

How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The adidas Group? Do a five- forces analysis to support your answer.

The strength of the competitive forces vary among the Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group. The buyer bargaining power of Under Armour, is somewhat weak. Under Armour’s growth strategy entails, “Securing

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

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

Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports clothing and Accessories Company. The company is a supplier of sportswear and casual apparel. Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006.

Competition is very fierce due to the number of companies competing for sales. Lots of money goes to marketing and promotions using various channels to reach the young demographic group of consumers who spend the most money on Nike’s products. Growth is slowing down in the athletic footwear industry. But new markets are emerging with high growth rates. These markets include extreme sports market and the corporate merchandise market.

Companies in this industry also attempt to differentiate themselves by technical advancements in the apparel. Companies compete to find the technology that consumers believe will help their overall performance in sports and activities; whether it’s a sweat wicking shirt or lighter shoe, consumers seek the product they believe will give them the greatest advantage. Overall, the rivalry amongst competitors is a strong force that ultimately lowers the profitability of the industry.