Case Study Of Under Armor

Kevin Plank, the founder of Under Armour sports apparel line is a brilliant businessman. This former college football player started making work-out T-shirts from his grandmother’s basement; seventeen years later, the company is generating billions of dollars in revenue. Kevin Plank has created a brand that is more than just a fancy success story. The Under Armour’s mission in the sporting goods industry is to “make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation (Thompson, 2014, C-53).” This company is more than just a fancy success story. VIRO Analysis reported, Under Armour has been growing its revenue at a rate of +20% for 5 consecutive years, which is extremely impressive. The company’s financial

Companies like Under Armour, Nike and Adidas/Reebok have high threats of substitute´s products. These companies share the sport apparel industry and are vulnerable to competitive pressure from the actions of buyers whenever they view that their products can be substituted for others. The availability of substitutes invites the costumer to compare performance, features, and ease of use as well as price. Under Armour’s major competitors are Nike and Adidas/Reebok because they have a similar or competing product offerings. The top sport apparel brands offer similar products and that is why each one of them needs to keep a high standard and produce good quality products in order for customers to keep buying their product.

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

Under Armour has severely limited its product offerings due to its primary target market, which is geared mainly towards male athletes, aged 12-24. Their lack of diversity is a notable competitive disadvantage to industry rivals Nike and Adidas. However, we have recently witnessed the growth in demand for athletic-wear apparel - 6% (Marc Bain), as well as the growth in female sports engagement across the United States (Statista). A potential strategic alternative could be to significantly expand on their athletic apparel line. This expansion would primarily target female athletes within the same male target range. In order to enhance the success in this field, they should continue to add to the eight women (Under Armour Roster) who are currently apart of the Under Armour endorsement roster.

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

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.

Though previously smoking was conventional in workplaces, times has revolutionized; people became progressively conscious of the negative influence of smoking on health. The employees who had never smoked became outspoken regarding the stench of smoke and the prospective negative effects of second-hand smoke on their well-being. (Heathfield, S., 2016)

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.

Despite multiple potential points of contention within the plan itself, Under Armor should attempt to build the new complex at Port Covington. With steady growth and revenue generation, now is the perfect chance to rise up and truly compete with Nike for the number one sports apparel brand. The creation of this facility is the personification of that effort. This is a huge investment on the part of Under Armor, and should not be taken lightly, but it will pay dividends for Under Armor and Baltimore at large.

Under Armour is a widely known and financially successful corporation in today’s athletic apparel and performance industry; however nineteen years ago it all began with one man’s vivid idea. Kevin Plank, a young aspiring athlete and special team’s captain for the University of Maryland football team, was the first in 1996 to formulize an idea with purpose to provide athletes with a shirt to fit their workout and game needs. As any athlete knows cotton is not the best choice for vigorous activity since this fabric does not dry quickly. This notion is what catapulted Plank’s idea. He put his ideas into motion by creating a blend of fabrics that worked best for the comfort of athletes as this was his main goal. Plank named his company Under Armour and based it upon one shirt that he advertised as “a tight fitting, moisture wicking t-shirt that supports your muscles and regulates your body temperature” (Under Armour, Inc.). He worked determinedly out of his car and his

income they may buy more clothing, increasing sales for clothing manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. However, recessions have the opposite effect. Sales for clothing may be significantly lower due to many clothes being luxury items. If this happen retailers are stuck with large amounts of inventory which they might have to sell at reduced prices. The demand for more clothes, changing materials and demand for price there outside factors playing a role. One consequence of the rapidly expanding worldwide system of trade flows in clothing is that individual companies are not only competing more and more intensely with one another but are also becoming more functionally integrated with one another across the globe. (Scott, 2006). The sports

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.

This Business Week article is essentially a consumer product test in regards to Under Armour 's first foray into cross-training footwear. The article describes the three different versions UA will release and goes on to describe both aesthetic and comfort features having tried the shoes on and participated in athletic activity. The writer gives all three shoes high marks, ending by saying "anyone who thinks Adidas, Nike, New Balance, or Reebok don 't have anything to worry about from UA isn 't paying attention".

Under Armour’s continuous focus on innovation to develop products based on the growing needs and preferences of consumers has helped it to become a fully integrated athletic brand servicing all the needs of athletes. For instance, in 2011, the company introduced Charged Cotton products, which are made from natural cotton but perform like synthetic products and dry faster. Strom Fleece product line with a water-resistant that repels water, without stifling airflow was one of the innovation of Under Armour. In 2012, the company launched coldblack

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.