Under Armour Case Study PDF

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Mr. Prentice MKTG334-301 28 August 2019 Under Armour Case Study 1. What are the reasons for the success of Under Armour since its founding by Kevin Plank? What do you view the most important factors that have contributed to the growth of the company? a. From its inception, Under Armour continues to venture into different markets in order to stay afloat with direct competition. First, I believe it is important to note the fact that employees skipped out on a paycheck just because they believed in the company. Because of their humble actions (skipped paychecks), Under Armour was able to afford a full page advertisement in ESPN; this in turn led to a huge drive of traffic to their products, and brand as a whole. Besides the humbleness of the Under Armour employees, Plank has been able to get his products in popular movies such as “Any Given Sunday” and the HBO series “Playmakers”, as well as gain notoriety by megacelebrities Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman. These sources of publicity has let the overall brand of Under Armour flourish and make its way into major sport leagues such as the NFL and NBA. Under Armour continues to find new ways to properly market their products, as well as creating new products that their consumers want from clothing and accessories, all the way to basketball shoes. 2. What are the key components of Under Armour’s integrated marketing communications program? Discuss the role IMC has played in helping build the Under Armour brand. a. Like any company on the rise, valid IMC efforts are necessary to see any type of success in any market. Under Armour chose to position themselves as an athletic brand that can keep their athletes cool while they work out. This is why I think “Protect This House” works so well for the brand. Metaphorically, these athletes are protecting their “house” or body. Besides their catchy slogan, the way they presented said slogan and their products as a whole has deemed to be extremely successful. Plank realized that in order to get Under Armour ideas out, mainstream outlets such as ESPN and athletic ambassadors were a must. The addition of his ex-teammate Eric Ogbogu in commercials depicting their intense lifestyle is for sure a huge part of Under Armour’s success early on. The addition of other athletes and the moves to infiltrate other sports, such as basketball, are business moves that involve risk to receive a reward. Meaning, although Under Armour is not a complete driving force in basketball yet, they will be on the rise; especially after the signing of big time NBA player Stephen Curry. Under Armour’s IMC efforts involve media efforts across the entire spectrum.

3. Evaluate Under Armour’s decision to enter the mainstream athletic shoe market and compete in product/market segments such as cross training, running and basketball shoes?

a. Although Under Armour’s decision to infiltrate into the basketball market was not deemed a complete success, due to a 17% decline, I believe Under Armour is heading in the right decision within the basketball market. Basketball provides Under Armour with a multi-billion-dollar industry to tap into. Due to the fact that the NBA is primarily flooded by Nike and Jordan, it will take Under Armour some time to rise in the ranks of popularity. So, huge profits in this sector will take some time to occur for Under Armour, but it is most certainly a sector that they can compete in. As for their cross-trainer/running line, I also believe it is a “time will tell all” scenario. Cross trainers go hand in ahnd with athletic shoes (such as basketball shoes). Because of this, Under Armour chose a time where launching their basketball line could also potentially boost the popularity of a cross trainer line. As the cross trainers provide customers with casual everyday wear, the overall popularity of Under Armour will rise; in turn potentially rising the popularity of the basketball line. 4. Evaluate the strategy used by Under Armour to enter the basketball shoe market and compete against Nike as well as adidas and Reebok. Discuss the pros and cons of the company’s decision to use Brandon Jennings as their primary endorser for its new basketball shoe line. a. I personally believe Under Armour will continue to have a tough time competing with brands such as Nike (Jordan line) and Adidas due to the overall brand loyalty and image of these brands within the sport. When someone thinks about basketball, they probably think of Michael Jordan or LeBron - both Nike lifetime athletes. But, Under Armour is making its ways up the popularity rankings and it all started with Brandon Jennings - Under Armour securing Jennings to a sponsorship deal was huge for their overall growth. It was definitely a risk due to the fact that he was a rookie at the time of the signing, but luckily, he panned out to be a dominant force in the NBA. Because of this Under Armour has been able to successfully lock down NBA All-Star Stephen Curry to a sponsorship deal. The Curry signing has provided Under Armour with a sense of cushion and confidence, due to the stardom of Curry, that can hopefully entice other big name basketball players to join Under Armour. 5. Do you think Under Armour will be successful in entering the basketball shoe market? Why or why not? a. They will be successful, just not on the same level as Nike/Jordan. As stated previously, there is so much brand loyalty towards Nike in the basketball world. Because of this, Under Armour will have to ride the overall success of Stephen Curry to have success as a brand in the league. Along with continuing IMC efforts, Under Armour has to sign at least a few more big time players to really be a driving force in the basketball sector. When selling athletic apparel, brands need to have a line of popular athletes who represent their brand because everyone wants to look/feel like the pros!...