Under Armour is a worldwide company that was founded by the former University of Maryland football player, Kevin Plank. Football is the sport that gave Under Armour its start, not only did it dominate the company's product categories, but also pervaded its culture. This company was started in Plank's basement. They have overcome many challenges and obstacles financially to have a continual growth in sales and get to where they are today. Plank has been very successful in developing new and innovative products that the world has never experienced before. Under Armour has always maintained their competitive advantage by creating top notch products and developing new strategies and ideas to outcompete the rivals.
When Under …show more content…
Sports apparel and athletic footwear are two very important products in this industry. The sports apparel accounted for $30 billion in revenues while the footwear was $12.9 billion with a projected growth rate of 5.1%. So, this is a tough industry to compete in over the top companies such as Nike and Adidas.
Strategic Managers
The strategic managers that really helped Under Armour achieve their success are:
- Operations: In 2009, Under Armour had 22 manufacturers operating in 17 different countries to test, and study the perfect material from the right manufacturer.
- Distribution: Products were shipped to retailers and company stores via third party logistic companies.
- Marketing: Under Armours marketing budget was spent on athlete influencers, print, digital, T.V advertisements, and payments to college teams to wear the company's products.
- Personnel: In 2010, Under Armour employed about 3,000 people to work at the manufacturing facility, distribution centre, and various company-owned stores. They received 30,000 …show more content…
They rely heavily on these stores to bring in a good majority of their revenue. People go to these stores looking to buy athletic apparel or footwear, once they get there they're faced with many other options from different brands. If people find a cheaper alternative, they're likely going to go with that option unless they are very loyal to Under Armour. Under Armour needs to begin to establish more flagship stores that offer everything Under Armour has to offer.
Secondly, Under Armour shouldn't only target towards the younger demographics. Currently, Under Armour is only associated with high school and college athletes, children, and young adults. They need to expand their target market to adults of all ages. People over the age of forty have no incentives to purchase Under Armour unless they have established brand loyalty. This is putting the company at high risks of losing millions of potential