“Protect This House”: Three Words That Have
Become One Movement
Michelle Edelson
May 12, 2015
The Johns Hopkins University
Woodrow Wilson Fellowship
In 1996, Kevin Plank turned his dream of creating a t-shirt that would wick away his sweat into
a reality. As a football athlete at the University of Maryland, he hated starting the game with a
dry shirt and ending with his shirt soaked in sweat and weighing significantly more than when
the game began. This inspired him to make something great and that is exactly what he did. Less
than twenty years later, Under Armour has become a multi-billion dollar international company,
with over a $330 million marketing budget (up approximately 34% from 2013) and the number
two sports-gear maker in the United States. However, it wasn’t an easy road to get there. Under
Armour had its fair share of controversies, but through it all, Under Armour has been true to its
core and never given up. This research project explores what marketing strategies make Under
Armour successful and how its corporate culture permeates into its marketing strategy.
History
After being the “self-proclaimed
‘sweatiest guy on the football field’”, Kevin
Plank decided he needed to find a material
that would wick away the sweat from his
body as he played the game to ensure his
success on the field (Plank, 2011, p. 1).
After graduating from the University of
Maryland in May 1996, Kevin Plank went
through seven prototypes before settling on
the synthetic material he had been searching
for. He quickly got to work and created a
synthetic t-shirt, which he sent to his former
teammates who went professional and urged
them to wear his newly created synthetic tshirt when they played the game. Through
word-of-mouth, the ultimate marketing tool
to make something contagious, Kevin
Plank’s synthetic t-shirts were getting
passed from player to player in locker rooms
(Plank, 2011, p. 1).
As word continued to spread, Under
Armour began to grow. By the end of 1996,
Under Armour made $17,000 in sales and
was officially in business. After its first year
of success, Under Armour introduced two
important types of fabric that have been key
to its success. The first is the “now-famous
ColdGear® fabric” and the second is the
“AllSeasonGear® line” (Under Armour,
2015). After a couple of years in business,
Under Armour’s big break came when an
ESPN Magazine advertisement for the brand
generated $750,000 in direct sales. Shortly
following, athletes and teams began buying
Under Armour apparel (Plank, 2011, p. 4).
In 2002, Under Armour moved to its
present-day headquarters in Baltimore,
Maryland where it has transformed the city
and become a driving force in fostering
community and bettering the city of
Baltimore (Under Armour, 2015). Since the
move, Under Armour has continued to grow
as a result of its campaigns and sports
contracts with various teams on the
collegiate and national level. It has
expanded its national presence in the public
arena as a direct result of its sponsorships
with national sports teams and professional
players across a variety of sports. In 2014,
Under Armour hit many milestones that
contributed to its most successful year to do
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date and demonstrated that Under Armour is
a fierce competitor in the industry both on
the national level and internationally. Under
Armour generated more than $3 billion in
revenue (Interactive Data Managed
Solutions, 2015). It increased its marketing
budget to more than $330 million, which
was approximately an $83.5 million or 34%
increase since 2013 (Zmuda, 2014). Lastly,
Under Armour surpassed Adidas to
officially become the number two sportsgear maker in the United States (Mirabella,
2014).
With more than 8,000 employees
around the globe, Under Armour has
become a success story and that success is
only going to increase. Under Armour
continues to find new ways to innovate and
enter the current markets and is always in
the conversation, no matter what the deal is.
That being said, it wasn’t an easy road to get
there and Under Armour has had its fair
share of controversies, but it has come out of
them stronger and more motivated to
continue to produce the best quality a
company can and be the communityorientated company that it is.
Method
Through in-depth interviews,
ethnographic observational research, in-store
research and secondary literature research, I
was able to conduct a deep drive into Under
Armour’s authentic marketing strategy and
investigate what has made Under Armour
the successful brand that it is today. I
interviewed with high-level executives
within the company who were able to
provide me with a greater understanding of
how Under Armour’s marketing strategy has
evolved from a zero-dollar budget to what it
is today and why its strategy is so effective.
I also interviewed with store managers,
social media managers and visual managers
at Under Armour Brand Stores (flagship
stores) and Under Armour Factory Stores
(outlet stores). These interviews gave me a
deeper understanding of how the stores
function, specifically, what Under Armour
offers its customers, how Under Armour
markets its merchandise and how everything
in Under Armour stores stem from the
corporate headquarters. Additionally, I was
able to interview with the creative directors
at Droga5, who worked on Under Armour’s
most recent women’s campaign entitled “I
Will What I Want”.
Corporate Culture
Under Armour’s DNA is the passion
of sport and innovation. The athletic culture
that exists on the football field is the same
type of culture you will find within the walls
of Under Armour’s headquarters and Under
Armour’s stores nationally and
internationally. Kevin Plank’s athletic career
is the story behind Under Armour and that
story has become an integral part of the
foundation of Under Armour’s corporate
culture. Rather than referring to Under
Armour employees as employees, everyone
who works at Under Armour is referred to as
a teammate (O. Rivas, personal
communication, June 23, 2014). Rather than
having employee meetings, there are team
huddles. Employees are encouraged to
“know their position” and “execute the play”
among other athletic phrases that are
commonly used among a football team.
Lastly, Under Armour employees are
constantly told to respect their teammates,
which is one of the core values of the
company (Plank, 2011, p. 1). To take that
athletic stance one step further, companywide meetings take place on the half-court
basketball court inside Under Armour’s
campus (K. Olga, personal communication,
August 27, 2014).
This athletic demeanor extends
beyond the Under Armour campus and the
Under Armour stores to its marketing
strategy. Under Armour is an athletic
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company that strives on optimizing athletes
ability and individuals’ athletic ability. Its
in-store teamwork mentality among
employees motivates employees to work
together and create an inviting environment
for its customers to shop in, where its
customers immediately feel like they are a
part of the Under Armour team. Every
employee wears Under Armour in-store and
commands an athletic presence, which in
turn, influences the customers to buy the
athletic apparel and flaunt their athleticism.
Kevin Plank’s experience on the football
field has served as a way to help connect
Under Armour with potential customers,
which is a key element to Under Armour’s
marketing strategy.
Marketing Strategy
When Under Armour initially began
in 1996, there was no marketing budget so
the company relied solely on word-ofmouth. Kevin Plank sent shirts to his former
teammates who went on to the professional
league and he encouraged them to pass the
shirts along to their new teammates.
Through word-of-mouth and social
influence, more and more players began to
wear Under Armour and word got out that
real athletes wear Under Armour under their
uniforms. As Under Armour continued to
grow, Kevin Plank explained that Under
Armour does not need to pay its athletes
millions of dollars to wear Under Armour
because the “model is getting to the athletes
– supplying them with great product that
helps them perform better” (Plank, 2003).
Although Under Armour’s marketing
budget has grown significantly since 1996, it
still heavily relies on word-of-mouth as a
key factor to its marketing strategy. Kevin
Plank states it himself, “the vital nature of
our product is word of mouth” because
people wear Under Armour apparel and talk
about it with their friends, colleagues and/or
teammates and soon those networks of
people are hooked on the product (Plank,
2003). Additionally, word-of-mouth has
been proven to be more effective than
traditional advertising for two reasons. First
and foremost, it is more persuasive. Wordof-mouth is honest and trustworthy, which
makes it significantly more influential than a
paid advertisement (Berger, 2013, p. 8).
Furthermore, word-of-mouth provides
people with information and subsequently
often serves as an influencer (Berger, 2013,
p. 128). After all, humans serve as marketers
because humans are “hardwired to want
people to agree with” their opinions and
views (Jiwa, 2014, p. 3). I found this to be
the case through my observational research
whether it be talking with individuals who
were commenting on my Under Armour
apparel or simply listening to people talk
about their athletic apparel preferences
while exercising in the gym. The second
reason that makes word-of-mouth extremely
effective is that it is more targeted because it
“is naturally directed toward an interested
audience” (Berger, 2013, p. 9). Kevin Plank
used this to his advantage in the beginning
stages of the company by fostering the
conversation among professional football
players. Since then, the conversation has
encompassed thousands of people including
both athletes and athletic individuals who all
care about their athletic apparel and
accessories.
Although word-of-mouth is
extremely effective and an important aspect
to Under Armour’s marketing strategy, there
are three major pillars to Under Armour’s
marketing strategy that I found through my
research in addition to the various other
ways that Under Armour successfully
markets its brand. Under Armour has unique
technology and prides itself on innovation,
but there is more to the company than
simply inventing a new product like the
Under Armour Curry One (Under Armour’s
latest basketball shoe released February
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2015) or creating new heat gear technology.
The three primary pillars that I found to be
key to Under Armour’s marketing strategy
and stem from the corporate culture are
storytelling, building personal relationships
and lifestyle emphasis.
Under Armour heavily relies on
storytelling as a way to successfully market
its brand and merchandise. After all, Under
Armour has a great story to tell – a college
athlete wanting to create a t-shirt to increase
on-field performance and succeeds at doing
so. The perseverance and motivation shown
in Kevin Plank’s story of having a dream
and making it into reality is the type of story
that Under Armour continues to tell through
its campaigns and spokespeople.
Under Armour utilizes stories to
connect with people in stores, through
campaigns and at events. Storytelling has
been proven to be very effective because
stories are vessels to transfer information to
people (Berger, 2013, p. 24). When you
enter an Under Armour store, you are taken
through a story of the company and
associated lifestyle. You are also taken
through your own story whether you are an
athlete or an athletic individual by starting
with the running or cardio and moving
towards the yoga or mediation and ending
with the lifestyle necessities of a water
bottle or with an upcoming national or
international event such as Mother’s Day
(O. Rivas, personal communication, June
23, 2014).
Similar to the in-store experience,
Under Armour strives to tell a story through
its campaigns. Rather than run a campaign
every month, Under Armour has found that
having three campaigns throughout the year
is significantly more effective. Similar to not
referring to employees as employees, but
rather teammates, Under Armour calls its
campaigns “holidays,” which is where the
company focuses its broadcast dollars. The
three holidays occur during prime athletic
events or shopping periods and showcase
different Under Armour products. The first
holiday takes place during January-March
and typically utilizes the Super Bowl as a
media channel to advertise. The second
holiday takes place during July-August,
which coincides with Back-to-School
shopping. The third and final holiday occurs
at the end of the year, typically beginning
around Thanksgiving (E. Wendell & L.
Wolf, personal communication, September
25, 2014).
When choosing spokespeople for
campaigns, Under Armour looks for
individuals who have a unique story to tell
that is real and relatable. Under Armour
doesn’t focus on fame like some of its
competitors. Instead, Under Armour
concentrates on stories about overcoming
challenges or beating the odds, which
highlight the raw emotion in athletes.
Emotional content is more likely to be
shared because emotions help people to
connect so an awe-inspiring story is likely to
facilitate a conversation (Berger, 2013, p.
105). Furthermore, feelings and emotion
motivate people to action (Berger, 2013, p.
113). Under Armour finds stories that evoke
emotion because emotional content will
serve as an influencer and Under Armour
will be seen as a company that helped
contribute and shape the success of the
spokesperson.
One of the biggest holiday’s Under
Armour recently launched was the “I Will
What I Want” women’s campaign in August
2014 with a second launch in September
2014. As of December 2014, the campaign
has reached more than 5 billion global
impressions (E. Carabetta, personal
communication, March 2, 2015). The
campaign spotlighted six women who are
now known as the women of will. These
women are Misty Copeland, Lindsey Vonn,
Kelley O’Hara, Sloane Stephen, Brianna
Cope and most notably Gisele Bündchen.
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The two women who were the primary focus
were Misty Copeland and Gisele Bündchen,
both of whom have incredible stories to tell
and show the true determination of will.
Misty Copeland started ballet when she was
thirteen years old and was told that she had
“the wrong body for ballet” and she was
“too old to be considered,” yet she
persevered and has become an international
ballerina (H. Ciatti & J. McKelvy, personal
communication, October 16, 2014). Misty
Copeland showed a different type of athlete
than the traditional athlete normally chosen
as a spokesperson for Under Armour. By
choosing a ballerina, Under Armour showed
its support and respect for all kinds of
athletic activity (E. Wendell & L. Wolf,
personal communication, September 25,
2014). Under Armour did not pick Misty
Copeland solely for her athletic ability. The
company chose her because her story
demonstrates that will trumps fate by
overcoming adversity. Gisele Bündchen was
chosen to show that will trumps noise by
proving her ability to overcome the positive
and negative tweets people wrote about her
while she demonstrated her boxing
athleticism (H. Ciatti & J. McKelvy,
personal communication, October 16, 2014).
Will trumping fate and will trumping
noise are values Under Armour believes and
wants its customers to understand. Under
Armour truly believes that an individual can
accomplish anything he or she wants to if
that individual puts his or her mind to it. By
unleashing this campaign and these
values/beliefs that Under Armour holds,
Under Armour serves as a cheerleader for
the upcoming new athlete or someone who
simply wants to complete his or her first
marathon. Under Armour relies on stories as
a way to connect with its customers and
motivate its customers to continue to push
themselves and be their best version.
“I Will What I Want” tells the stories
of women athletes or athletic women. The
campaign created a newfound momentum
for the way in which Under Armour targets
the female market. Under Armour is a
company that is rooted in college sports and
has always been a predominantly masculine
product that has resonated with a specific
group of people. By introducing this
campaign and new marketing tactic, which
strayed from the original “shrink it and pink
it” manner, Under Armour reinvented how
to market to women. This campaign allowed
Under Armour to encourage women to be
themselves and provide them with the
motivation to achieve anything they set their
minds to (H. Ciatti & J. McKelvy, personal
communication, October 16, 2014).
Through this campaign, Under
Armour expanded its female platform and
created events to connect with women, no
matter their level of athleticism. Under
Armour has started to host events for
everyday women to tell their own stories
about challenges they have overcome and
how will trumps anything and everything.
These stories include losing weight, being
diagnosed with a disease or simply being a
mom and having to deal with kids everyday
needs (H. Ciatti & J. McKelvy, personal
communication, October 16, 2014).
The women of will are only one
example of a group of Under Armour’s
choices for spokespeople. In its most recent
campaign entitled “The Book of Will,”
Under Armour focuses on Stephen Curry, a
professional basketball player who was just
crowned Most Valuable Player in the NBA
for the 2015 season. Under Armour, which
has consistently been the underdog in the
basketball shoe industry compared to Nike is
looking to use this campaign and
endorsement to build momentum for a longterm goal of beating Nike and becoming the
number one worldwide sports brand
(Schultz, 2015). Like many of Under
Armour’s spokespeople, Stephen Curry also
has his own story, which includes being
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under-recruited, small in size, unfortunate
coaching and being injured in the beginning
of his NBA career. In fact, similar to Misty
Copeland, some coaches believed he would
not be able to play in the NBA because of
his size and immediately counted him out,
but he has proven himself to be one of the
best players and brings that determination
and will to the Under Armour brand
(Telleria, 2013). “The Book of Will”
campaign focuses on a very different
demographic than the “I Will What I Want”
campaign to ensure that Under Armour is
reaching all audiences and to show that
Under Armour is passionate for all sports.
Ultimately, stories serve as a
connecter for companies and their clientele.
Under Armour began with a story of an
athlete with a dream to make a moisturewicking shirt and so far, he has succeeded.
That framework of overcoming a challenge
or difficulty has directed Under Armour’s
marketing strategy to focus on individuals
with similar challenges. Through these
stories, Under Armour has been able to
redefine how to market to women, showcase
innovative technology through emotional
content and has empowered people to reach
for their goals and motivate them to
accomplish what may seem to be the
impossible.
The second pillar to Under Armour’s
strategy is building personal relationships.
This stems back to Under Armour’s core
value of respecting one’s teammates, which
extends beyond Under Armour employees in
Under Armour’s own stores to Under
Armour customers and to employees in
department stores where Under Armour is a
product. Whether in store or in a sports
stadium, Under Armour finds ways to
connect with its customers on a personal
level.
In store, Under Armour employees
act like they have known their customers for
a very long time. Under Armour employees
make a conscious effort to take time to get
to know more about their customers so that
they can cater to the customers needs. Under
Armour has a customer first approach that
places the emphasis on the customer
experience and making sure customers feel
welcomed in brand stores, factory stores and
even department stores. Immediately upon
entrance, there is an Under Amour employee
at the front door greeting all customers and
asking how they are doing and how they can
be of assistance. Under Armour assumes
that customers do not know anything about
Under Armour technology, which allows
Under Armour employees to explain the
technology and develop a relationship with
the customer (O. Rivas, personal
communication, June 23, 2014). It has been
proven that making people intentionally feel
helpless is one of the worst strategies (Jiwa,
2014, p. 15). Under Armour effectively
assumes people do not know the technology
behind its apparel as a way to avoid people
feeling helpless and unsure of what to
purchase. This in turn allows Under
Armour’s employees to build relationships
with its customers. Ultimately, Under
Armour’s goal is to convert anyone who
walks into an Under Armour store into an
avid Under Armour customer and does this
by building relationships with potential
customers (O. Rivas, personal
communication, June 23, 2014).
In addition to building relationships
with customers in Under Armour stores,
Under Armour has started a pilot brand
ambassador program, which allows the
brand to connect with potential customers in
big department stores such as Dick’s
Sporting Goods and Sports Authority. Brand
ambassadors stand on the Under Armour
pad (the Under Armour section in
department stores) and communicate the
Under Armour story to customers while
explaining the brand and the technology
behind its apparel. This stems from the
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concept that Under Armour wants its
customers to get the same experience
regardless if they are shopping in an Under
Armour store or a department store. Brand
ambassadors spread the Under Armour
message and teamwork mentality beyond
the walls of Under Armour headquarters and
stores. By explaining the company, brand
ambassadors target customers on a personal
level and build relationships with these
customers in addition to the employees in
these department stores (E. Carabetta,
personal communication, March 2, 2015).
Under Armour has also built
relationships with national sports teams and
universities, which translates to building
relationships with cities. Being situated in
the heart of Baltimore, Under Armour has
connected with the city through the
Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens
and its charitable contributions to the city.
Under Armour has signage in both stadiums
to ensure its presence within the Baltimore
community and has shirts related to the
teams as a way to connect with the sporting
fans in Baltimore. Additionally, Under
Armour has its own “protect this house”
defensive cheer for the Baltimore Ravens
when they are on defense that gets all the
Ravens fans out from their seats and
cheering on their favorite players. Although
this is not as direct as personal selling, it
connects a city to the brand and unites the
people of Baltimore or any city that Under
Armour is present in, which furthers the
Baltimore (or another city) appreciation for
Under Armour.
Similarly, Under Armour sponsors
universities, which creates additional Under
Armour fans by students wearing their
school apparel and inadvertently, wearing
Under Armour. Under Armour sponsors
University of Maryland, which is Kevin
Plank’s Alma Mater and one of the Big Ten
schools, which provides Under Armour with
a lot of national sports publicity. In 2014,
Under Armour signed the biggest deal in
college sports history by signing a 10-year
contract with Notre Dame (S. Battista,
personal communication, August 27, 2014).
Although sponsoring schools does not
directly build relationships with students, it
does provide Under Armour with a
foundation for building relationships and
puts Under Armour at the forefront of
students and people’s minds, such that
Under Armour is a recognizable and good
brand.
The third pillar to Under Armour’s
marketing strategy is the lifestyle emphasis.
As the athletic lifestyle becomes
increasingly more popular, Under Armour
has made a push for more lifestyle
initiatives. Research has shown that
marketing apparel tends to be extremely
effective when promoting sports apparel as a
lifestyle product, in addition to marketing
apparel to women, which connects to the “I
Will What I Want” campaign (Fullerton,
2009). Furthermore, research has also shown
that “people pay for the intangible value, for
what they experience and what they care
about” (Jiwa, 2014, p. 19). Under Armour is
more than just a sports company. It is a
company that values community, service
and positive energy. With the newfound
lifestyle focus, Under Armour has begun
grassroots outreach within the communities
where its stores are located and has formed
partnerships with local stores, brands, gyms,
spas and hotels in those cities (M. Chute,
personal communication, June 20, 2014).
Under Armour has formed running clubs in
New York and Baltimore to promote healthy
living and to get customers involved with
the brand in innovative ways beyond simply
buying apparel. They have mapped running
routes with breakfast and other snacks at the
end of the run and plenty of Under Armour
employees/trainers cheering the runners
along the way. In Baltimore, Under Armour
has partnered with Charm City Yoga to host
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yoga classes for customers. Charm City
Yoga supplies the instructor, who wears
Under Armour apparel while teaching the
class, which provides significant exposure
for the brand (Autumn, personal
communication, December 10, 2014). Under
Armour also has trainers who host their own
“I Will” classes on a grassroots level to
continue to build upon those personal
relationships and bring Under Armour into
people’s lives outside of the apparel stores.
Similarly, Under Armour has begun to
design and produce apparel that is more
versatile so that some of their collections
can be worn to both the gym and work in an
effort to make the product more popular and
more aligned with the every day customer’s
life.
In addition to the athletic lifestyle
emphasis, Under Armour is extremely
passionate about philanthropy and
incorporates philanthropy into its platform
thorough its Give Back program. Kevin
Plank believes that it is very important to
give back if possible, so Under Armour has
partnered up with a couple of different
organizations in addition to running its own
initiatives to encourage philanthropy among
its employees and customers. Additionally,
there is usually a give back component to
every Under Armour global meeting to help
reinforce the importance of philanthropy and
engage the Under Armour community in
giving back (E. Wendell & L. Wolf,
personal communication, September 25,
2014). In October, Under Armour partners
with the Susan G. Komen® organization
through Under Armour’s Power in Pink with
proceeds going to the organization (Autumn,
personal communication, December 10,
2014). During the summer, Under Armour
has a friends and family event where all the
proceeds support the Baltimore Fire and
Police Departments. Power in Pink and
supporting the Baltimore Fire and Police
Departments are two of many initiatives that
are a part of the Give Back program, which
is active both in the United States and
internationally where Under Armour has a
presence (E. Wendell & L. Wolf, personal
communication, September 25, 2014).
The three pillars outlined
demonstrate three core aspects to Under
Armour’s marketing strategy, however,
there are many other components that make
Under Armour the successful company that
it is today. Living in today’s world, one
needs to be up to date with technology or
even begin to shift towards a technological
driven business model. Under Armour
recently bought three fitness apps for $710
million, which include MapMyFitness,
MyFitnessPal and Endomondo in addition to
Under Armour’s own app known as The
Record. Under Armour’s acquisition will
allow the brand to reach people who are
current users of one or more of the three
apps, but do not currently interact with
Under Armour. The apps will also help
Under Armour directly interact with
customers, which aligns well with its
building personal relationships pillar. These
apps have a wide reach of over 120 million
users who span three different
demographics. MapMyFitness appeals to the
runners and bikers. MyFitnessPal appeals to
the calorie counters. Lastly, Endomondo
appeals to Europeans, which supports Under
Armour’s efforts to expand its international
reach. Under Armour hopes to use the apps
to connect with the users and ultimately
convert them to become frequent Under
Armour customers.
Acquiring these apps is only the
beginning for Under Armour and combining
the digital world with its apparel. The
company is looking towards creating
electronic clothing that analyzes fitness
activity such as yoga poses and tracking an
individual’s run. Under Armour
acknowledges developing this type of
technology will not be easy and will have its
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fair share of hurdles, but it is exciting to
work and produce a product that
incorporates the future of digital by
combining the digital world with innovative
technology (Germano, 2015).
In addition to the entry in the digital
world, Under Armour utilizes social media
as a way to market its brand and products.
Although Under Armour only has three big
holidays (campaigns) throughout the year, it
is constantly promoting its offerings through
social media and on the grassroots level
through events and partnerships. Social
media is an integral part of society today and
Under Armour has capitalized on social
media as a way to connect with fans on the
personal level as well as maximize the reach
the company has. Under Armour categorizes
on Instagram with pages that include
Women’s, Basketball and UABrandHouse –
showcasing the latest apparel and
technology (M. Chute, personal
communication, June 20, 2014). Similarly,
Under Armour utilizes Facebook as another
media channel to connect with customers
and create a platform to display the newest
designs and gear on the Under Armour
pages. Under Armour also uses e-mail blasts
as a way to market new products (M. Chute,
personal communication, June 20, 2014).
In addition to using social media and
e-mail blasts, Under Armour finds other
creative ways to market its apparel and
brand. One example of this is specific to
Major League Baseball, the professional
baseball league whose uniforms are
currently sponsored by Nike. This means
that Under Armour sponsored athletes
cannot show Under Armour logos on their
apparel if they are wearing Under Armour
under their uniforms – they can only display
the Under Armour logo on their equipment.
Being that Under Armour is still a fairly new
company and has a smaller budget than
some of its competitors, it has to find
innovative ways to enter the market. Under
Armour is currently the number one brand
for baseball cleats, but it is still finding new
ways to get its brand involved in the sport.
As a result, Under Armour has begun to
make a push for all catchers to wear Under
Armour catcher equipment since catchers
get to choose their own equipment (S.
Battista, personal communication,
September 10, 2014). Having catchers wear
Under Armour equipment serves as a
billboard for Under Armour during every
pitch as the camera usually focuses on the
batter and the catcher.
In addition to being innovative with
technology and specific sports, Under
Armour finds innovation in its products.
Under Armour is continually trying to
innovate because “when we innovate, we
win” ((E. Wendell & L. Wolf, personal
communication, September 25, 2014).
Under Armour is currently working on
developing a magnetic zipper to ease the
process of zipping a jacket and making it
more efficient. This is especially helpful for
kids and while on the ski slopes. Under
Armour is also looking at how to mimic
taped shoes such as boxing shoes or cleats as
a way to improve the current footwear
options and make a cleaner shoe. In order to
maximize the personal relationship aspect of
the company and engage with the
community, Under Armour has its own
innovation challenge where anyone can
submit an idea for a product because Under
Armour acknowledges the best idea could
live outside the Under Armour walls (E.
Wendell & L. Wolf, personal
communication, September 25, 2014).
Under Armour also relies on a
technique called cluster marketing as a part
of its marketing strategy. Cluster marketing
is a strategy that groups different marketing
tactics together to maximize exposure for
the brand. Under Armour utilizes this
strategy for campaign launches, products
launches and store openings. When
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unleashing a new campaign or product or
opening a store, Under Armour will
combine the event with TV commercials,
print, PR events, and other marketing tools
to ensure that all channels are being used
and all audiences are being reached (S.
Battista, personal communication, August
27, 2014).
Controversy
Although Under Armour is
extremely successful, it has had its share of
controversies. In February 2014, the United
States Men’s Speedskating team blamed
Under Armour for their team not medaling
in the Sochi Olympic games. The
Speedskating team specifically blamed the
new uniform designed by Under Armour
known as Mach 39. The uniform used the
same aerodynamic technology found in
fighter jets with heat vents to keep the
athletes cool and was supposed to ensure a
successful performance. Under Armour
strongly believes it gave the athletes
everything and that it unfortunately did not
translate to success for either side – Under
Armour or the United States Men’s
Speedskating team. Under Armour accepted
it tried something new which didn’t work
and understood the allegations made by the
Olympic team, but also knew it could not
retreat. Even though it felt the effects both
nationally and internationally as it was
trying to increase its international presence
and its stock price dropped, Under Armour
continued to remain strong in the public eye.
The strength and determination
demonstrated by the Under Armour team
showed the type of resilience in the brand
that drives its success everyday and is an
integral part of its marketing strategy. When
Under Armour came under fire, Kevin Plank
said there is “no better story and nothing
more American than getting knocked
down… we don’t retreat, we get knocked
down, we dust ourselves off and we come
back bigger, better and stronger” (CBS
Interactive, 2014). This is exactly what the
company did and its partnership with the
United States Men’s Speedskating team has
been extended for eight more years.
Furthermore, it finished 2014 back on top
with redefining how to market to women,
signing the biggest deal in college sports
history and reaching a milestone in revenue
and within the sports industry.
Conclusion
In 1996, Kevin Plank decided he
wanted to create a shirt that wicked away
sweat to help athletes succeed on the field.
Little did he know that in less than two
decades, his idea that came out of his own
athletic selfish desires would help athletes
around the world and would become a
multi-billion dollar company. Under Armour
has always been true to its values and is
centered on community. It moved to
Baltimore in 2002 and it has been in the city
ever since with the attitude that it will
continue to work to better the city and its
people. After all, Under Armour wants to be
known as a company that betters the
community around it (E. Wendell & L.
Wolf, personal communication, September
25, 2014). Its community value ties directly
into its marketing strategy, which has three
primary pillars – storytelling, building
personal relationships and lifestyle
emphasis.
Under Armour has a great story to
tell and has found that storytelling is the best
way to communicate the brand’s message
and create an emotional component to the
brand. Through storytelling, partnerships
and sponsorships, Under Armour has been
able to build relationships with its
customers, cities and athletic individuals
worldwide. As a result of building an Under
Armour network with athletic individuals,
Under Armour realized there is much more
to an individual’s closet and life than simply
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gym clothes and the gym, so it has begun to
expand beyond the weight room to appeal to
the everyday needs of individuals whether
that be work clothes or an organized running
group so that people can get out of the work
environment for an hour a day. Under
Armour uses additional strategic tactics to
market its products and brand such as social
media, digital apps and cluster marketing,
but focuses on the three pillars outlined.
Under Armour is constantly looking
towards the future. Under Armour is
growing and it is growing quickly. In less
than twenty years, it has become a global
brand with worldwide recognition. As it
continues to grow and becomes a competitor
in the international sphere, Under Armour
continues to maintain the attitude it has had
since its beginning days in the Georgetown
row house, which is simply being “a great
company” (Plank, 2003). Under Armour
prides itself on quality and promises to
never lose sight of that regardless of its
accomplishments.
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