...Under Armour Case Study Source: Hogan, 2013 Table of contents Detailed Timeline 3 Business and Corporate Level Planning 4 Brief Summary of the Company Situation in their Competitive Environment, Issues they Face and Clear Problem Statement to Analyze 6 Key Leadership 8 Types of innovation and Evidence of Entrepreneurship 10 Global Presence and Effects 11 Ethics - Examples of Social Consciousness/Corporate Social Responsibility 12 Responsible Wealth Creation 14 Engagement and Plan Alignment & Corporate Culture 15 Wild Card 16 Internal Analysis 17 External Analysis 20 SWOT Analysis 24 Recommendation 27 Bibliography 33 Appendix 37 Team Member Roles 46 Detailed Timeline It all started in 1995 when Kevin Plank, the special teams captain on the University of Maryland football team, noticed that the cotton T-shirts he and his teammates wore underneath their pads were always soaked and filled with sweat (Under Armour, 2012). “There has to be something better,” he believed (Under Armour, 2012). That statement soon launched the performance apparel industry (Under Armour, 2012). That statement also became Under Armour’s generic strategy, which was to develop a better product than there was in the market. While Plank was perfecting his t-shirt after he graduated, he needed funds to launch his apparel line, so he maxed out his credit cards to the tune of $40,000 and set up a company in his grandmother’s basement in Washington, DC (Under Armour, 2012). In...
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...Under Armour Report Andres Romero MAN4720 Dr. Marifé Méndez To: Kevin Plank, CEO, Under Armour From: Re: UnderArmour Report and Recommendations Date: February 18, 2014 In keeping with UnderArmour’s never ending pursuit to success, it is highly indispensable that necessary steps are to be taken in order to achieve a stronger position than existing competitors. Through the years, the company is rapidly emerging as a competitive sports brand. Now almost at par with Nike and Adidas in terms of sponsorships, innovations, inter alia, some sports fans and the youth are being influenced by this new brand that gives them the equal athletic and durable feel they had with brands they previously patronized. The future is looking bright for Under Armour in this regard considering the fact that there are unlimited avenues and still unchartered waters waiting to be explored for the company to grow. Verily, premises considered, respectfully indicated herein are three top priority issues that the Under Armour management needs to address. Included also are the recommended actions under each priority issue, viz: Aggressive and Expansive Marketing UnderArmour is a globally emerging brand that can now be seen just about anywhere, most especially in the US. Starting with its appealing logo, customers more often than not find the whole idea behind the brand attractive because of its aggressive but somewhat quaint looks that appeals directly to the masses. The fact that each product...
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...Under Armour 1 Under Armour Case Study Jason Miller West Virginia University Under Armour 2 Executive Summary: The beginning of 2009 meant a new beginning for Under Armour. This new beginning brought the Under Armour product line full circle with the addition of a line of running shoes. “We're dead set on becoming the world's No. 1 performance brand and running is a part of that," said Steve Battista, senior vice president of brand at Under Amour (A.P., 2009). Under Armour had the following to say in a press release dated December 8, 2008: “UA Run footwear launches at retail on January 31, 2009 and includes four road shoes: the UA Apparition™, UA Illusion™, UA Revenant™, and UA Spectre™, and two trail shoes: the UA Chimera™ and UA Mirage™. Each shoe is specifically engineered to maximize the performance of today's generation of professional, collegiate, high school and amateur athletes who are running as a sport or incorporating running as an essential component in their training regimen” (uabiz.com, 2008). Under Armour wants to provide a superior running shoe for all athletes that aligns with the current brand positioning of UAs other products which is performance and authenticity. “The foundation of Under Armour's first-ever running footwear collection is the company's new proprietary technology called Cartilage™. “The independent suspension system serves as the "connective tissue" between a runner and his environment to enhance performance and provide an exceptionally...
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...Case Study Analysis of Under Armour Module: Lecturer: Submission Date: Word Count: Matriculation number: Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management Maurice Brunet 15th November 2013 2990 (max. 3.000) 40131612 1 Introduction Under Armour, founded in 1996 by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank, is an American sports apparel company with headquarter in Maryland, US. Kevin Plank had the idea of making a t-shirt that is able to enhance athletes’ performance by controlling the body’s temperature and acting like a second skin. In only 14 years, Plank has succeeded in building Under Armour into a worldwide operating company that offers a wide range of premium priced sport articles including performance apparel, footwear and accessories. As of 2010, Under Armour was able to generate sales revenue of $1.06 billion of which the majority comes from Canada and the United States. Under Armour’s vision is to become the world’s leading performance athletic apparel by pursuing the mission of making “… athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation” (Ireland et al., 2013, p.378). The following report provides an analysis of the company Under Armour based on information from Ireland et al. (2013) in Management of Strategy. The paper is divided in the following three parts: 1. Five Forces analysis of the sportswear industry 2. Value chain analysis of Under Armour 3. Under Armour’s generic strategy. 1 2 Five Forces Analysis...
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...Under Armour has exponentially grown within the last 10 years even though they have been under the shadow of the most lucrative company of the 21st century Nike. Even though Under Armour has been working under Nike’s shadow they can't be considered to far back. Under Armour has worked itself up into becoming the second most popular athletic apparel in America, surprisingly beating Adidas in the market. Many would think that Adidas would be Nike’s only competitor but speaking statically Under Armour is right behind Nike eating into Nike’s market share. Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank the CEO and chairman of Under Armour and it all started from his grandmother's basement in Washington, D.C. The company is now based in Baltimore,...
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...Academia logo redesign 2015 LOG IN SIGN UP Case Study 2, Under Armour's Strategy Nicola Hudson UPLOADED BY Nicola Hudson TRENDING top 1% VIEWS 1,786 DOWNLOAD Case Study 2, Under Armour’s Strategy Under Armour is an emerging company in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, science and the rel entless pursuit of innovation” . Under Armour was a disruptive innovator in the sports apparel industry by creating sports apparel using synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers, such as cotton. This important change in material resulted in a “shirt that provided compress ion and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it…that worked with your body to regulate temperature and enhance performance” . This promise to increase athletic performance differentiated it from competing sports apparel companies, but rivals have since implemented synthetic materials into their product lines. This case study seeks to analyze Under Armour ’s history, resources, capabilities, and core competencies, business and corporate-level strategies, as well as the general environment and competitive landscape. After careful inspection of these varying areas, the factors contributing to Under Armour’s current success and future challenges will become clearer. The conception for Under Armour began over a year ago when CEO Kevin Plank played on the University of Maryland football team. Frustrated with...
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...provides a strategy and direction for molding company policies, products and services. The strategic planning process focus on understanding the organizations relationship to its stakeholders using four main concepts: Vision, Mission, Values, and Strategy. This project will focus on the strategic design of Under Armour, Inc. The Purpose of Under Armour The Under Armour sports gear and equipment was born in 1996 by a University of Maryland football captain named Kevin Plank who is still chairman and CEO of the company (Google Finance UA, 2013). The first plan was to create a superior t-shirt that would provide compression and keep perspiration off of the skin as opposed to absorbing it. His plan was to create a shirt that would work with the body and regulate the body’s temperature as well as enhancing the athlete’s performance. Kevin created tight fitting sportswear that is made in base layers. The gear was designed for contact sports. The company uses ArmorGrip technology that is designed to hold the clothes in place and prevents movement of the clothes on the body. The sportswear is made with a thin material designed to be easy to put on and to fit comfortably under sports shirts or jerseys. The material varies for each garment. The material is also designed to wick sweat away from the body, keeping the body temperature cool and preventing clothing from getting wet. The clothing also has what is called vent zones. These vent zones are placed in key areas to encourage...
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...Under Armour’s Strategy Case Analysis 1. How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group? Provide a five-forces analysis to support your answer. The competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and the Adidas Group are very strong. There are many other companies who offer similar sportswear and gear lie these three groups. A consumer has a wide variety of merchandise available to choose from, and the price to pick one brand over another costs the customer very little. All the competitors have allowed the market to be saturated with similar merchandise without much differentiation in products. The companies have an equal economic capability and economy of scale as Under Armour, Nike, and Adidas Group which allows them to remain equally competitive. The competitive pressure coming from new entrants into the sportswear apparel industry is relatively high. Active lifestyles are promoted heavily and customer demand for athletic products are high which means newcomers can expect to earn exponential profits. If a company has the resources to enter the market, then they could become a formidable competitor. The competitive pressure coming from firms offering substitute products is very high. Substitutes are often attractive to consumers because they are readily available for a nice price. Consumers often become used to buying substitutes because they suffer very low cost when switching products. Competitive pressure...
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...Every since the creation of the well known body wear Under Armour in 1996, Kevin Plank's formal University of Maryland football player. The band has under gone rapid expansion and popularity throughout the world today being that it all started in a basement. It has taken over the performance workout apparel market in the United States and worldwide, over the years it has began to outsell another well known sporting apparel such as Nike and Addidas. Under Armour Inc. has even expanded its market way beyond performance apparel line and brings products such as footwear and casual wear also workout wear. The company has prided itself on maintaining a competitive advantage by always having top-notch products and adopting new ideas to outcompete...
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...Nitendo Situation: Under Armour is an innovative company that makes performance athletic gear, ranging from underwear to camouflage hunting wear. The majority of Under Armour apparel is made of the company’s moisture-wicking and heat dispersing fabrics, which help keep moisture away from the athlete during athletic training, exercise, and performance. Under Armour products are available through internet sales, catalog sales, and retail stores both nationwide and internationally. Under Armour is the leading “compression”sports apparel brand. Under Armour is currently trying to increase their competitive advantage through innovation and introducing new products that will keep faithful customers coming back to their brand and attract new ones as well. Newproduct lines include “Charged Cotton” (Barrie,2011) and “Cold Black” (Walter, 2011) Complication: Currently, the primary challenge for Under Armour is the ability to maintain a focused-differentiated marketing strategy in a saturated market with huge competitors such as Nike and Adidas. Bothof these competitors have the resources and capital to counter Under Armour with comparable products at lower consumer prices. Under Armour’s lack of intellectual property(patents) are a weakness for the company. Currently, Under Armour does not own any patents on their products. This has opened up the market to larger competitors, such as Nike and Adidas. The company also relies heavily on third-party...
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...Under Armour Andrea George Alvernia University Abstract Under Armour is a North American sports apparel company started in 1995. Started by Kevin Plank, his business has become one of the leading companies in the sports apparel industry. Under Armour is best known for its moisture wicking t-shirts. Under Armour is popular among middle and upper class athletic and health conscience consumers. It competes with other popular sports footwear and apparel companies. Nike and Adidas are Under Armour largest competitors. Under Armour offers a variety of clothing, sports equipment and footwear. They will continue to be a very competitive company in the sportswear market. History of the company Under Armour was started by Kevin Plank in 1995. He was a special teams captain on the University of Maryland football team. During games his teammates’ cotton shirts would be soaked with sweat and heavy to wear. Realizing there could be a better option, Kevin began looking and researching ways to produce a better type of t-shirt. After Kevin graduated from college he began working on a superior t-shirt. He used fabric samples to build his first prototype. He gave this prototype to his Maryland teammates to get feedback on how the shirts performed. From their feedback he found that using microfibers in the t-shirts wicked away moisture that helped keep athletes dry and cool while participating in sports. Kevin ran his business out of his grandmother’s basement working...
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...Management 31 October 2013 Under Armour Some of the main reason for Under Armour’s success has to do with the decision making, creativity, and great entrepreneurship from their founder and CEO, Kevin Plank. Plank was very business savvy from day one, while juggling school and football in college he also had his own business, selling flowers which allowed him to save nearly $20,000 to start Under Armour. Plank’s creativity with Under Armour is stemmed from the fact that he was a college athlete so he understands exactly what athletes want from his products. Plank still uses his athletic instincts in the workplace during meeting, rather than just sitting around a table he calls a huddle which allows for a more fun and relaxed environment in the workplace. When plank was a football player at The University of Maryland he was proclaimed as the sweatiest man on the field and his cotton shirts held too much water which made him very uncomfortable during practice and games, thus Plank decided to try and create a shirt that would not hold water which would make him faster and lighter on the field. Plank had an edge that most sports apparel CEO’s did not have and that was that he was a college athlete, which meant that many of teammates and close friends went on to play in the NFL, allowing Plank to send his teammates his product and share them with their new teammates in the NFL. Many college and professional equipment managers, got word of Under Armour, asking Plank for products and...
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...A football player named Kevin Plank had a problem playing football. His t-shirts were not fitted and absorbed water like a sponge. With a tailor he created the first dry compression t-shirt which would be the start of Under Armor. This new athletic shirt would become the start of a 2 billion dollar empire selling millions of units. Choice 1: the Company had to many competitors that were bringing down sales in the company. Bringing new products to the company in short time to match Nikes strategy was their new plan. The pros are that Under Armor would expand in athletic wear and not just stick to one product. This will target new potential customers that need different types of clothes and shoes. Expanding their product line also weakens competitors making the company get a better position in athletic wear. The cons are that the company only has a short timeline for new products and need to get their suppliers on point with mass production. Some companies do not have the resources to mass-produce after a limit was reached. Choice 2: Under Armor felt the problem was with marketing not the product. They kept the same products and looked for a new way to bring out a message that sells. The pros in this strategy are that under armor got customers by inspirational stories of athletes...
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...UNDER ARMOUR: A Financial Analysis Under Armour Overview Under Armour Inc. (UA) was founded in 1996 by Kevin Planks whose company mission was to provide a premium t-shirt more suitable for athletic activity. By attacking a niche market, UA was able to establish a strong foothold in the t-shirt and base layer-clothing business and has grown rapidly as a result. To diversify its portfolio and reach a larger target market, UA has expanded its product lines in recent years to include footwear and athletic accessories. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, UA acts primarily as a wholesaler providing clothing products to other retailers throughout the world, such as Dicks Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority. With 75% of their sales coming from large scale distributors like those mention above, UA also operate their own Direct to Consumer business through their website, factory stores and specialty stores. While a majority of Under Armour’s business is generated in the United States, they also have international operations that include a separate headquarters located in Amsterdam and through a license agreement, in Japan. Under Armour outsources the majority of its product creation to manufacturers worldwide who are unaffiliated with the brand. Products distributed are manufactured by 22 different manufacturers in 17 different countries spread across Asia and Central and South America (UA 10k pg.7). UA also operates a Special Make-up Shop in one of their two distribution...
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...Under Armour, Inc. Analysis (NYSE: UA) Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank (Current CEO and Chairman of the company) and became publicly traded on NYSE in 2006. Under Armour’s core products were performance sport apparel, footwear, and accessories. Its main market is North America (95% of its revenue). Now, it is the second largest sports apparel companies in the U.S. I. Ownership and Control i. Ownership 1. In the quarterly report ended at Sep. 30, 2014, Under Armour reported 213.25M shares outstanding and Under Armour’s executives and directors as a group held 38.75M shares of company stocks, accounting 18.17% of the total shares outstanding (69.7% voting power.) Compared with other companies in our group, only Under Armour and Ralph Lauren were still run by its original founder. Both companies issued special voting shares to its CEO. Because of its CEO’s special identity to the company, these two companies were owned by insiders from the perspective of control power. 2. According to J3 Information Service Website, institutional investors held about 141.76M shares of Under Armour, accounting 66.48% of the total shares outstanding. Institutional investors accounted for Under Armour’s shares were relatively low, compared with other companies in our group. I believe this is because the company’s shares are highly owned by insiders (18.17%). 3. According to J3 Information Service Website, Fidelity Management and Research (FMR...
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