Under Armour's Marketing Strategies

This assignment examines Under Armour's marketing strategies, focusing on their global expansion, digital marketing efforts, brand positioning, and competitive advantages. It utilizes frameworks like SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces to evaluate the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and the competitive intensity within the sportswear industry. The goal is to assess Under Armour's current market performance and identify potential strategies for future growth.

RUNNING HEAD: MARKETING 1
Marketing Management
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Abstract
The report is regarding an analysis of industry market of Under Armour and evaluates
existing opportunities and threats been faced. Further the report is focusing over the marketing
orientation concepts (i.e. the marketing concept, the selling concept or production concepts). The
8 marketing mix notion are theoretically explained as a part of application in order to be sure
about the product viability. A brand audit is a done by examining a brand's current position in
industry while comparing it to others. The overall purpose of a brand audit is to uncover
business’ resource power, deficit, and best market prospect, outside threats, future productivity,
and its competitive position in contrast to accessible competitors.
Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Company Overview.....................................................................................................................3
Industry market................................................................................................................................4
Competition in the industry..........................................................................................................4
Potential of new entrant into the market......................................................................................5
Power of suppliers........................................................................................................................5
Power of Customers.....................................................................................................................5
Threat of Substitute......................................................................................................................6
PESTLE macro model.....................................................................................................................7
Political........................................................................................................................................7
Economic.....................................................................................................................................7
Social............................................................................................................................................7
Technological...............................................................................................................................8
Legal.............................................................................................................................................8
Environmental..............................................................................................................................8
Marketing orientation concepts.......................................................................................................9
8 marketing mix concepts..............................................................................................................10

Product.......................................................................................................................................10
Place...........................................................................................................................................10
Price...........................................................................................................................................10
Promotion...................................................................................................................................11
Productivity and Quality............................................................................................................11
People.........................................................................................................................................12
Process.......................................................................................................................................12
Physical Evidence......................................................................................................................12
Major market segments..................................................................................................................12
Recommendations and Conclusion................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
Marketing management is a process focusing over the practical application of different
techniques. The primary function is to develop organizational resources and activities. The
concept of marketing management is to deploy economic and competitive strategy in order to
analyse the purpose of the organization. It completely depends upon the business environment in
which it is functioning (Hollensen, 2015).
Company Overview

Under armour is American Company manufacturing footwear, sports and casual apparel.
The head office of the company is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Under Armour was founded
by Kevin Plank in the year 1996 (Team, 2013).
The products manufactured by the company include Athletic shoes, t-shirt, jackets,
hoodies etc. They are also producing uniform for American Football, basketball and soccer.
Revenue of the company has grown over the years by 30 percent from 2010-2014.
Industry market
The company has a mission to make all athletes feel better through their enthusiasm and
chase for innovation. Basically UA is a manufacturer and retailer company. They are producing
different type of apparel products, foot-war product that derives growth through customer
satisfaction. They are producing goods for both male and female and include a larger youth
section (Babin & Zikmund, 2015). The products are mainly produced for the general people.
They are planning to add on innovative products in order to gain continuous result (Armstrong,
Kotler, Harker, & Brennan, 2015). Customer satisfaction is their utmost priority. UA’s strategic
management has proved that the company wants to become the market leader through the market
innovation and techniques. For instance the company has spent a considerable amount on
obtaining the mobile technology. This is done to effectively to engage athletes proactively. The
ability of the brand to create an absolute necessary future growth is due to an intense competition
they face (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2014).
Competition in the industry
There is innumerable number of athletic clothing companies to contend against the brand.
Only a few companies have an effective distribution channel and a product line. The largest

competitors in the industry are Nike and Adidas. These two are the oldest companies present in
the market who has a large size market. UA has attained a considerably higher growth rate in
recent years. It does not have the same diversification and market penetration strategies. The
brand has been flourishing in almost every sub-section of the society.
Potential of new entrant into the market
The barrier of entry into the athletic apparel business is very high. It requires a lot of
financial and human capital to establish as an efficient brand in t he market. UA is the recent new
market player in the industry with a relative larger market share (Hobbs, 2016). Few segments in
the industry are susceptible to new competition rather than the entire industry. Eg: a new entrant
might find growth and innovation in the particular segment of the market. It is more likely to be
manageable for the new entrant to focus on particular segment rather than entire market (Mullin,
Hardy, & Sutton, 2014).
Power of suppliers
The suppliers in this industry also offer well to the other competitor. The large buyers
obtain cheap prices from these suppliers at a low price. Nike can exponentially buy more cotton
than UA and negotiate a lower price. This is one of the reasons why UA is an expensive brand
against Nike. UA has a proprietary fabric blend that distinguishes it from the competitors. This is
not only creating a product differentiation owner of Suppliers. The Suppliers in the athletic
apparel industry provides with material at a competing rate. The Larger buyers obtain cheaper
prices for the raw material (Strauss, J2016).
Power of Customers

In this Industry the Customers have a broad range of choices. They can choose their
favorite clothing and accessories from different brands. The customers do have a lot of
opportunity to shop speedily and with no trouble for the lowest price for a related product. This
allows a brand to become a significant market player in the industry. A company like UA has to
generate products for which customers are eager to pay a premium price (Shank & Lyberger,
2014).
Most of the customers buy goods depending upon the brand recognition and association.
Companies like Nike, Adiddas have notably paid for a large amount of money
to sponsor athletes. This is based on customers distinguish value based on associations. UA has
also started spending huge dollars to sign the best athletes.
Threat of Substitute
Clothing is a necessary item in demand. As global interest in sports persists to rise, the
requirement for athletic apparel and accessories is predicted to grow. This industry constantly
has a threat of a supplementary ground-breaking product ingoing as a substitute. Though, in
UA's industry, it is complex for a company to profitably generate such a substitute products
across various sports (Boone & Kurtz, 2013).This exercise takes time and investment to expand.
Meanwhile Style and fashion trends have also become a significant role in the industry. Pure
function is the only factor a professional athlete considers. The everyday consumer cares much
more about appearance and styling. According to a research this is treated as a more subjective
area and is at risk to other brands becoming popular.

PESTLE macro model
Political
The policies related to foreign countries prohibiting 100 percent ownership of retail stores
is causing a threat to the internationalization. The cost of international labor is increasing
affecting the cost of the product. The other factors like strict political and legal system regarding
the international brands can affect the brand on a long run. It is easy for the brand to function in a
country with a suitable work atmosphere. Under Armor have its operations in Majority of
countries which requires an effective policies and procedures to be enforced (Baker, 2014).
Economic
An increase in the cost of raw material can cause a rise in the price of the goods. The
shipping cost has an effect on the overall price of the product. Different factors like an increase
in interest rate, local economy, inflation rate has a direct impact over the sale of the product. It
has become evident that the international brands need to keep a pace with the prices in order to
meet the expectations. UA is already an overpriced brand in the market. In order to match up
with the expectations of the local population it is evident to keep a price check (Turnbull &
Valla, 2013).
Social
The brand is famous mostly among the youth internationally. The company is largely
used by the men while comparing it on demographic basis. Consumers are moreover focused
over the quality of the product rather than the price. People nowadays are inclining towards

fitness activities. This is creating a better opportunity for a brand to grow multi-dimensionally.
Sports participation is one of the important features seen in the Australian population. Obesity
rates in the country are very high creating a lot of opportunity for the brand to expand its
operations. The ever increasing sports market is creating wider opportunities in order to gain
current market.
Technological
There is an increase in the opportunities due to ongoing e-commerce facilities. They are
selling’s their products through online process. Technology is also been used in manufacturing
products as well. In order to develop an effective technology it is evident from the technological
point of view. This will help in managing the products in a well-organized way by focusing over
the brand detailing. The ever growing opportunities in the field of technology have a direct
impact on the growth of the brand.
Legal
Every country does have specific rules and regulations pertaining to rules and
regulations. For business expansion it is evident to follow concrete law and procedure in the host
country. The requisite regarding the 100 percent FDI is an important parameter to be considered.
Environmental
The company is taking care of environmental functions and takes effective measures to
meet the significant result. They are taking care of the environmental issues and using effective
CSR activities to gain the trust of public.

Marketing orientation concepts
Marketing orientation concept is the business model that is delivering product designed
according to the customer’s need and requirements. The purpose is to meet the wide generation
of market intelligence related to existing and future customer needs. Competitive analysis in this
condition plays an important role in gathering market information, consumer survey and focus
group. The market orientation is important for the brand in numerous ways. Customer
satisfaction is their utmost priority. UA’s strategic management has proved that the company
wants to become the market leader through the market innovation and techniques. For instance
the company has spent a substantial amount on acquiring the mobile technology. The company
is using patented fabric and technology to produce goods. This has helped in gaining a desired
focus (Statistics & Facts on Under Armour, 2017).
UA has gained a significant market share and has collaborated with major brands
recently. On January 6, 2016, UA has proclaimed a strategic partnership with IBM. This provide
with an effective technology to give significant data from its IOT kit and UA Record app(Under
Armour Inc in Apparel and Footwear, 2017).
In July 2016, UA let out the 53,000 square feet space previously occupied by FAO
Schwarz on New York's Fifth Avenue. A store will be opened by 2018.
By using effective market positioning strategy the brand has gained a significant growth
in the recent time. The use of technology and marketing strategies has created an ample of
opportunities for the brand in gaining desired roles.

8 marketing mix concepts
Product
UA has brought significant products by boosting the performance in sports. These products
are highly popular in the sports industry globally, some of the most popular products sold by the
company are:
 Running shoes for men and women
 Golf Shirts
 Training Gloves
 Basketball Tops
 Running shorts
Place
UA has expanded business function significantly. It sells products both online and
offline. The company is serving in the different part of the world (Brohi, et al 2016). Apart from
its own website the company is also selling its products through Amazon, EBay etc. Separately
from licensing products for sales internationally, it sells straight to consumers via its stores and
through online channels (Martin, 2017).
Price

The pricing approach of UA is based on Value pricing. This approach utilizes data on
perceived customer value in order to determine the suitable selling price of a product. VBPO
approach focuses on additional customer value and their willingness to pay increased price
despite of strong competition in the market. As UA faces intense competition from the other
brands, the consumers understand its superiority of products and are consequently eager to pay
premium prices for its inventive products (Kell, 2017).
Promotion
The brand Rather than relying on a cool logo or a great and stylish slogan has used
innovation to market its brand. The brand is very well known for its innovative products. Every
product is unique and serves some exclusive purpose. In the recent years, it has skillfully used
sponsorships to market its brand better. Nevertheless, UA also uses an effective advertising
method to gain consumer focus. It uses social media like YouTube, Facebook to promote its
products (Team, 2016).
Productivity and Quality
UA has an efficient brand portfolio that is providing lucidity, power, differentiation and
defense from imitators in a multifaceted, competitive arena. UA has identified their innovations
such as Infrared, Coldback and Mag Zip. In this way the brand is able to promote
competitiveness in the market. They have also offered consistency with umbrella brands such as
UA Heat Gear, UA Cold gear and UA Glow compilation.
Their effective product differentiation strategy has created market capabilities. Under
Armor has fruitfully extended their company by focusing on women apparel. Under-Amour is

expanding products for women. It is now using a unique feature with a slogan, "No matter what,
sweat every day”.
People
The most renowned face associated with the brand is Kevin Plank. The organization is
dedicated for providing solution to the customers. The employees are efficiently working in
order to provide with a distinction. UA is the recent new market player in the industry with a
relative larger market share. Few segments in the industry are susceptible to new competition
rather than the entire industry.
Process
UA is using an effective business process to create a difference in the mind of the
customers. The goods are manufactured at different stores and imported to different countries as
per the requirement. It has the most efficient distribution system at the national and regional level
making it fruitful as independent and specialty retailers (Van den Driest & Weed, 2014).
Physical Evidence
The company is using an effective market presence through its online and physical stores.
It has an extensive global reach. UA is operating 188 factory house stores. It also has 57 brand
houses. The company is planning to expand its business functions in order to compete against
Nike and Adidas.

Major market segments
Under Armour is having a current consumer base of which 53% are male and Out 47%
are females. The brand is common among the college graduates and the majority of UA
customers fall in the age range of 25-34.
Recommendations and Conclusion
An insight into the marketing analysis allow in managing the activities in well-defined
way. The purpose is to manage the activities in the best possible way by organizing the resources
and factor. The PESTLE analysis helps in ensuring the macro environmental factors in the
organization and its effects. This will allow in organizing the activities in the best possible way
and act as a key factor to meet the possible outcome. The brand has to gain a competitive edge
over its competitors like Nike and Adiddas. This is only possible if the brand is able to develop
itself as a significant market leader. Nike and Adidas both are ver well established in the market.
In order to create a significant competition it is evident to reduce the price. The reason behind
why people don’t opt for UA is due to its excess price. If the company wants to create a
competition in the market it has to develop significant market strategies. These strategies will
allow in meeting the result by establishing an effective market condition.

References
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Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
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