Faculty of Business: Under Armour Marketing Campaign Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Under Armour's "I Will What I Want" marketing campaign, launched to target women and shift the brand's perception. The essay examines the campaign's communication issues, focusing on the use of Misty Copeland and the challenges of associating with a traditionally masculine brand. It applies marketing communication theories, particularly the AIDA model, to evaluate the campaign's effectiveness in terms of awareness, interest, desire, and action. The essay explores the campaign's meaning, considering advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, and direct marketing strategies. It highlights the campaign's success in increasing sales and changing brand perception. The essay concludes with an evaluation of the campaign's overall impact and effectiveness in achieving its objectives. The essay also provides references to relevant marketing literature.

Running head: PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Principle of Marketing Communication
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................1
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................1
2.1. Analysis of the Campaign...............................................................................................1
2.1.1. Analysis of the communication issues present in the campaign...............................2
2.1.2. Marketing communication campaign (Marketing communication theory)..............3
2.1.3. Meaning of the campaign.........................................................................................4
2.1.4. Evaluation.................................................................................................................6
3. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................8
4. References:..........................................................................................................................9
Summary..................................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction
Most of the customers have considered Under Armour, one of the biggest American
brands to manufacture sportswear, casual apparel and footwear, as a brand that is built for
men until 2014. Despite this, Under Armour has been astonishingly successful and ranked in
2.3 billion dollars in sales in the year 2013 (James and Whitney 2018). However, the product
line exclusive for women was only accounted for 500 million dollars. For addressing this
issue, the company launched a Total Market campaign for targeting women under the title “I
Will What I Want”. This was done as the company wanted to change the view-points of the
people about it that it is a masculine brand and at the same time, drive their sales and
consideration, particularly among the women. This campaign had featured many of the
female well-known athletes belonging from different cultural backgrounds and let them speak
of the problems and hurdles that they had overcame for reaching the success they achieved.
This paper shall elaborate on presenting an analysis of chosen campaign for Under
Armour- “I will what I want”. It was launched in the year 2015 for solving a critical business
issue- “How does a brand long associated with American football win over a massive new
target that outright rejects the brand?” The main focus of this paper is to assess how the
company have achieved an astonishing 28 per cent of increase in its sales through this
campaign and how this have impacted on the perception of people about the brand.
2. Discussion
2.1. Analysis of the Campaign
2.1.1. Analysis of the communication issues present in the campaign
Under Armour brand is precisely about the athletics. The commercial “I Will What I
Want” of the company has featured the famous ballet dancer Misty Copeland. In this

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campaign, one can hear a young voiceover to read the snippets from the ballet academy
letters to reject Misty Copeland as an adolescent student for the reason that she is lacking in
correct body to become a ballerina. The first spot of the campaign opened with a voiceover
from rejection letter- “You have the wrong body for ballet”- when the camera panned over
Copeland was warming up her muscles and performed on the stage (Youtube.com 2020). It is
claimed that Copeland lacks in accurate feet, has wrong body type, Achilles tendons and
torso length. It can be claimed to be a super juxtaposition of muscular strength and grace that
people had not seen ever before in the world of advertising. The campaign shows Misty
Copeland as a woman of colour who is successful as a prima ballerina with tagline “I will
what I want”. With the same, in this case, the product line of Under Armour was not
referenced by the participant “workout clothes, shoes and gear for women”, as per the
website of the company. This might be due to the reason that Misty Copeland advertisement
did not advertise such type of workout clothes, gear or shoes for the women. Instead, it is
focused on embodying for ballerina.
It is to mention that the traditional ballerina princess were pink-aisle fantasy that was
marketed for the little girls for years as the epitome of feminine form (Windels 2017).
However, in the Under Armour campaign, it is possible to read the black body of Misty
Copeland that was initially positioned as wrong kind of boy for ballerina. According to
Ortega (2014), visual analogies are open-ended in the ways in which the syntax of the verbal
analogies are not, and at the same time, the ambiguity of the direction in the visual analogy is
what makes them quite valuable in the creative departments of advertising. This campaign
with Copeland tells other women audience to embrace a kind of passionate pursuit of their
personal bests, even if the situations or others are barrier in their path. The campaign won the
Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2015 with 2 Gold, 7 Silver and 2
Bronze. It also won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze CLIO award.

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2.1.2. Marketing communication campaign (Marketing communication theory)
Marketing communication is an important process for conveying the message in
between the consumers and corporation. It makes the target market or the target audience to
trust the marketer and its brand (Turkel et al. 2015). There are several methods for reaching
the target audience. However, the main aim of all is building a medium for informing and
persuading the customers and to build a strong relationship with them. It is to note that
advertising is the key element in the marketing communication mix as customers often are
confronted to advertisements more than anything else. Being established in the year 1996, the
company is a young brand in the sector of sportswear. But, due to its effective marketing
strategy, it has successfully overtaken the big brand like Adidas by being second largest
brand of sportswear in United States and is at present targeting Nike. The marketing
campaign of Under Armour would be evaluated by using AIDA model. It is to mention that
AIDA model is an acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action (Hassan, Nadzim and
Shiratuddin 2015).
a) Awareness- The campaign was aired in different communication channels including
television, social media and YouTube and was also made known to the readers
through newspaper advertisement. It launched with a sport featuring Misty Copeland,
the ballerina and featured TV, digital and print content in order to inspire the sporty
women. The advertisement has acquired about 5 billion of worldwide media
impressions and about 35 million of earned media. Under Armour got collaborated
with the agency Droga5 and created the campaign which got 2 Gold, 7 Silver and 2
Bronze Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2015 (Luttrell and
Capizzo 2018).
b) Interest- The campaign of the company have effectively made a macho brand that is
relevant to women. It is highly relatable, authentic and is interesting. The campaign

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has engaged with four different Stretch strategies along with the executive strategies
for activating all over the Cultural Continuum.
c) Desire- The main objective of the campaign was to change the perception of the
normal public about the company that it targets only male customers (Abitbol and
Sternadori 2015). By means of displaying the imperfections of the featured female
athletes in its campaign, Under Armour have successfully build on some popular
campaign such as the “Choose beauty” of Dove and “Like a Girl” of Always that aim
at shattering the stereotypes.
d) Action- The Campaign received worldwide appraisal and won the Cyber Grand Prix
at the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2015 with 2 Gold, 7 Silver and 2 Bronze. It also
won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze CLIO award. It was a success and some of its spots went
viral. It is to mention that the spot featuring Copeland racked up more than 10 million
of views on the Youtube and the spot of Bundchen also drove notable earned media.
After the release of the campaign, the sales of the company went up to 3 billion
dollars and also have surpassed Adidas’s sales and finally made Under Armour the 2nd
largest domestic sportswear brand.
2.1.3. Meaning of the campaign
Communication mix refers to some methods that are used for promoting the company and
its products for targeting the customers. The communication mix comprise of five different
elements and they are- advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations and
direct or internet marketing.
a) Advertising- In terms of advertising, the main goal of Under Armour is to reach the
largest populations of the female market with the biggest possible impact. It is to note that
the advertisements that are successful, promote the brand to the customers. These
advertisements also help in improving the perception of the customers regarding the

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company as well as its products. In this way, the target customers are seeing that their
favourite athlete is using Under Armour’s products and as a result, they become
motivated for buying and using these products (Su and Tong 2015). The company has
used well-known athletes for representing the ideal customer for its products. Through
implementing the advertisement successfully, Under Armour have reaped the rewards of
a strong brand image and has also got itself a higher demand for its products as it is
proven through its astonishing 28 per cent of increase in its sales after the launch of the
campaign. Despite of investing high cost at advertising, Under Armour have achieved a
significant benefit in terms of its financial performance.
b) Personal selling- The personal selling efforts of Under Armour takes place in the store.
The personnel at stores provide help to the customers and they are expected to know more
regarding the products of the company and there, they persuade the customers to purchase
their products. In some of the cases, the sales man also promote the brand by means of
providing personalised services, which assist them in finding out the right kind of Under
Armour products. It is to mention that the personal selling helps in the process of
purchasing and in this way, it aids to the profitability of the company. Hence, the
marketing communication mix of Under Armour makes use of personal selling for
creating better customer relations and experience and for promoting the products of the
company.
c) Sales promotions- It makes sales promotion in the form of special offers for the target
customers. Basically, it uses this strategy for motivating its new customers by means of
giving them some additional benefits like the savings that they could make by means of
buying when the special offers or the discounts are applied.
d) Public relations- The Company makes use of PR in its marketing communication. It
implements several PRs as a way for addressing the social issues that are linked to the

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business. For instance, it experiences significant level of social pressure in terms of the
usage of sweatshops and for improving its green technology integration. Furthermore, it
sponsors some sports events and other kind of similar activities in order to communicate
with the target customers about what it does for addressing the social issues.
e) Direct or internet marketing- The Company uses both direct and internet marketing for
promoting its new products to its target customers. The new products of the company are
heavily advertised by the company. Notwithstanding this fact, for making a bigger
impact, Under Armour makes use of its sales people for approaching some individuals or
organisations in the segments of target market. It also promotes its products to the
colleges and universities (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck 2014).
It is to mention that Under Armour have recognised that its brand was not as appealing to
women as it is to men. By means of running a campaign that specifically empowered the
women for being an athletic, they made the female customers feel more comfortable to
engage with the brand. The campaign is a very good example of influencer marketing. The
company have effectively featured the athletic women who were successful in their field and
thereafter, portrayed the stories, which the female customers can relate to. The campaign is
very authentic as the women themselves have opened up publicly about the criticisms that
they have faced.
2.1.4. Evaluation
It is to mention that the company has a very clear idea of what it actually stands for
right from the very beginning. It has always been persistent with its tagline of the campaign
“I Will” that demonstrates to its origin, as it initially started in the back of a truck of its
founder Kevin Plank. In order to keep up with its roots, the company has set a tone of
tenacity- “I Will” is all about having some unyielding determination and is confronting the

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challenges aggression. The campaign featured many players including Jordan Spieth (the golf
star), Misty Copeland (the ballerina), and Stephen Curry (NBA player).
It is also to note that the idea of “will” play a significant role in every advertisement
for the advertisement initiative for Under Armour (Bain et al. 2015). For instance, the
advertisement featuring the “Women of Will” define “will” on the basis of the potential for
handling pressure and conquering various levels of advertising, which the female athletes are
faced with.
The motivational message in the advertisement of Misty Copeland in “I Will What I
Want” campaign and those of the other athletes like Lindsey Vonn shows that with high level
of determination, an underdog is likely to become a champion. Every individual can
empathise with the sense of defeat after being told that their desires and aspirations are
impossible to achieve. However, the ability of these athletes in finding their strength for
overcoming the odds at the time of vulnerability is simply awe-inspiring. It is to mention that
the targeted audience of Under Armour can feel a strong emotional connection to the
campaign’s content and can relate them to the advertisement.
By means of displaying the imperfections of the featured female athletes in its
campaign, Under Armour have successfully build on some popular campaign such as the
“Choose beauty” of Dove and “Like a Girl” of Always that aim at shattering the stereotypes
(Becker-Herby 2015). When compared this campaign with that of Nike, it is to state that Nike
is a well-established brand and therefore its style of advertising and marketing reflects an
established tone. On the other hand, the advertising and marketing style of Under Armour
reflects that it has a kind of chip on its shoulder and it begins its advertisement with
motivation from the external sources. For example, in the “I Will what I Want” campaign,
Misty Copeland, the first African American Ballet dancer, was criticised for having wrong

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body for ballet. But, she elegantly twirls and spins, thereby proving her inner strength can
trump others’ expectations.
3. Conclusion
Hence, from the above analysis it is to conclude that the objective of Under Armour to
change the viewpoint about it being a masculine brand and driving the sales and
consideration has been successfully achieved. “I Will What I Want” is its biggest women-
focused campaign ever launched. The campaign is a very good example of influencer
marketing. The company have effectively featured the athletic women who were successful
in their field and thereafter, portrayed the stories, which the female customers can relate to.
The campaign is very authentic as the women themselves have opened up publicly about the
criticisms that they have faced. It launched with a sport featuring Misty Copeland, the
ballerina and featured TV, digital and print content in order to inspire the sporty women. As
one of the parts of its campaign, the company created interactive website showing some
supermodel Gisele Bundchen working up a sweat in the gym as positive and negative online
commentary regarding her was projected onto the walls. After the release of the campaign,
the sales of the company went up to 3 billion dollars and also have surpassed Adidas’s sales
and finally made Under Armour the 2nd largest domestic sportswear brand.

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4. References:
Abitbol, A. and Sternadori, M., 2016. You Act like a Girl: An Examination of Consumer
Perceptions of ‘Femvertising’. Quarterly Review of Business Disciplines, 3(2), pp.117-128.
Bain, E.D., Knorr, D.B., Richardson, A.D., Masser, K.A., Yu, J. and Lenhart, J.L., 2016.
Failure processes governing high-rate impact resistance of epoxy resins filled with core–shell
rubber nanoparticles. Journal of materials science, 51(5), pp.2347-2370.
Becker-Herby, E., 2016. The Rise of Femvertising: Authentically Reaching Female
Consumers.
Cox, E., Bachkirova, T. and Clutterbuck, D., 2014. Theoretical traditions and coaching
genres: Mapping the territory. Advances in developing human resources, 16(2), pp.139-160.
Hassan, S., Nadzim, S.Z.A. and Shiratuddin, N., 2015. Strategic use of social media for small
business based on the AIDA model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, pp.262-
269.
James, C.R. and Whitney, K., 2018. Under Armour: repositioning for the global stage. The
CASE Journal, 14(2), pp.164-193.
Luttrell, R.M. and Capizzo, L.W., 2018. Public relations campaigns: An integrated
approach. SAGE Publications.
Ortega, L., 2014. Second language learning explained? SLA across 10 contemporary
theories. Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction, pp.245-272.
Su, J. and Tong, X., 2015. Brand personality and brand equity: evidence from the sportswear
industry. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(2), pp.124-133.

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Türkel, S., Uzunoğlu, E., Kaplan, M.D. and Vural, B.A., 2016. A strategic approach to CSR
communication: Examining the impact of brand familiarity on consumer
responses. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 23(4), pp.228-
242.
Windels, K., 2017. Exceptional Exemplars. Feminists, Feminisms, and Advertising: Some
Restrictions Apply, p.155.
Youtube.com. (2020). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zWJ5_HiKhNg [Accessed 10 Jan. 2020].