Omar Mostafa Aziz Hassan
ID: w1754118
Course: 5MARK010W Sports Marketing
Individual Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2009, Steph Curry was signed by Nike. For four years, he was seen in many different
looks while sporting the Nike shoes, but he did not yet have his own shoe or collection in place as
it was simply a sponsorship. Hyperdunks and Hyperfuses franachises. Curry switched to being
under Under Armour in 2013 when a Nike representative mispronounced his name during a
meeting. After Curry joined Under Armour, he used to wear normal basketball shoes from Under
Armour at first, similar to the sponsorship he previously had. Two years later, Under Armour
designed a shoe after Stephen Curry’s name – The Currys. This made Under Armour a major
player in the competitive basketball sneaker marketplace. As a result of that, Nike, which was
dominating the basketball shoe game, now had a new competitor in town.
Under Armour focuses on the quality and performance of their products more than the
design of it, unlike their competitors Nike and Adidas. They both have streetwear and casual wear
as part of their brand, but Under Armour focuses primarily on athletic wear and performance
improvement within them. They are one of the first in their field of performance apparel, as in
creating pieces to keep the athelete cool, light ad dry during the duration of them doing sports.
Their mission is “to make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of
innovation.” (Under Armour, 2008). Under Armour targets famous athletes, but only in certain
sports. For example, in basketball they have a collaboration with Stephen Curry who is one of the
greatest players of all time. They chose a player like Stephen Curry because he was known from
his rookie year in the NBA, so a lot of young and aspiring basketball players look up to him as
their role model. As a result of this, they idolize him in his gear and they buy his kit and shoes.
They are now capable of direct to customer distribution.
Figure 1: The Curry’s
In the late 1960’s, as American Football was surpassing baseball to become the most
popular American sport, Kevin Plank founded the company Under Armour (UA). As the instigator
of performance apparel, the company aimed to create gear that specialized in keeping athletes cool
and dry throughout their athletic performance. While first popular within the football community,
UA has now expanded to being a globally renowned brand that caters towards all athletes. Through
collaborating with the best shooter in NBA history, Stephen Curry, UA has curated a valued
collection of basketball shoes known as the Curry Collection. The UA Curry shoes are a top
competitor in the basketball shoe industry, gaining popularity after Stephen Curry signed with the
company in 2013. UA as a company consists of a predominantly male favored market, with over
69% of its buyers in America being men.
As a men’s basketball shoe, the Curry collection is sought after by younger men, aged 1825, who idolize NBA players and are well-versed in basketball culture. Geographically, this
collection is readily available to those living in countries with populations that are able to view
and resonate with NBA teams and stars; America, Canada, China and the United Kingdom are a
few examples. Men who wish to improve upon their basketball skills, particularly with shooting,
want to obtain these shoes as they see how the top shooter in the league’s history wears and
endorses them – so they must improve performance. Stephen Curry is often known to write a verse
from the Christian bible, Philippians 4:13, on every Curry shoe he wears during basketball games.
Due to the sport’s Christian origins, men holding religious beliefs may resonate with the
implementation of the religion into the collection. With every new NBA season, a new shoe is
released as part of the Curry collection, thus building anticipation prior to each shoe becoming
available for purchase. This creates a loyal customer base that grows steadily as time goes on. With
the target age demographic consisting of millennials onwards, these seasonal releases feed into the
recently popularized consumer culture, causing young people in the basketball community to feel
a sense of needing the new shoe as it’s anticipated release comes out. Once a season is finished,
the collection that was released that year is no longer made, so there is a limited number of shoes
made in each season. This also contributes to the demand for the shoes as the price of old releases
only increases with time. The Curry shoes average around $120 USD in cost, this is almost
identical to the shoe’s largest competitor – Nike’s Kyries collection. This collection is made from
the current Brooklyn Net’s player Kyrie Irving, therefore fans who support the team or the player
will opt for this shoe. Similarly, fans who are support Stephen Curry’s team – the Golden State
Warriors – will opt for the Curry shoes.
The competition in this market is not something that can be changed in favor of one party.
Instead, they each have their own target demographic consisting of fans who support the individul
teams. It is for this reason that the two opposing collections have very similar market price, place,
product, and promotion tactics. Promotion tactics such as celebrity endorsements, anticipated
raffles, and brand collaborations are used to attract more traffic towards the date of the collection’s
release. Through direct to customer distribution, the shoes are available in large quantities each
season online and in store in major retail stores, such as on the UA website, StockX website,
Footlocker and Champs stores. Since these collections are primarily marketed through celebrity
athlete endorsement, they are always varied in popularity as the team players of the Golden State
Warriors changes every season. Based on the performance of Stephen Curry and his teammates,
in combination with the physical look and performance of the new shoe each year, the market for
the release can be predicted.
Overall, Under Armour’s mission is to “make all athletes better through passion, design, and the
relentless pursuit of innovation” (Under Armour, 2008) ad follow a vision statement to empower
athletes everywhere. They have trailed the direct to customer distribution strategy. Moreover, their
target market is ideally anyone who is an athlete or plays sports.
Under Armour is the originator of performance apparel - gear engineered to keep athletes cool,
dry and light throughout the course of a game, practice or workout. They are one of the first in
their field of performance apparel, as in creating pieces to keep the athelete cool, light ad dry
during the duration of them doing sports. Ultimately, “I will what I want” resulted in a 28%
increase.
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