UNDER ARMOUR
I.
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary……...……2
Company Analysis
and SWOT Analysis.…….......3
Competition Analysis……....…4
Target Audience Profile...…...5
Research………………………..6-7
The Problem………….….....…..8
Gained Insights…………….……9
The Solution……………..……..10
Objectives……………….……….11
Budget………………………...….12
Media Strategy…………………13
Marcom and Ads….……..14-20
Media Plan……..…………...….21
Media Schedule..……………..22
Evaluation……………………….23
Credits………………………..….24
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I.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Under Armour’s mission is to make all athletes better
through passion, design and the relentless pursuit of innovation.
Under Armour is a mature brand that manufactures highquality sports apparel and clothing. Through our research, we
found that Under Armour has three problems: being known for
only football, price, and mostly male consumers.
Through our team’s research, we have discovered that our
target audience loves the quality of the brand, but hates the
price. However, members of the target audience love what the
brand stands for: strength and performance.
We have created advertisements which support this
perception, which target women, and which emphasize the
quality of the brand, all but eliminating Under Armour’s three
problems. Our team placed these messages where they would
be seen by the maximum amount of our target audience.
2
UNDER ARMOUR
Analysis
Under Armour was found to be
predominantly a football company, and is
attempting to be known as a basketball
company as well. The large portion of
Under Armour buyers are mostly football
players. The Under Armour market needs
to be expanded to all male and female
athletes if Under Armour wants to keep
up with competitors such as Nike and
Adidas.
In the past, Under Armour has mostly been
targeting men. Under Armour is now
focused on women and their activities, such
as yoga, running, and spinning. Women's
wear, in previous years, has been less than
20% of the overall business.
Under Armour is becoming more stylish in
order to attract more women to the brand.
The percentage of profit generated from
women grows little by little each year, but
Under Armour needs to work harder if it
wants to keep generating the same increases
I. in sales and become a worldwide brand.
The issue is still getting the gear in front of
women.
Under Armour CEO, Kevin Plank discussed that although Under Armour
might be expensive; it is only because it is the best at answering the needs of
athletes. He says the brand identifies the issues athletes may have and fixes them.
With the footwear they are creating, he not only expects profits to go up, but he
also hopes to expand internationally.
•Established brand
•Top sports brand
•Variety of clothes (seasonal)
•Good quality
•Caters to all sports
•Catchy, bright colors
•Good reputation- no scandals.
•Known as a strong brand
Strengths
Threats
•Competition
•Economy
•Losing brand identity
•Price
•Gear limited to clothes and cleats
Weakness
Opportunities
•Expand products to Under
Armour equipment or soap for
after workout freshness
•Sponsor a large sporting event.
•Advertise more- especially in
commercials and fitness
magazines
•Partner with another widely
recognized company- like Nike
and Apple
•Celebrity endorsements
3
COMPETITION
ANALYSIS
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Under Armour and Nike attempted to sell their
cross trainers. This article explains that people who
bought cross trainers are neither in Nike or Under
Armour's target audience. However, it’s predicted
that Under Armour will do particularly well during
school months. This is a key piece of information
about our target audience because a large piece of
our target market are athletes going back to school
ages 18-23.
Source: Mullman, Jeremy. "Under Armour Hopes to Outrun Nike; Jumps into
Declining Niche with Cross-trainer While Rival Disappoints." Lexis Nexis. Web.
.
Nike’s name is known internationally,
mainly for their variety of shoes for
every sport while Under Armour is
known for their variety in athletic
apparel. Regarding comparative
strengths, Nike has the edge over the
competition, Under Armour included,
regarding sportswear and footwear, but
Under Armour gained respect for their
own line of merchandise. Under
Armour is capitalized at $1.28 billion
while Nike’s capitalization is $26.38
billion.
4
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TARGET MARKET:
The target audience for Under Armour are adults, ages 18-39.
The purchasers of sports clothing are men ages 18 to 35 and women
ages 18 to 39.
76% of sports clothes consumers are Caucasian.
Our target audience is on-the-go, commuting from work, running
around the neighborhood, on the way to practice, or going to the
gym.
Under Armour’s target audience watches television shows such as
USA Network, ESPN, FX, TBS, and the History Channel Monday
through Friday, from 4:00-7:00 P.M.
A few magazines the primary target audience reads are Fitness
Magazine, Men’s Fitness, and ESPN Magazine.
Half of the Target audience listens to the radio between 6-10 A.M.
and 3-7 P.M.
.
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Sources: MRI Plus and Experian Simmons
PRIMARY RESEARCH: Focus Group
What are the following brands
most known for?
Nike: All sports
Champion: Boxing
Adidas: Soccer
Under Armour: Football
Under Armour vs. Competition:
Under Armour has brighter colors.
Under Armour makes better sneakers than Nike.
Nike clothes wear out faster than Under Armour.
Under Armour is more comfortable.
Products have a better material; they absorb sweat and don’t smell as
much.
Target audience buys the
following brands for these
reasons:
•Nike: buy for running sneakers, cleats,
baseball gloves, running shorts, and socks.
•Champion: Sweatshirts and sweatpants.
•Adidas: Sneakers for show (to look nice in)
and tracksuits
•Under Armour: Compression shorts, shorts,
and thermals.
•Knockoff Brands: shirts that look like
Under Armour.
When members of the focus group walk into a store, they immediately go to:
The participants go to the section of the store which is selling what they are looking for,
and buy the cheapest, most dependable product. They will buy Under Armour if it is on
sale. There is no strong sense of brand loyalty. Focus group members purchase clothing
depending on the amount of time they need for it to last. Focus group members all agree
that if they need something to last long, they will sacrifice price for clothing durability.
6
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PRIMARY RESEARCH: Survey
Our team randomly selected
14 people in our target
audience to complete this
survey.
What This Means: This
means that while many people
own Under Armour clothes,
there is not a large preference
or brand loyalty toward Under
Armour. However, if Under
Armour quality and
appearance were stressed in
the advertising, people will be
more likely to buy it.
What would you change
about Under Armour?
Price
75% of active people said they wore
Under Armour often.
50%
71% of active people think Under
Armour is the leader in sports clothing
and apparel.
29% of our target audience think Nike is
the leader in sports clothing and apparel.
59% of out target audience own 10 or
more Under Armour items.
12%
42%
8%
25%
Nothing
Quality of Under
Armour
3%
Excellent
43%
Good
50%
Normal
8%
Which Brand Do You Prefer?
13%
50%
21%
No preference
Under Armour
Nike
Champion
Puma
71%
Love it
Like it
Indifferent
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KEY FINDINGS: The Three Problems
Reputation as Football Brand
One of the important findings our
research has provided is that
Under Armour is mostly known
for football. In the focus group, we
found that many people did not
associate Under Armour with
running or other sports, except for
football, and they didn’t even think
to buy Under Armour for regular
workout clothes.
Price vs. Quality
Another important, unearthed discovery
is that while Under Armour is expensive,
people will still buy it if they know that
the clothes will last for a long time.
While sales have been strong, it was
determined in the focus group that
quality was passed by word-of- mouth,
not by advertising.
Untapped Market
8
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One last thing we have discovered through our research was that the women’s
market in Under Armour is underdeveloped. Sales for the female department
have inconsistently increased through the years. The one aspect about Under
Armour for women that was frequently discussed in our focus group was the
bright colors and the amazing comfort. This section of our target audience has
potential to increase sales exponentially.
Gained Insights
.
Primary and secondary research
shows that the women’s market,
until recently, has been untapped.
Women really love the comfort of
the material that allows them to
work hard, as well as the bright
colors that make them stand out at
the gym, practice, or training.
9
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Primary Research shows that
most adults like the strength
that Under Armour exudes.
The brand is perceived as
motivational, tough, and
strong, and research says to
sell merchandise, it should be
kept that way.
THE BIG IDEAS
Overachieve. Overreach. Overcome.
This campaign was created to
deal with the first problem
Under Armour has: its football
reputation. The “Overachieve.
Overreach. Overcome.”
campaign was developed to
emphasize that Under Armour
is not only used in football, but
in the weight room or at
practice for any and every
sport.
.
Stand Out. Work Hard.
The “Stand out. Work
Hard.” campaign is for
women and emphasizes
the bright colors Under
Armour has and shows
that you can work hard
in Under Armour
clothes because they are
durable and comfortable.
10
OBJECTIVES
.
Increase sales by 2% evaluated
after four financial quarters.
Increase woman’s market 2%
evaluated by amount of women’s
apparel sold at the end of four
financial quarters.
Increase brand awareness as
apparel for all forms of sports and
exercise, not just football and
basketball
.
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11
UNDER ARMOUR’S ADVERTISING
BUDGET
$91
Million
Out Of Home Radio
$100,405
$4.9
Million
UNDER ARMOUR’S
BUDGET
Cable
Print
$160,080
$25
Million
$25
Million
Advertising
$100
Million
Public
Relations
Sales
Promotions
12
MEDIA STRATEGY
Under Armour’s strategy is to convince adults ages 18 to 39 to buy Under Armour, not
Nike, Champion, Adidas, or Reebok because Under Armour has leading insulation
technology and special sweat-absorbing materials in workout clothes.
According to our secondary research, Under Armour users are not generally on the
internet and are usually on-the-go. It is for this reason that Under Armour is
advertising on billboards, subway trains, and bus station instead of mostly internet and
print media. However, our research shows that in their free time, over 60% of our
target audience watches ESPN and USA Network, reads Fitness Magazine, and listens
to Z100.
Under Armour will be advertising seasonally. In the first quarter , Under Armour
will be advertising its ColdGear. In the second and beginning of the third quarter,
Under Armour will execute campaigns with the same frequency using the same
channels, only Under Armour will be advertising its running gear and will
completely focus on women with the women’s campaign during the spring and
summer months. The fourth quarter will feature ColdGear for the changing
weather and back-to-school sports.
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13
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Sources: MRI Plus and Experian Simmons
MARCOM: Internet
.
Twitter:
•Tweet inspirational
quotes.
•Tweet daily fat-burning
fitness routines
•Tweet about people
who lost weight while
wearing Under Armour.
•Retweet tweeted
accomplishments.
•Retweet twitpics of
people using Under
Armour
Create a micro site.
• Post workouts for specialized
muscle groups.
•Post a daily fat- burning routine
separate for men an women
•How to train yourself to run a 5K
How to prepare for a marathon.
•Have printer-friendly weight lifting
recording templates
•Online workout journal that can
track progress and can be posted to
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Blogs
Instagram:
•Post pictures of weight
lifters wearing Under
Armour
•Post pictures of famous
athletes wearing Under
Armour
•Post fit, everyday people
using Under Armour
Products.
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Bus Station#1 and #2
Advertisement
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Bus Station #3 Advertisement
Bill board #2 Advertisement
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Radio Script for Z100
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ANNOUNCER:
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE WORK HARD
DAILY, DEDICATING LARGE AMOUNTS OF TIME
TO HEALTH AND FITNESS. UNDER ARMOUR
SUPPORTS THIS FITNESS, AND WE THINK IT IS
AN ACHIEVEMENT. UNDER AMROUR URGES
YOU TO OVERACHIEVE AND RUN ONE MORE
MILE. TO OVERREACH AND LIFT FIVE MORE
POUNDS THAN THE DAY BEFORE. TO
OVERCOME OBSTACLES PLACED BEFORE YOU.
OVERACHIEVE. OVERREACH. OVERCOME.
UNDER ARMOUR.
Billboard #1 and Fitness Magazine
Print Advertisement
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18
Subway Car Advertisement
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Commercial Script for ESPN and
USA network.
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Challenge yourself
to work like you
never have before
and stand out from
your competition.
Instill fear into your
rivals and celebrate
achievement. Turn
“I can” into “I will”
Under Armour
challenges you to
stand out and work
hard. Will you?
*Not what actual frames for video, just a rough idea of what it will look like.
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MEDIA PLAN:
To effectively reach the maximum amount of people in our
target audience of active 18-39 year-olds we used the following
media channels:
Radio: Our research shows that in New York City, the majority of our target audience
listens to the z100 morning show on their way to and from work, or at the gym. Our
team is running commercials during 6-10 A.M. and 3-7 P.M.
Print: To reach 20% of our target market for women, we ran an ad in Fitness
Magazine every month it comes out, so we can reach those active women who need a
lot of workout clothes.
Out Of Home: Our research shows that more than 50% of our target market is
constantly on the go, traveling from one place to another. Our team put an ad on two
billboards, three bus stations, and five subway cars. Our team felt that we would reach
the maximum amount of people in our target market by out of home advertising.
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Television: To reach the maximum amount of people in our target market, our team
decided to run Under Armour commercials on two television networks, twice a night
for three months. These two networks are USA and ESPN. Together, these
commercials will reach a little over 63% of our target audience.
Sources: MRI Plus and Experian Simmons
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MEDIA SCHEDULE
2014
April
Mandatory dates
6
13
20
May
27
3
10
Reach
June
17
24
3
10
17
24
Cost
31
Cable
Citywide
USA
25,000,000
ESPN
10,000,000
Citywide
z100
237,000,000
Citywide
Fitness
1,527,912
Citywide
Billboards (2)
92,000,000
Bus Station (3)
126,000,000
Subway Ad (5)
225,000,000
$ 43,000,000.00
$ 48,000,000.00
Radio
$
100,405.00
$
160,080.00
$
1,400,000.00
$
1,518,000
$
2,025,000
$
-
$
-
$
-
Print
OOH
Owned Media
Impressions
Twitter
n/a
Instagram
n/a
Microsite
n/a
694,027,912
IMPRESSIONS: 694,027,912
*This schedule is for the second financial quarter. All quarters will have the same frequency due to Under Armour’s changing seasonal clothes
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Copy Testing:
EVALUATION
“Tweets are good so
people can interact
with Under Armour”
“Powerful: I like the
challenge”
“I think the radio ad was great
and it had a lot of strength
behind the words”
“I like the bright color
used. It is different and I
think I would buy the
product. I like the
emphasis on the shorts.
The shorts are my
favorite clothing items
from under armor and I
think that they are
represented well with
the bright colors.”
Monitoring Sales Figures:
To determine how effective our advertisements are, our team will gather sales
figures before the launching our campaigns. The campaigns will run for four
financial quarters, and sales figures will be collected each quarter after the launch.
These collected figures during the campaigns will be measured against the sales
before the execution of the campaigns.
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.
“I like the vibrant colors and
the contrast. The sneakers look
great. I really like the ‘Stand
Out, Work Hard slogan.”
To see how members of Under Armour’s target
audience would react to the images,
commercials, and slogans of the campaigns, our
team has created, we interviewed members of
the target audience to see how the
advertisements we put out would be perceived.
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CREDITS:
Special thanks to:
Professor Smulowitz,
Leonardo Fernandez, Mario
Adajar, Corrine DiGiovine,
Margaret Snare, Bret
Williams, Marc Trignano,
Richard Frazier, Tyler
Savakinas, and Survey
participants.
The Team:
Account Executive: Megan
Carey
Marketing Research Experts:
John Heller and Molly
Lenns
Creative Directors: Fernando
Borrego and Samantha
Corveddu
Media Placement Expert: Brian
Burns
Sources: MRI plus, Experian
Simmons, Lexis-Nexis, EBSCO Host,
SRDS, Google images, triathelon.org,
and underarmour.com.
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