When our professor first presented this project paper to us my mind began to wonder. What is a good company to research and present it to my fellow classmates. My first selection was “Chik-fil-a”, but I wasn’t sure if we could write about fast food franchises. So I continued to brainstorm about a topic to expound on, even going as far as in asking my buddies and co-workers for suggestions. “Walmart”, “National Football League”, “National Basketball Association”, “Nationwide Insurance”, and “LG” were a few ideas that were presented to me. A few of those sounded ok but none really grasp my attention. As I was visiting an outlet mall, I came across Nike store. “Wow that’s going to by my topic of choice”, is what I told myself. Week four (4) arrived and my professor asked for every student’s topic. Before he made it to me, at least four (4) others said Nike! As usual, I was the last person to give him my topic of choice. That’s when I went with “Under Armour. Researching this topic presented many roadblocks, due to this company only being around since 1996. I wasn’t sure if Under Armour practices corporate sustainability or even if they were socially responsible; but countless hours later researching this company, enlightened me of the answers I was searching for.
BACKGROUND
Under Armour started in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a 23-year-old former University of Maryland football player. As a special teams captain, he turned an idea brainstormed on the football filed into a new industry changing the way athletes dress forever. Since he hated having to change his sweat-soaked cotton t-shirts over and over again during two-a-days, he figured there had to be something better, which in turn led to his solution. The basic concept ...
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...CONCLUSION
My topic of choice was pretty tough. As I concluded my research on Under Armour, I can assure you that they have many areas to improve in to even be considered a major threat to Nike or Adidas. Their products are heading in the right direction, but more guidance is needed from senior correspondents that have more experience in the field of marketing and strategy. Under Armour revenues are increasing, but at the current pace, Nike will double their net gross in a year. Athletes and universities are contributing in branding Under Armour along with remaining loyal, but their apparel to me is not attractive. For starters, every major football team that I have noticed supporting them has very bland uniforms or very flashy uniforms. As the saying goes, “bad publicity is better than no publicity”; at least we are discussing them along side Nike and Adidas.
Under Armour and Nike are very close competitors in the athletic wear for sports and recreational use. Both Under Armour and Nike have goods and bads but at the end of the day Under Armour is a better company, with a better clothes line. Nike came out over thirty years before Under Armour, but Under Armour has by far surpassed Nike in popularity and style. In another thirty years when Under Armour has been out as long as Nike today, Under Armour will be more superior than Nike in the athletic field. Nike will eventually be over ran by nike and will be a small company like Adidas
Under Armor is viewed as a designer company for athletic wear. The company makes higher quality merchandise, which comes with a higher price tag. Under Armor’s line appeals to a wide variety of people, from upper class to lower class consumers. While it is easier for consumers in upper class society to purchase this high-end workout gear, it may not be reasonable to consumers in the lower class or even middle class markets. Companies such as Wal-Mart and Target can make a very similar product for almost half the price. To prevent losing these customers, Under Armor should consider a mor...
They could overtake Adidas if they continue with their innovative strategy because they’re only $3.5 billion away. Since now-a-days consumers are all about technology and new innovative products, if Under Armour continues with their innovative strategy they will continue to see an increase of financial growth, become a major competitor for Adidas, and a closer competitor to Nike.
Under Armour is a leading athletic clothing line directed towards the overall athlete who is looking for the most comfort during extracurricular activities. The mission of the company is, "to provide the world with technically advanced products engineered with exclusive fabric construction, supreme moisture management, and proven innovation. In short, every Under Armour product is doing something for you; it's making you better."
Materialistic things consume today’s society, whether it is cars, clothing, or jewelry, in a sense we rely on these objects for our happiness. Companies such as Nike, Gap, and Toms, have all had major success do to their loyal customers, who seek the name brand logo of their company. These companies have continued to grow tremendously, making billions of dollars; the companies strive to find ways to outsourcing its manufacturing, in hopes of making more and more profit. Profit is not the only thing that rises, many questions and investigations have occurred, exposing the poor ethical choices these businesses have made. Nike, one of the most well- known and profitable companies have experienced this heavy scrutiny first hand. Throughout this essay the reader will gain a better understanding of Nike’s poor ethical business decisions and what actions they took in order to repair their image.
Since 1998, Lululemon has transformed the way people dress to workout. Through innovative products and technical athletic fabrics, a brand was created to provide clothing for workouts such as yoga, running and cycling. Lululemon opened its first store in Vancouver in 2000 with the plan to have the store be a community hub for people to learn and discuss their physical fitness and overall health goals. As Lululemon was more than a store to provide products for consumers, their goal was to influence every person who walked into the store. A basic criterion for investment is Lululemon’s mission to create components for people to live longer, healthier, fun lives. All Lululemon locations maintain strong relationships with local communities and host in-store events such as complimentary yoga classes and goal-setting workshops.
This company has seen major expansions in outlets throughout the world over the years. Adidas on its part has managed to build a powerful brand through its technological innovations and aggressive marketing where they spend up to thirteen per cent of their revenue besides offering high quality services. These scenarios seem to present Under Armour with a massive competitive disadvantage. Through an inside-out perspective, Under Armour has been able to concentrate on the growth mission. Its mission is about building ... ...
The sports apparel and accessories industry has a highly competitive market. Businesses are constantly competing for elite athletes to sponsor, raw materials, and every opportunity to expand. Under Armour is able to not only survive but thrive in this market because of their ability to think outside of the box. They are constantly creating new and exciting products that help athletes everywhere.
Fashion has become an important part of everyday life throughout the world. Every morning people wake up to decide what they are going to wear and if it is “trendy” in today’s society. Television and media is covered with celebrity’s new dresses and unique outfits. Most of the first world countries are unaware of how retail clothing companies manufacture their clothes. Being both ethical and a profit powerhouse in the clothing industry is difficult for even the best of businesses. People throughout the world are speaking up for unethical behavior and these large company’s sales are hurting from it. Two companies that have really stood out in the past decades are Nike and Hennes & Mauritz, more commonly known by the name H&M. Both companies
There are as many brands as there is ants in the world, but the two brands that pop out are adidas and nike. Those two brands have been going head to head for ages to see who is the better brand. It’s been tested, compared, and debated which brand is better. Whether it’s the quality of the materials or the cost of it, the debate is ongoing. Both brands have been fighting for the top ever since they were both created and I don’t blame them it’d be fantastic to be the best brand in the world. When Nike and adidas are contrasted, it becomes clear that the Adidas brand are better for the overall consumer and enhances sport performance than Nike.
Nike is a company-- young and yet mature--developed and respected by popular athletes both past and present, whose icon remains a "swoosh" printed both large and small on many different forms of apparel. The "swoosh" constitutes a dream of being the best bec...
This project concentrates on the Nike Sports shoe; Nike is one of most significant shoe manufacturing company worldwide. Sportswear manufactured by Nike is known for quality and is most liked brand of athletes. (Daniel, 2011)
Executive Summary Introduction Kimi Ford, a portfolio manager at NorthPoint Group, a mutual-fund management firm, was considering buying shares in the fund she manages, the NorthPoint Large-Cap Fund, with an emphasis on value investing. Ford held an analysts’ meeting to disclose its fiscal-year 2001 results and, most importantly, to communicate a strategy for revitalizing the company. Nike has maintained revenue of about $9 billion since 1997. However, its net income had fallen from almost $800 million to $580 million. Moreover, Nike’s market share in U.S. athletic shoes has fallen from 48% in 1997 to 42% in 2000.
The second recommendation for Under Armour is that they should develop a shoe line and marketing campaign for women, based on the idea of everyday athlete. Focusing on the fact that women want to compete and have the same performance benefits that everyone wants, but also have a shoe that is stylish enough that she can wear straight
Nike’s positioning in the market has more of a mass appeal compared to their main competitor Adidas who strive to make products for elite athletes. The positioning strategy for Nike is currently working at a satisfactory level as Nikes global annual sales between 2013-2014 was reported as 27.8 billion (Statista, 2014) compared to Adidas’ 19.95 billion (Statista, 2014). The global market for sports apparel is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% between 2012-2019, Nikes compound annual growth rate during 2010-2012 was 12.3% which is an excellent result as the brand’s growth was larger than the market as well as outgrowing Nike’s closest competitors Adidas, Puma and Asics (Forbes,