Marketing Strategy Of Under Armour: Nike, And Athletes

Under Armour was founded in 1995 by Kevin Plank as an innovative firm that designed a unique moisture-wicking shirt for keeping athletes dry and comfortable during physical fitness activities and events. It has expanded in the past decade to include various clothing, accessories, and footwear of creative design to support hot, cold and wet weather conditions. Under Armour generates more than $2.2 billion in annual sales, reaching the same level as Nike and Adidas. Under Armour has limited financial resources, despite having high brand awareness, in comparison to other major competitors. Kevin Plank wants to focus on specific, high-opportunity markets, such as increasing Under Armour’s athletic shoes at double-digit rates per year through unique, specialized brands. Under Armour as a result received the title of third-largest brand of running shoes behind Nike and Asics. To off-set the high-cost of the shoes ($100 a pair), Under Armour continued diversify the pricing to vary between $70 and $100 a

The primary market ($100 dollars) is geared towards the dedicated athletes who demand high-performance footwear to accomplish their fitness goals. The secondary market (as low as $70 dollars) is geared towards newcomers and other athletes not on the same level as the primary market target. It is NOT differential pricing because the 70$ running shoes are new different type of product, not the same product as the $100 running shoes.

The LED shirts are considered machine-washable, devoid of wires or other electronics that interfere with the comfortable level of the athlete: this alone isn’t seen in other LED-like t-shirts sold by other companies, to include Nike. Because of this premium and innovative design, Under Armour is able to price the product higher than the competition because nothing else like it is available in terms of comfort, efficiency, and ease-of-use for