Under Armour's Competitive Forces

1. The competitive forces are very strong coming from rival sellers in the same business, and the demand for the products are high in the marketplace. Under Armour have various competition from rival sellers, such as Nike and Adidas who usually sell under the same classification as them. They are producing selling similar products and they usually have the same features, which cause a weakened differentiation among them. It could also be caused by low switching costs that make it even more competitive. The only thing difference about them is the brand and how they market it.

The competitive force may be moderate coming from potential new entrants in the industry. The demand is already high for current brands and trends, and the new competition would have to spend a lot more money to market their products in order to level with the current

competitors. Since they are technically distributing similar products, there is not much differentiation between them, so they would have a harder time breaking barriers to reach the top.
The competitive force may be strong coming from producers of similar products.

Even though the products are similar, quality and price is important to customers when choosing which brand to buy. In order to keep their loyal customers, they have to prove to them that they could provide inferior quality and come up with new ideas for designs that would keep them interested. Under The brand has to strive to be better than the other rivalries in order to successful in an industry like this.

The competitive force may be moderate coming from supplier bargaining power. Items are supplied from many different supplies, and many industries switch their purchases from one supplier to another at times. When there is diversity in suppliers, it limits the bargaining power.

The competitive force may be moderate coming from customer bargaining power also. There are any other brands a customer could choose from. The customer wants to make sure they are getting good quality for the price they are paying for them. The materials the brand uses is a very important factor in determining if the quality of the product is what the customer

demands.

2. Under Amour definitely have core competencies to provide great quality to their customer for a reasonable price. They offer a variety of products for people of al ages and sizes. Their products range from things like clothes, shoes, and accessories for men and women. They stay innovative in order to keep up with the latest trends that their customers are looking for. They have expanded worldwide and have made their brand available to many different markets

3. Yes, they have resource strengths of provide a wide range of diverse products in many different countries. They have many difference suppliers and customers from all over the world. They also have competitive capabilities that qualify as distinctive competence. For example, their products could be used for multiple purposes, and does not just have one advantage. Athletes usually endorse their brand and they also have very comfortable apparel for them to wear.

4. The SWOT analysis evaluates strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Under Armor’s strengths are having a strong brand, great sponsorships and endorsement by celebrities, attractive and great quality products, and great profits.
Their weaknesses are competitive prices compared to other brands. Also, their advertising targets more athletes who play sports, rather than regular customers who may use their products to just work out or wear their casual apparel daily.
They have plenty of opportunities to lower price to better compete with rivals and raise profits. They should also expand to more markets and open more retail stores with their brand.
The threats that they could face are having better competition with better prices, products that substitute their brand, or a fall in stock prices.

5. The key elements of Under Armor’s strategy are growth strategy, product line strategy, distribution strategy, and the marketing/promotion/brand management strategy. Their growth strategy broadened the products to a wide variety of sports, targeted additional consumers for their performance line-up, increased the sales and market share, secured additional distributions in the market, expanded their products to different countries, and increased global awareness. Their product line strategy expanded and marketed products offerings to provide their customers with a product that was superior alternative to their rivals. Their distribution strategy made their products available in over 25000 retail stores and sold products directly from its own factory and outlets. Their marketing, promotion, and brand management strategy drove consumer demand and built awareness for its products.

6. Under Armor is more than likely employing the Broad Differentiation strategy. They are trying to create unique products that would set them apart from other competitors. They do this by creating products that would be difficult to duplicate so they could have an advantage over their rivals.

7. The most impressive thing is that the overall net income and revenues increased every year, and this is because of the increase in sales. The company’s strong performance increased its stock price from $46 in 2013 to $124 in 2014. This indicates that their brand has been more successful each year.

9. The three things that Kevin Plank and Under Armor management needs to address is globalizing, product expansion, and demographics.

10. Recommendations to address globalization, is to develop more factories and outlets worldwide. Instead of using third-party retailers, they should develop more individual retailers in other places. In order to address product expansion, they should innovate a brand new idea that would reach more customers in a broader range and not just athletes. As for addressing demographics, they should try targeting various new places and establish a great brand presence there through advertising and marketing. These recommendations could help them level with Nike in the strength assessment.