Diana Berger

Scott Brucker
Larry Cenotto
Brian McCarthy
 IMC Platform
• Began using personal selling
– Targeted college equipment managers
• Moved to IMC Plan
– Theme: “Protect This House”
– Commercials
– Print Ads

• Interactive Media
– UA Website
 IMC Platform
• Endorsements/Sponsorships
– MLB, NHL, NFL teams, 100 NCAA football teams

• Product placement
– “The Replacements” & “Any Given Sunday”
• Great exposure to their target audience of sports enthusiasts

• Public Relations
– Featured in ESPN,
SI & Time Magazines
 Critique of IMC
• Very Effective IMC Plan
• “Protect This House” Theme
– After campaign, sales increased
to $25 million
– UA now found in over 2,500
retail outlets
 Image Advertising
• Founded in 1995 by Kevin Plank, a Maryland
football player, Under Armour began as a
product strictly for football players, by
football players

• Over its 11 year life, UA has expanded to

suit the needs of virtually all athletes,
creating a very strong advertising image
 Image Advertising
• UA has successfully exuded a tough,
high performance image that speaks
directly to its target market:
– Athletes and aspiring athletes
 Image Advertising
• UA’s image advertising conveys that
their product makes an athlete better,
faster, stronger, and more feared
 Image Advertising
• Under Armour crosses into daring
advertising, calling out its competitors
and showing that as athletes shouldn’t
be afraid of their competition, UA isn’t
afraid of facing their competition either
 Emotional Bonding
• Creating emotional rapport with
consumers to try to make a product as
close to their ideal state as possible

• This concept has 3 levels:

– Consumers…
1. Consider product benefits
2. Assign a personality to the brand
3. Develop emotional bonds to the brand
 Emotional Bonding
• Showcase the Product Benefits
– Entered an industry dominated by such
goliaths as Nike, Adidas, and Reebok
– Marketed as something that can help athletic
performance
– Named products after their primary benefit
• Ex. HeatGear, ColdGear, TurfGear, and AllSeasonGear
 Emotional Bonding
• Showcase the Product Benefits
– UA snuck in under the radar of Nike, and now
controls 75% of performance apparel industry
– Traditional industry giants have caught on
and are trying to take market back from UA
• Nike Dri-Fit, Adidas ClimaLite, and Reebok Hydromove
 Emotional Bonding
• Assigning Personality to the Brand
– “We Must Protect This House”
– Shows UA football players practicing to try to
beat the “Goliaths”
• Players exude confidence and perseverance
• Camaraderie & affiliation between UA team

“WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!!”

 Emotional Bonding
• Assigning Personality to the Brand
– UA doesn’t use marquee athletes
• More relatable to target markets
• Pull off the role of the underdog
– UA brand personality is that of a tough,
testosterone-driven, giant-killing persona
– Many athletes endorse for free
 Emotional Bonding
• Assigning Personality to the Brand
– “Click Clack” ad campaign (2006)
• Refers to sound of cleats on concrete
– Subtitle: “I Think You Hear Us Coming”
• Double entendre: showcases both UA’s brand
momentum and new entry into the cleat market
 Emotional Bonding
• What’s Next?
– Continuous exposure to these messages will
develop emotional bonds so that emotions
like accomplishment, confidence, pride, and
affiliation become synonymous with UA
 SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
•TV campaign •Relatively small amongst industry
•Strong brand identity giants
•High quality apparel •Narrow media focus
•Trade promotions •Not leveraging sponsorships and
•Interactive website technology

Opportunities
•Entering new markets
–Demographics: Gender, Age
–Geographic: Texas Tech, Auburn
–Psychographics: Variety of sports
–Products: Cleats
Threats
•Encroaching new competitors
•Industry giants
•Loss of brand identity in expansion
 Recommendations
• Focus on product benefits
– Technology: HeatGear, Compression, ColdGear
– Majority of benefits are unknown to potential
customers
 Recommendations
• Target new markets
– Different sports
– Product launches (like “Click Clack” campaign)
– Geographic, psychographic, and demographic
• Create and leverage sponsorships
– More athletes, teams, and leagues
• Increase brand loyalty
• Increase saturation level
– Event sponsorship