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Under Armour's strategic analysis
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Under Armour’s Strategy in 2014. Potent Enough to Win Market Share from Nike and Adidas
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Under Armor is a leading developer and distributor of athletic gear. The product line consists of a wide variety of apparel, footwear, and accessories. Over the past few years, the company has grown at an impressive rate due to their increased product line, expansions to the international market and direct- to- consumer business. Analyzing Porter’s Five Forces will aid in understanding what the company will face and potentially overcome moving forward.
Threat of New Entrants
The success and popularity of Under Armor products has attracted many competitors to develop similar products and, inevitably, will result in new entrants to the industry. This will eventually cause a decrease in profitability for all competitors. Under Armor must continue to better their product and adapt to the needs of their market in order to stay ahead of the competition. Differentiating their products will help the company as a strong competitor in a rapidly growing industry. Developing and patenting one of a kind products would help to ensure their continuing and prevailing success, while deterring new companies from the market.
Threat of Substitute Products
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...
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...ers is a very large demographic that is not currently being targeted by specific companies. If Under Armor was to develop and distribute a line that appealed to this market they would be able to have the competitive advantage of that segment.
Threats
Revenues come from the sale of Under Armor products. From 2009 to 2012 the company has seen a steady increase in revenue, which can be credited to factors such as, expansions, increased marketing, and product innovation. Under Armor had a 24.6% increase in revenue from 2011 to 2012. This was down from the previous 38.4% increase from 2010 to 2011. Under Armor showed a favorable increase in their operating profit margin, total return on assets and return on stockholder's equity. This helps us to recognize the company as using their resources efficiently and showing an overall profitability for the company.
Dick's also "serves & inspires athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to achieve their personal best into everything they do" (About Us, n.d.). Although Dick's does seem to provide top brands at their store, I would try and come up with strategies to push some of their private brands to become a top 'must have' brand. There are multiple ways the consumer market can acquire the top brands that Dick's has stocked in their stores. Having their own popular brand of clothes could disrupt the
Created in 1996, Under Armour, Inc.’s principal business operations include the designing, marketing, and distribution of sporting apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth. The company has engineered moisture-wicking fabric products, which come in many designs and styles for wear in virtually every climate. The firm seeks to provide a superior performance alternative product compared to traditional sportswear merchandise in the market. The HEATGEAR® products contain a microfiber blend fabric designed to draw off moisture from the body that helps consumers stay cool, dry and light. Consumers wear this product if temperatures are warm or hot and while working out in the gym. The firm continues to reinforce its mission to make all athletes better by growing worldwide with currently 19 offices around the world. Under Armour, Inc. utilizes its strong growth and revenues from the U.S. market space to help drive and support the company’s global ambitions. Ninety four percent of the net revenues for 2013 derived from U.S. sale revenues of $2,082.5 million.
The reason consumers select Under Armour is because the brand is innovative. They’re constantly creating new products. Under Armour is the originator of performance apparel. That is what attracted their first customers, their present customer, and future customers. Add that with their marketing, and that is what helps make the company what it is today.
By putting the warehouses in strategic locations, you provide better access to those customers in more remote locations. By taking advantage of this, Under Armour will not only expose itself to new customers, but will be able to continue to dominate the athletic performance apparel industry.
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.
For an extended period of time shoes have been an integral part of the modern consumer’s life. According to the vast majority of fashionably inclined individuals, shoes can either make or break a person’s entire appearance, which explains why people invest their hard earned coins into comfortable abodes for their feet. Particularly, the annual budget consumers spend on shoes in the United States is approximately $20 billion dollars, and $6.46 billion dollars stem from running shoes alone. This is what initially piqued my interest and compelled me to interview a manager from one of most popular shoe stores known as Footlocker. As a side note, the interviewee was only willing to share the information because he is no longer an employee of
Entry barriers are low in the apparel industry, there are many companies currently operating in the sporting apparel, footwear, and accessory marketplace. Nike, Adidas, and Champion are considered the biggest competitors for Under Armour. The offshoring and outsourcing creates a unique situation for the Under Armour product line ordering and distribution. To ensure the products are properly stocked Under Armour must have the products manufactured prior to the orders being placed by distributors. On the positive side, the distributors power is high. The products can be found in company stores as well as retail chains, Dick’s Sporting Goods is a major distributor for the Under Armour product. In addition, the buyers power and the threat of substitution is low. The materials greatest competitor is cotton which holds moisture, in opposition to the synthetic material that wicks away sweat. The technology and materials needed to create the synthetic material can be sourced worldwide creating an ease of buying
Under Armour target is anyone who works out, plays sports or working in a cold or hot area that will need compression shirts or pants to keep the body cool and dry. You can also wear the shirts and pants year round. We also have to keep in the mind the size, profitability, accessibility and limited competitor (Nike). In the late 90’s Kevin had a product line of several different products, but behind each product there was a reason for the product which would define the need. For example Under Armour came out with a number of different Cold Gear shirts and pants, for the really cold winters, Turf Gear to protect football players against the artificial turf, and all season gear which you can wear during in season whether it is fall or spring.
Thanks,------. So far, we have got a relatively comprehensive understanding about Under Armour’s business position and strategies. You may wonder what other strategic actions it can take to complement and strengthen its competitive approach and maximize the power of its overall strategy.
However, there are several front burner issues such as outsourcing, brand name, and differentiation between competitors. First, the company outsources the majority of its raw materials for manufacturing. One of the potential issues Under Armour faces is supplier bargaining power. As a result, suppliers as well as the raw materials used to produce materials could increase substantially. This could result in fewer sales based upon the consumers desire to purchase the product or not. Second, Under Armour faces issues with its brand recognition. Several commonly known products such as Kleenex, Zipper, and Dumpster are terms which are becoming classified as generic terms. Surprisingly, Under Armour has not done anything at this point in time. However, if they want to secure the brand name, they need to react and do something quickly. Lastly, the organization suffers from brand differentiation with other competitors such as Nike and Adidas. Consumers are mixing up certain attributes of Under Armour with Nike or Adidas. For example, Nike refers to its technology within its products as “Dri-Fit.” However, they in reality are buying Under Armour clothing which is referred to as heat gear, cold gear, or all season gear. The company needs to look into ways of making their brand stronger, which could be by developing something new or utilize materials that are not easily accessible to all
White, B., 2013. Why it is all going wrong for M&S clothing? [Online] Available at: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG9986043/Lack-of-focus-and-complex-branding-the-problems-blighting-MandS.html [Accessed 19 March 2014].
American Eagle targets the younger generation with target brands, a strong brand image, and a variety of products. American Eagle has many opportunities for growth and expansion, especially, with the launch and continuation of the Aerie sub-brand and opportunities for online retailing. Unfortunately, competition, rising rental rates and its low level of liquid asset could put American Eagle and its thriving sub-brand, “Aerie”, in danger. Below is an in-depth description of some of the key factors presented in the SWOT analysis of American Eagle and “Aerie”
Nike’s research facility processes focus on athletic desire and performance, but when it comes to fashion; the designs change rapidly as do the trends. Therefore if Nike cannot meet the fashion trends consumers will follow the next designer. Nike researches material and processes to ensure their products are in line with their corporate strategy and goals, but the increased cost of products could leave many consumers unable to purchase products. Nike expanding into global markets will increase their marketing strategy, but the exchange rate will affect their cost and may price them out of the local market. A marketspace is referred to as a place where a consumer can purchase goods on the internet (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Nike may do better in global markets by establishing a local marketspace in order to offset exchange rates and reduce costs for emerging
Nike possesses a leading position as a supplier of sports products in the international market. The Sports and Apparel industry is the most competitive, characterized with participants like Reebok, Addidas, and so forth (Lipsey, 2006, p. 103). Nike having been around for some time has managed to outdo its rivals by having an immense possession of competition in this industry brought about by the unique business level strategy it has. Nikes business level strategy has three major components, that is, cost leadership, management of industry segment and product di...
As mentioned earlier above, Porter’s Five Forces is a tool to identify the stronger areas of a business. It assists in realizing the strength of the business in competitive situation and also the strength of the position it intends to move into. This analysis helps in improving the weaknesses, preventing wrong actions and highlights how to get the benefits from the strengths of the business (Mind Tools, 2012).