Kellian NOEL Win Sport School 17/10/2023.

Under armour

- What was the strategy of under armour?

- Which lessons did the company learn?

Under armour was created by Kevin Plank, a young American football player in search of a
sweat-absorbing garment. At just 23 years old, in his grandmother's basement in
Washington, he designed an undergarment made from absorbent material that keeps
athletes cool. After several years of word of mouth, where Kevin decided to focus on the
effectiveness of his product. In 1998, it finally set up its headquarters in Baltimore, supplying
several teams, producing its first advertising and contracts, and expanding its product ranges.
In short, under amour’s values are innovation, inspiration, reliability, equality, and integrity.

Nevertheless, after a meteoric rise the brand has suffered a significant decline for several
reasons. Indeed, firstly Under Armour before covid depended heavily on sales in physical
shops, particularly large sports shops. The rise of e-commerce and the temporary closure of
physical shops and the gym had a negative impact on its financial results. Also, Sports
Authority, one of its customers went bankrupt. Finally, the brand has often been criticised for
not following the Athleisure trend and diversifying like its competitors.

Under armour has learned from its mistakes and started new strategies. In fact, they decide
to change the organisation of its business, the accounts department but also the human
resources department cause of multiples problems of integrity. They decide to open their
online shop and to reorient its strategy, notably by focusing on e-commerce, diversifying its
product offering, and emphasising innovation and the customer experience.

Thanks to these strategies, Under Amour has become one of the main competitors of Nike
and adidas in just 20 years and managed to get back on track by pursuing a mass sponsorship
strategy.