International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR
Help writing 6-7 page Capstone paper and should be written from an International Business Management perspective and recommendations should be data driven, rooted in the research and directed toward The International Business of Under Armour Management status of UNDER ARMOUR using the terms and concepts attached as focal point for your writing.
Link to copy of book is provided: https://www.mheducation.com/highered/product/international-business-competing-global-marketplace-hill-hult/M9781259929441.programfeatures.html
Edition).pdf . Must have SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats) table in the beginning. Attached is a sample of good paper. Also terms and concepts that are to be used for (SWOT Analysis is attached. Bold all terms and concept and provide reference. please see attached paper as to how paper should look. Also need to make corrections once graded. Also use the book as reference for term and concepts and ensure you list pg # if required. International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR
ORDER A PLAGIARISM – FREE PAPER NOW
Running Head: MARKETING ANALYSIS OF UNDER ARMOUR 1
MARKETING ANALYSIS OF UNDER ARMOUR 9
Draft Topic Paper Three Marketing of Under Armour
Principles Of Marketing BUSB 340
James Greene
January 28, 2020
University Of Redlands
BUSB 485 SD12
Undergraduate Capstone Paper
Instructor Richard Doyle
Plank established Under Armour in 1995 upon noticing that the cotton shirts of his football team at the University of Maryland were always soaked in sweat and noted that there had to be something better for his team (Kraft& Lee, 2009). He thus wanted to create shirts that were always cool even in the hottest of weather conditions. Plank went ahead and designed his prototype for his team, which attracted a lot of attention from other collegiate teams. Which prompted the expansion and growth of Under Amour products hence resulted in the opening up of its headquarters at Maryland-Baltimore (Kraft& Lee, 2009). Nonetheless, despite its success, Under Amour continues facing stiff competition from similar sports retail brands. As a relatively new organization, Under Amour faces a high threat, yet it still has the opportunity to incorporate creative and innovative ideas (Kraft& Lee, 2009). The SWOT analysis below thus chronicles the elements that make Under Armour to stand out and strategies that it could incorporate to reinvent its brand a take an even more significant share of the existing market.
| STRENGTHS |
WEAKNESSES |
| · Innovative technology
· Diversity of its Product
· Strong Brand recognition
· Athlete Endorsements
· Eco-friendly/ Green products |
· Limited Material/Technology
· Stiff Competition
· Lacks a Top Seller
· Limited Footwear Line |
| OPPORTUNITIES |
THREATS |
| · International Expansion
· Expansion of athletic footwear
· Development of markets to incorporate women campaigns
· E-commerce |
· High competition (Adidas, Nike, Reebok)
· Product Replacement |
Strengths
One of Under Armour’s greatest strength is the unique and innovative technology behind its products. Under Armour was established on the premise that its t-shirts wick off sweat as opposed to absorbing it hence keeping the athletes cool even in hot temperatures. In 2013, the company went on and released shirts that tracked an athlete’s heart by installing sensors in the shirts that could register electrical signals from the center (Boone& Kurtz, 2013). International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR.Moreover, the company also developed tape-replacing cleat that offered ultimate support to the athletes. Such outstanding inventions offer Under Armour a better competitive position against other retail brands. Competitive position “Is the position that a firm has already acquired or is trying to acquire, relative to its competitors” (Boone& Kurtz, 2013). Even better as the company strives to keep with emerging technological advancements in society, it could easily resonate with many consumers.
Under Armour’s brand, recognition in the sporting arena is another of its significant strengths. Brand recognition “Is the ability of a consumer to recognize one brand over other brands” (Kerin & Hartley, 2016). Under Armour is a renowned brand whose logo is recognized world-wide in sporting arenas events like football, snowboarding, baseball, among others. Its company logo is known around the globe as it is on jerseys and stadium walls, making it a familiar brand in the eyes of the Americans in the last decade, especially (Boone& Kurtz, 2013). Under Armour has invested mainly in marketing for golf, which has made acquire brand equity in the golf arena to the extent that professional golfer, Jordan Spieth, has endorsed the organization (Boone& Kurtz, 2013). The definition for Brand equity “Residing in the minds of the consumers and results from what they have felt, seen, and heard about brand overtime”(Kerin & Hartley, 2016).
Three, Under Armour also takes pride in producing a wide range of products. The company takes pride in being innovative, and hence it not only relies on making t-shirts but rather it also makes products like football cleats and speed skating suits. Under Armour’s message centers on utility and quality. Although some of the products by Under Armour may be lesser-known, This has driven them to engage in creative partnerships and to be up-front in creating unique and quality brands.
Widely acclaimed for its athlete endorsements Under Armour, which have helped to market its brand on a broader spectrum. The company is very intentional in its athletes, approvals that it could spend millions in its contractual agreements. Through the years, Under Armour has key athlete endorsements, and with such support, it has created an impression with its competitors while attracting vast numbers of potential clients (Wagner, 2013).
Lastly, Under Armour prides itself on being eco-friendly in its operations. The company has committed to being sustainable by posing as little risk to the environment as possible in its productions. It has gone as far as having five responsibilities to being more eco-friendly, which include recycling its materials, reducing energy, reducing and recycling its wastes, improving its environmental impact, and incorporating green practices in its production. These principles have guided Under Armour’s product line while giving it substantial strengths. Also, these environmental values have helped to enhance its corporate responsibility as an organization that is environmentally sound. Corporate Responsibility defined, “Is the way a company takes responsibility for its actions and their impact on communities, stakeholders and employees” (Kraft& Lee, 2009). International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR
Weaknesses
Its lack of competitiveness in the shoe industry remains to be Under Armour’s most significant flaw. Despite releasing the Speed-form, which rivals Nike’s Free series running shoes, Reebok has also released a similar shoe which models the Speed-form but lighter. So far, the Speed form has not significantly impacted the market, nor has it become a popular running shoe (Wagner, 2013). Also, unlike Nike and Adidas, which have historically had famous athletes shows like the Air Jordan and Nike Air Force, Under Armour does not have a popular show to its name. All in all, Under Armour, has a bright future; nonetheless, it must produce quality shows that match up to the standards of those provided by Adidas and Nike (Wagner, 2013). Also, it attains a similar level of status as these companies must create a wide range of products that targets not only the athletes but the public as well.
The other weakness of under Armour is its lack of innovativeness concerning technology and material use. Despite having a diverse product line, most of the technology and materials used to create its products are becoming sparse. Even worse, large companies are fighting for patents, which have resulted in limited suppliers (Wagner, 2013). For example, Under Armour has had different cases concerning its patent infringement and access to materials. Under Armour has been involved in over three cases with big companies like Nike and Adidas over patent rights, and mainly such cases result in public relation issues that limit its expansion strategies.
Opportunities
Under Armour has the opportunity to expand its operations outside of the United States. For example, it recently expanded its operations to Brazil, which serves as a significant step to the company attaining its international expansion goals and meeting continued growth. With its expansion in Brazil, Under Armour now stands to become major sports apparel in major business hubs. Hence, once Under Armour continues expanding its operations to other international markets, it could attract a massive demand from outside the United States.
Upon its establishment, its primary target market were males from the teen to their early 20s. Target Market defined as “A particular group of consumers at which a product/service is geared towards” (Kerin & Hartley, 2016). However, the company’s limited target market has served as its potential weakness in the sports arena. Despite starting to expand its brand to include women merchandise in 2014, Under Armour still needs to be more rigorous with its target audience expansion and to invest in more marketing campaigns for the women apparel (Heitner, 2014). According to Kerin and Hartley, “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (Kerin & Hartley, 2016). By targeting the women consumers, Under Armour has the potential to garner enormous success and to attain a better competitive edge in the sports arena.
ORDER A PLAGIARISM – FREE PAPER NOW
E-commerce offers immense opportunities for Under Armour. According to Heitner, e-commerce, “Is conducting all business operations electronically/online” (Heitner, 2014). In recent years, companies have been making high retail sales because of their online operations. Today, unlike in the past, customers are investing more in products online, and hence it is becoming more apparent for brands to have an online presence to attain overall success (Heitner, 2014). Currently, Under Armour has a working website as well as an active online presence on social media, and by capitalizing on these platforms, it could attain efficient sales while meeting consumer convenience.
Under Armour could also benefit from partnering with innovative sports technologies, which could expand its opportunities to make more sales. Previously, Under Armour has partnered with a fitness company known as MapMyFitness, which offers its users with the ability to evaluate their everyday workouts. MapMyFitness is known to have one of the most extensive fitness communities, and hence Under Armour stands to acquire more consumers from such partnerships.
Threats
Under Armour faces the consistent danger of competition from more established athletic brands like Adidas and Nike. Knowing the level of competition that exists in the market, Under Armour is continuously trying to release new technology and equipment to help strengthen its image and niche in the market. For example, once the company stops releasing its cold weather apparel, then it is likely to fail. International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR
The other threat that Under Armour faces is product replacement from less expensive brands. The market is saturated by less expensive brands like Russell, Badger, Athletic, and Badger, which mainly compare to Under Armour but charge less (Heitner, 2014). These companies have been able to create an alternative for the customers who must decide whether to spend more on the higher quality products from Under Armour or spend less for fewer quality products that still compare to those from Under Armour. In such a scenario most young people prefer going for the less expensive companies because of the costs.
Recommendations
Despite its current shortcomings, Under Armour could still gain a better competitive edge in the market by adopting several recommendations. For Under Armour to take advantage of its opportunities and strengths, it needs to focus on several recommendations, which include; investing in research and development, extending its reach to the international arena, implementing a differentiation strategy, acquiring patents, having a broader segment and product diversification (Kerin & Hartley, 2016). Nonetheless, the two most dominant recommendations that could best benefit the company are having an international presence and investing in research and development for its products.
Under Armour stands to have an even more significant market share once it extends its operations in the international arena. At the moment, Under Armor relies on North America for over 90% of its returns. Therefore, by shifting its services to the global, it would help generate significant revenues for Under Armour while also assisting the company in outdoing its rivals.
The second recommendation is investing in research and development for its products. Critical to assist the company in experiencing continued growth, primarily since its greatest strength relies on quality design and technology utilization. Also, with the stiff competition in the industry, it is without a doubt that Under Armour requires to invest a significant amount of its finances in developing a new product, endorsing and advertising it. Thus by primarily focusing on these two significant recommendations, Under Armour will especially gain a better competitive edge while being more successful in the future.
Next, we will delve into the International Business side of Under Armour.
References
Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. (2013). Contemporary marketing. Cengage learning.
Kerin, R. A., & Hartley, S. W. (2016) Marketing. 13th Ed.
Kraft, P., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Protecting the house of Under Armour. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 18(2), 112.
Heitner, D. (2014). PGA Tour Golfer Jordan Spieth Striking Gold On-And-Off The Course. Forbes.
Wagner, K. (2013). Under Armour’s Crew of Star Athletes. CNNMoney. Cable News. International Business Capstone On UNDER ARMOUR
