Under Armour Corporate Level Strategy
Acquisitions, which are partnerships with college and professional sport teams since they buy the rights to sponsor those teams, will be UA’s most vital corporate level strategy. The drawback to this is that UA’s distribution through retailers increases the prices of products (Burke, 2012). One way to remedy this is to open more outlets with more affordable products. We have to remember that Under Armour is a North American brand and the greatest percentage of these team rights that they own are North American-based teams. Though it would be great to expand into global markets in Europe and Asia, and keep signing rising star athletes, they must first protect their house. In fact, that has been the main slogan used by UA often, “protect this
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Unfortunately for Under Armour, it will remain a difficult hurdle because they are competing with two industry giants, Nike and Adidas. These companies are well established and have a long-standing history that allows them to capture a larger market share over UA. They are able to attain this through growth of their brand equity over time, efficient supply chains, and their ability to create value for stakeholders on a consistent basis. Over a four years period from 2011 to 2014, Under Armour has achieved a consistent increase in annual sales revenue from $1.47 billion in 2011 to $3.08 billion in 2014. Though this shows success and growth, it is substantially smaller compared to Nike, the industry leader with a $20.10 billion in 2011 to a $27.8 billion in 2014. Attempting to obtain a larger market share is an ambitious gesture however; UA must look at growth as a way of protecting themselves against companies like Nike and Adidas, as they pose a risk of pushing out smaller companies using their advantage over the market. Growth does not happen overnight, it is achieved with time and consistency. Some ways that UA can capitalize on achieving growth are: sports marketing, more efficient and effective supply chains, improved distribution networks, and creating more technologically advanced products through research and development (Daigle, Bowen, Dion, & Valentine,
Unfortunately for Under Armour, it will remain a difficult hurdle because they are competing with two industry giants, Nike and Adidas. These companies are well established and have a long-standing history that allows them to capture a larger market share over UA. They are able to attain this through growth of their brand equity over time, efficient supply chains, and their ability to create value for stakeholders on a consistent basis. Over a four years period from 2011 to 2014, Under Armour has achieved a consistent increase in annual sales revenue from $1.47 billion in 2011 to $3.08 billion in 2014. Though this shows success and growth, it is substantially smaller compared to Nike, the industry leader with a $20.10 billion in 2011 to a $27.8 billion in 2014. Attempting to obtain a larger market share is an ambitious gesture however; UA must look at growth as a way of protecting themselves against companies like Nike and Adidas, as they pose a risk of pushing out smaller companies using their advantage over the market. Growth does not happen overnight, it is achieved with time and consistency. Some ways that UA can capitalize on achieving growth are: sports marketing, more efficient and effective supply chains, improved distribution networks, and creating more technologically advanced products through research and development (Daigle, Bowen, Dion, & Valentine,