Project + Exec is a new series where I’ve decided to seek out footwear executives who are minorities (Black, Latino, Indian, Native American, Asian men and women) who are doing some dope work, but are being overlooked by the larger media outlets. It’s my small part. I really hope you look more into the brands and people behind them.
177
1-7-7 That’s the number of posts on ARCH that pertain to Under Armour and marketing. Over the years Under Armour has taken the brunt of my criticism in regard to the marketing strategies of the company. Out of 177 posts 10% of those posts are probably positive. That means on 17 occasions I’ve found a reason to celebrate the marketing of Under Armour. The 17 times where I was excited and felt that Under Armour had turned the page had to deal with women’s sportswear primarily until a year ago. #IWILL and #UNLIKEANY are quite possibly the perfect campaigns for a brand. It just so happens that Under Armour was the brand to create these campaigns. Unfortunately I have found that neither of those campaigns was pushed quite as much as they should have been and as they should continue to be. Both #IWILL and #UNLIKEANY should have a form of synecdoche/ metonymy. When someone says Just Do It or SWOOSH, the immediate reference is Nike. Those hashtags for Under Armour should be synonymous with the brand to the point that it becomes interchangeable and marketed as much as the original “We Must Protect This House”.
17 out of 177 posts that discuss marketing and Under Armour. In the last year and a half is when the positive aspects of Under Armour marketing began to take shape. I recently wondered why is the marketing beginning to turn. My research led me to a few obvious reference points. As UA began to slide in growth Kevin Plank made it a point to speak about the increase in spending in the marketing division. Last year I wrote this:
At this point I thought UA was about to really dive into fixing the primary problem for the brand, marketing and merchandising, but the ultimate fix hasn’t come. The article above though was a revelation. It showed me that things had changed. At the same time that I wrote this post someone at Under Armour changed positions, Julian Duncan. I wrote the post about Under Armour Hitting in October. In August Julian Duncan moved from Head of Brand Management to Head of Global Brand/Advertising. Since July/August these are the campaigns: Unlike Any, Will Finds A Way and StephIQ (I can forgive the Shoot Your Shot YouTube show because Unleash Chaos during Julian’s tenure in Basketball led to the livestream of the Under Armour high school basketball summer championship game which was not highly viewed, but showed how UA could gain ground if they continue to reinforce the campaigns they create). Below are a couple of the posts I started writing last summer:
At a time when minority execs are being overlooked here is someone who has quite possibly the toughest job in the business. Julian Duncan has to make Under Armour ‘cool’ in a global warming environment. The question is can it be done?
My Analysis
The Global/International market is where UA is seeing considerable growth. While that market is important especially Greater China, the North American market has to regain its footing or the brand will never establish the push needed to grow beyond the 5Billion a year mark. Under Armour has at its disposal some very good products, but the same amount of attention being given to digital with YouTube and StephIQ, has to be shown in brick and mortar. The merchandising in store is horrible. Under Armour isn’t presented well in any store I’ve visited. Shopping is about the experience and when you have athletes as dynamic as Steph, Natasha Hastings and stars like the Rock and Jessie Graff the brand is leaving a lot of real estate on the table.
Niche Out… I developed niche out when I became frustrated with the opportunities UA was leaving behind. A quick search of Niche Out Under Armour leads to 21 posts. The entire front page of the search relates to UA. To repeat them here would be redundant. Use the link to visit the search. Can Julian and the marketing team shift UA into a more positive direction?
HOVR has so many elements to create around it’s amazing.
The NBA UA roster has so many narratives to deliver, again, it’s amazing.
Track and Field has a rebuilding story to create and get in front of. When college athletes won’t wear your gear, there is an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive during the redesign and creation of footwear from the ground up.
Under Armour passed GO, landed on railroads and didn’t buy them when they simply did one piece of storytelling around the Nigerian Bobsled team. This was a moment to pull in Black women and they missed although they created a beautiful short documentary. The story wasn’t the Winter Olympics, it was grabbing a share of a market that wants to be catered towards.
I can go on and on, but that isn’t my job, it’s Julian’s. Can the team do it? #IWILL #UNLIKE ANY tells me they can and will.
