Curry 7 Launch Colorway a Nod to Athletes Everywhere Who Have Ever Been Doubted
Source: Introducing Curry 7 UNDRTD Anthem Video and Colorway
In the 355P Problems in Retail Class I’m teaching at U.T. Austin this semester, the biggest issue I have is that it’s online and we don’t get to jump into case analysis like this. In the class my research, as I write the same paper my students are writing, is on outdoor company Merrell (I’ll add to my discussion on Merrell in the next few days). That analysis is on how the brand can capitalize on their foundation of creating gear for outdoor enthusiasts by engaging a group beyond the niche of hiking via urban hiking and lifestyle opportunities around a more mainstream version of hiking.
If the course was in person, I would have my class take a long look at the work taking place at the embattled Under Armour brand. As their CEO steps down and the company is being investigated by the SEC (nope not the league with Bama and LSU) for accounting issues, the PR and marketing teams have finally stepped up to begin delivering content that resonates. The problem is, in an IG and social world, how does a company that has lost so much ground at home in the U.S. reach the intended audience.
Changing Strategies
Steph Curry is out for 3 months. Three years ago I wrote that I wanted to see a campaign featuring Kent Bazemore and Will Barton (Killer B’s). I also screamed that if the brand wasn’t going to take a true approach to grassroots instead of copying Nike and adidas by chasing AAU that in a few years the brand would be struggling. UA never developed another group of basketball ‘stars’. They also kept with their AAU strategy which I contend is an expense better utilized creating something akin to what I did when I ran Center Court Basketball. I even reached out to UA way back in 2005 as I dove into making my own basketball shoe and developing a 6 location website. This is about UA and content creation, so let’s keep going.
UA in the short amount of time has delivered several pieces of content around the Curry 7 and this latest drop featuring high school teams and Curry is excellent.
Stephen will continue exceeding expectations and inspiring athletes around the globe, including an unsung boys high school team in Baltimore playing to put its school and city on the map; a nationally ranked girls team currently on the mend in Washington, D.C.; and a newly assembled 3×3 women’s squad in China that is putting the game on notice.
Like Stephen, they face doubt, skepticism and sometimes, obscurity. And, like him, they embrace it. Because being underrated is a way of life. It’s a mindset. While they realize what they’re up against, they also know what they’re capable of.
The copy above is dope asf. It shows that somewhere inside of the walls at UA they are allowing their copy editors to get busy, but no one can hear those swords (aka pens) getting unsheathed and slicing through the forest because of the issues for the company. It’s great content, but it’s dying on the vine and that sucks.
Why the Curry 4 Is Releasing In Asia First: 2017 Curry Asia Tour
Failing Curry
I wrote the above post in 2017. Embedded in the above post is another post digging into how UA failed Curry. The question becomes how can I say this? If you dig into the articles you’ll find a discussion on resale of the Curry line. I’ve stated continuously that if you want to gauge brand heat, look at resale. In 2016 when everyone else was stating that Curry was in the dumps and the brand had all but given up on promoting the player and the line, it seemed they relied heavily on the momentum of the Golden State Warriors as opposed to writing their own stories, I was reselling Curry at a ridiculous rate:
The brand had dropped from around 16 forms of content for Curry, to about 3-5 forms of content for the Curry 3. By allowing Curry to shoulder the load for the line, they failed Curry because other brands were utilizing lifestyle to reach the next wave of potential consumers. UA was battling Nike and adidas in the wrong strategy with travel basketball and to be honest those same kids who love Curry jumped into Fortnite and began walking away from hoops.
From Sports to Media
Nike made the conscious decision to become a digitally native brand… well digitally native and they added a crapload of pysical locations since 2013. The most striking transition for the company remains their digital growth. adidas took a similar turn to fashion and entertainment to create their momentum. Established brands have to make hard decisions to shift. Puma reentered basketball. New Balance signed a bevy of endorsers and returned to basketball. Under Armour has stumbled and “Focused Performer” didn’t catch on (I’m willing to bet someone just stopped reading to look up Focused Performer…)
Under Armour hasn’t made the decision to go all in on media. They have, but the budgets created for YouTube shows would have been better served going to the writers and an internal team focused on building the story of the brand. New Balance is Fearlessly Independent. Nike can Just Do It. Brands are establishing who they are and UA hasn’t been Protecting This House. With the introduction to the Curry 7 UNDRTD:
The brand is making a smart decision to launch each colorway via narrative, but as smart as this is, how does the strategy hit the target? If I wasn’t writing about this, would you have seen the video or pictures included? The blogs aren’t picking it up. The brand would have to pay for sponsored ads for it to be seen. In over 50 stores in the Memphis area, there isn’t one Curry display or marketing. I’m willing to bet North Carolina and the Bay Area are the only places advertising UA and Curry and with Curry out Luka Doncic wore the Curry a few days ago, but Luka ain’t selling nobody kicks.
How does UA create the story?
I will share this with my students today and this will be the question I want them to consider as they write their executive summaries and abstracts. They know I have answers, but I’m treating this post the same way I’m treating the class, I want you to consider this because although UA is a 4 Billion dollar a year business, they are facing the same issues a startup is facing in a world dominated by Tik Tok and momentary reach via social. UA is facing a complex decision because hype isn’t branding and storytelling is a drive up Lombard.
There is a clue in that last sentence 😉