I keep rehashing the fact that when Under Armour’s downward spiral began last year at the end of the 3rd Quarter,
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That one of the things UA would do to offset their poor performance would be marketing. Plank said that the brand would begin to advertise and market more. As an avid watcher of all things UA, they haven’t been marketing much at all where it matters most. I know I recently stated that the #UnlikeAny campaign is by far the best job of marketing the company has done, but that is one “success” in the midst of failing to capitalize on almost every opportunity available to the brand.
It seems that UA’s idea of marketing is sticking with antiquated investment into grassroots basketball and attempting to ride the coattails of other brands who pay Steph Curry as an endorser.
This week a commercial was launched featuring the Curry 4. A shoe that could be the lifeblood of the company and reignite interest in the footwear coming from Under Armour. I’ve said that it was a mistake to not begin the campaign to promote the shoe and to generate models that are in line with that shoe as soon as I saw it during the Finals. It is still a mistake to keep the shoe out of the spotlight this long. I get capitalizing on the brands who allow Curry to feature UA product (JBL, Infiniti, etc), but when a brand creates a narrative about your premier athlete with a commercial that captures his history and they tie it to a car and not to UA, there is a disconnect for the brand somewhere.
UA hasn’t produced a commercial for Curry since last fall. Shoe sales are flat and Curry hasn’t been featured in UAS or any apparel marketing for anything. It’s not just this Curry misstep that bothers me. It’s also the lack of attention by the marketing team in keeping up with their own endorsers. Jessie Graff absolutely demolished American Ninja Warrior. She is one of the women featured in the #UnlikeAny spot. Reaching women is a critical area for UA right along with footwear. I searched for any Under Armour post about Jessie Graff on Monday and on Tuesday, and finally on Wednesday after I had already made a Tweet about her success and tagged Under Armour did they create a Tweet promoting how dope she was.
UA is a company that has all of the elements to make the same shift as adidas has done. Not quite at the same level, but right now the beast (Nike) is stumbling UA should be organizing and creating dope shit. To me it’s now or never. Allowing a car company to deliver the dopest piece of content for your greatest creation (Curry 4) for the number 1 ball player in the world isn’t very smart.
