Source: Under Armour Announces Clay Dean as Chief Innovation Officer
Under Armour names a former General Motors veteran to lead its innovation team. The move doesn’t inspire the stock market, and it does absolutely nothing to help move product. What exactly will Clay Dean bring to the table to offset the falling trend in $UA?
Under Armour states, “Mr. Dean joins Under Armour after more than twenty years of success at General Motors (GM), most recently leading GM’s Global Advanced Design organization. His extensive design portfolio includes leading the strategic creative vision for several of GM’s Concept Cars, serving as the Chief Designer that produced the HUMMER H2, H2 SUT and H3 programs, exploring GM’s future mobility solutions, as well as collaborating on athletic footwear projects with a major brand. Mr. Dean holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Industrial Design from Brigham Young University.”
Okay, so a company that’s looking to be lean and move faster to the market just brought in the guy that designed the biggest, clunkiest, gas guzzling beast that couldn’t be sold from the GM Brand when GM found itself failing at the Great Recession?
Under Armour was trending up at right under 19/share. The shares are now down to 17.64 for $UA and $UAA is trending down as well at 19/share.
In my opinion this hire does nothing for the company. It doesn’t inspire or bring the perception of speed. It isn’t exciting and it continues a trend where Under Armour continues to make decisions that appear counter to how they should be perceived.