In back to back weeks Under Armour has been the brand behind two of the biggest boxing matches in the last few years. While boxing is a niche sport and many people have abandoned the sweet science for MMA and UFC, when you get fighters like Alvarez who beat Chavez Jr. last night and Anthony Joshua, that niche area when marketed the correct way can help UA reestablish their importance to performance.
Why is this important? Under Armour will not attain the growth they seek in fashion. It simply doesn’t have the heritage or appeal in that way. The brand cache for Nike, adidas and Puma are all too strong to overcome to make Under Armour the brand that people will wear casually.
UA however is in a special position to utilize what I call a “niche-out” strategy in marketing. A blitz of YouTube campaigns and Facebook ads that are sponsored posts establishing the training tactics of its athletes, will pay incredible dividends for the brand. Niche-Out will establish that the athletes greatest competition lies within and that is what Under Armour has always been. They were subversive. The layer beneath all of the hype. The unseen force driving athletes towards success.
Boxing may not draw the masses, but when you are the sponsor of two of the current greats in boxing, the upcoming best running back in the NFL, the greatest scorer in the NBA, and a roster of the best baseball players… you have at your behest the best crew of Underdogs to promote fitness and lifestyle and that niche is right where they need to be.
A great start is the splash page of the UA site has been primarily Boxing, but imagine if the splash page had Alvarez and Joshua wearing the Gemini and Threadborne with a short video showing the training… a video that was then promoted via YouTube and Facebook hinting at a weekly fitness series with Under Armour athletes to assist those training to overcome. “Niche-Out” has a nice ring to it. Maybe I should copyright that.
