Source: UA Newsroom
UA has consistently done a poor job of delivering Steph Curry’s signature footwear since the “dad” shoe debacle of the Curry 2.5 Low. Yesterday December 12th 2018 the company held an Investor’s Day. The event came one year after Nike’s transformative Investor’s Day which saw Nike stock prices rise to the highest level they have ever been. One reason that happened for Nike? Product. During their Investor’s Day they showed every product they could to get every one in the room excited about the direction the brand was headed.
Under Armour during their Investor’s Day held breakout sessions for product discussions, but the webcast didn’t show one new product development. The brand didn’t mention Curry, or Embiid, or Mo Bamba, or Anthony Joshua, or any of their endorsers although they just released the M-Tag and the day before the brand delivered visuals of the Curry 6. Which leads me back to my primary point, why wasn’t the Curry 6 a part of the presentation?
Because this is what the brand has done for the last few years. After speaking with former execs and employees I realize that it has very little to do with the people who work on the products and marketing and it has everything to do with Plank and the higher level execs who appear to be the most uninformed and lost group of execs in a billion dollar company in history. Which forces me to stray from my main point, to make a bold claim:
In the next three years Under Armour will be either be purchased by VF Corporation, or the brand will get an offer and become the first athlete owned private brand with Steph Curry and a roster of players taking ownership. I know this takes us far away from the topic, but I’m getting back there.
Here are the release dates for the last few Curry shoes:
- The Dad Shoe 2.5 Low in 2016 set off a firestorm of memes including the famous “What Are Those?” which even showed up in Marvel’s Black Panther.
- The Curry 3 was released a few months later at Back to School. Back to School is a big time, but everyone knows that a basketball shoe can’t compete because most parents are buying black or white shoes for uniform options, not performance basketball shoes in the Golden State Warriors colorway. If the release had arrived in October then they could have touted it as a the perfect team shoe for basketball. Instead by October footlocker explained that the Curry 3 was dead.
Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA): Things Are Looking Dim For The Curry 3
- I’ll skip the SC30 and go to the Curry 4. Less than a year later and before the end of the NBA season, actually during the playoffs the Curry 4 was kind of released in June of 2017. Now this was good timing, but really it wasn’t. Curry wore the shoe, but they weren’t released. On the way to another title and Under Armour didn’t drop the shoe. They waited until October 2017 and where they release the first version? China. I get that China is a big market for the brand, but they completely moved beyond the US market to launch in China. Even worse the Curry 4 was a better looking shoe, but the brand didn’t do any marketing for the Curry 4. As a matter of fact UA had a problem with the import of the shoes and they didn’t show up until Q4 of 2017:
Under Armour Didn’t Make 1 Video To Market The Curry 4 | Marketing
- The Curry 5 arrived in March of 2018 in less than 8 months from the release of the Curry 4. The Curry 4 was still on shelves and the brand dropped a new version and initially I though that made sense, until it didn’t make sense. It is now December 2018 and another Curry signature model is dropping.
- The shoes are no longer coinciding with each year Curry has been in the league and signed to UA.
- None of the models have released at memorable times which can later be utilized in the release of “retro” moments.
- Without a clear idea of when the new model will drop or why, without any buildup in the discussion on design, the Curry 6 is introduced. No backstory, no introducition to the shareholders…
Nothing.
All of the work and research could have been media/content for the brand. The first colorway is meant to represent the Fox Theater in Oakland making it a regional release. This means that the first drop doesn’t resonate with anyone outside of the Bay area. I understand that the majority of Curry’s shoes sell there, but Curry is the face of the NBA. Kids all over the country love him. Shouldn’t the first color be more inclusive? Shouldn’t the brand be celebrating the use of HOVR in the shoe for the first time during Investor’s Day?
Nah, that’s not what Under Armour does. They simply spend 8 hours of Investor’s Day to talk numbers. No Embiid, no Canelo, no Jessie Graff, no Misty Copeland (except that awkward ass video playing in the background), no Will Barton, no Tom Brady even.
The Curry 6 deserves better, but it won’t happen until VF Corp or Steph puts together a team to acquire UA. I used to look up to Under Armour, now the only thing I’ll do is let them pay for my tab at the local shake joint (just kidding, I don’t go to shake joints).
Under Armour ID (Investor’s Day) 2018 Protect & Perform | Notes and Transcription