Marketing management is a process focusing over the practical application of different techniques. The primary function is to develop organizational resources and activities. The concept of marketing management is to deploy economic and competitive strategy in order to analyse the purpose of the organization. It completely depends upon the business environment in which it is functioning (Hollensen, 2015).
Under armour is American Company manufacturing footwear, sports and casual apparel. The head office of the company is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Under Armour was founded by Kevin Plank in the year 1996 (Team, 2013).
The products manufactured by the company include Athletic shoes, t-shirt, jackets, hoodies etc. They are also producing uniform for American Football, basketball and soccer. Revenue of the company has grown over the years by 30 percent from 2010-2014.
The company has a mission to make all athletes feel better through their enthusiasm and chase for innovation. Basically UA is a manufacturer and retailer company. They are producing different type of apparel products, foot-war product that derives growth through customer satisfaction. They are producing goods for both male and female and include a larger youth section (Babin & Zikmund, 2015). The products are mainly produced for the general people. They are planning to add on innovative products in order to gain continuous result (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker, & Brennan, 2015). Customer satisfaction is their utmost priority. UA’s strategic management has proved that the company wants to become the market leader through the market innovation and techniques. For instance the company has spent a considerable amount on obtaining the mobile technology. This is done to effectively to engage athletes proactively. The ability of the brand to create an absolute necessary future growth is due to an intense competition they face (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2014).
There is innumerable number of athletic clothing companies to contend against the brand. Only a few companies have an effective distribution channel and a product line. The largest competitors in the industry are Nike and Adidas. These two are the oldest companies present in the market who has a large size market. UA has attained a considerably higher growth rate in recent years. It does not have the same diversification and market penetration strategies. The brand has been flourishing in almost every sub-section of the society.
The barrier of entry into the athletic apparel business is very high. It requires a lot of financial and human capital to establish as an efficient brand in t he market. UA is the recent new market player in the industry with a relative larger market share (Hobbs, 2016). Few segments in the industry are susceptible to new competition rather than the entire industry. Eg: a new entrant might find growth and innovation in the particular segment of the market. It is more likely to be manageable for the new entrant to focus on particular segment rather than entire market (Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2014).
The suppliers in this industry also offer well to the other competitor. The large buyers obtain cheap prices from these suppliers at a low price. Nike can exponentially buy more cotton than UA and negotiate a lower price. This is one of the reasons why UA is an expensive brand against Nike. UA has a proprietary fabric blend that distinguishes it from the competitors. This is not only creating a product differentiation owner of Suppliers. The Suppliers in the athletic apparel industry provides with material at a competing rate. The Larger buyers obtain cheaper prices for the raw material (Strauss, J2016).
In this Industry the Customers have a broad range of choices. They can choose their favorite clothing and accessories from different brands. The customers do have a lot of opportunity to shop speedily and with no trouble for the lowest price for a related product. This allows a brand to become a significant market player in the industry. A company like UA has to generate products for which customers are eager to pay a premium price (Shank & Lyberger, 2014).
Most of the customers buy goods depending upon the brand recognition and association. Companies like Nike, Adiddas have notably paid for a large amount of money to sponsor athletes. This is based on customers distinguish value based on associations. UA has also started spending huge dollars to sign the best athletes.
Clothing is a necessary item in demand. As global interest in sports persists to rise, the requirement for athletic apparel and accessories is predicted to grow. This industry constantly has a threat of a supplementary ground-breaking product ingoing as a substitute. Though, in UA’s industry, it is complex for a company to profitably generate such a substitute products across various sports (Boone & Kurtz, 2013).This exercise takes time and investment to expand. Meanwhile Style and fashion trends have also become a significant role in the industry. Pure function is the only factor a professional athlete considers. The everyday consumer cares much more about appearance and styling. According to a research this is treated as a more subjective area and is at risk to other brands becoming popular.
The policies related to foreign countries prohibiting 100 percent ownership of retail stores is causing a threat to the internationalization. The cost of international labor is increasing affecting the cost of the product. The other factors like strict political and legal system regarding the international brands can affect the brand on a long run. It is easy for the brand to function in a country with a suitable work atmosphere. Under Armor have its operations in Majority of countries which requires an effective policies and procedures to be enforced (Baker, 2014).
An increase in the cost of raw material can cause a rise in the price of the goods. The shipping cost has an effect on the overall price of the product. Different factors like an increase in interest rate, local economy, inflation rate has a direct impact over the sale of the product. It has become evident that the international brands need to keep a pace with the prices in order to meet the expectations. UA is already an overpriced brand in the market. In order to match up with the expectations of the local population it is evident to keep a price check (Turnbull & Valla, 2013).
The brand is famous mostly among the youth internationally. The company is largely used by the men while comparing it on demographic basis. Consumers are moreover focused over the quality of the product rather than the price. People nowadays are inclining towards fitness activities. This is creating a better opportunity for a brand to grow multi-dimensionally. Sports participation is one of the important features seen in the Australian population. Obesity rates in the country are very high creating a lot of opportunity for the brand to expand its operations. The ever increasing sports market is creating wider opportunities in order to gain current market.
There is an increase in the opportunities due to ongoing e-commerce facilities. They are selling’s their products through online process. Technology is also been used in manufacturing products as well. In order to develop an effective technology it is evident from the technological point of view. This will help in managing the products in a well-organized way by focusing over the brand detailing. The ever growing opportunities in the field of technology have a direct impact on the growth of the brand.
Every country does have specific rules and regulations pertaining to rules and regulations. For business expansion it is evident to follow concrete law and procedure in the host country. The requisite regarding the 100 percent FDI is an important parameter to be considered.
The company is taking care of environmental functions and takes effective measures to meet the significant result. They are taking care of the environmental issues and using effective CSR activities to gain the trust of public.
Marketing orientation concept is the business model that is delivering product designed according to the customer’s need and requirements. The purpose is to meet the wide generation of market intelligence related to existing and future customer needs. Competitive analysis in this condition plays an important role in gathering market information, consumer survey and focus group. The market orientation is important for the brand in numerous ways. Customer satisfaction is their utmost priority. UA’s strategic management has proved that the company wants to become the market leader through the market innovation and techniques. For instance the company has spent a substantial amount on acquiring the mobile technology. The company is using patented fabric and technology to produce goods. This has helped in gaining a desired focus (Statistics & Facts on Under Armour, 2017).
UA has gained a significant market share and has collaborated with major brands recently. On January 6, 2016, UA has proclaimed a strategic partnership with IBM. This provide with an effective technology to give significant data from its IOT kit and UA Record app(Under Armour Inc in Apparel and Footwear, 2017).
In July 2016, UA let out the 53,000 square feet space previously occupied by FAO Schwarz on New York’s Fifth Avenue. A store will be opened by 2018.
By using effective market positioning strategy the brand has gained a significant growth in the recent time. The use of technology and marketing strategies has created an ample of opportunities for the brand in gaining desired roles.
UA has brought significant products by boosting the performance in sports. These products are highly popular in the sports industry globally, some of the most popular products sold by the company are:
UA has expanded business function significantly. It sells products both online and offline. The company is serving in the different part of the world (Brohi, et al 2016). Apart from its own website the company is also selling its products through Amazon, EBay etc. Separately from licensing products for sales internationally, it sells straight to consumers via its stores and through online channels (Martin, 2017).
The pricing approach of UA is based on Value pricing. This approach utilizes data on perceived customer value in order to determine the suitable selling price of a product. VBPO approach focuses on additional customer value and their willingness to pay increased price despite of strong competition in the market. As UA faces intense competition from the other brands, the consumers understand its superiority of products and are consequently eager to pay premium prices for its inventive products (Kell, 2017).
The brand Rather than relying on a cool logo or a great and stylish slogan has used innovation to market its brand. The brand is very well known for its innovative products. Every product is unique and serves some exclusive purpose. In the recent years, it has skillfully used sponsorships to market its brand better. Nevertheless, UA also uses an effective advertising method to gain consumer focus. It uses social media like YouTube, Facebook to promote its products (Team, 2016).
UA has an efficient brand portfolio that is providing lucidity, power, differentiation and defense from imitators in a multifaceted, competitive arena. UA has identified their innovations such as Infrared, Coldback and Mag Zip. In this way the brand is able to promote competitiveness in the market. They have also offered consistency with umbrella brands such as UA Heat Gear, UA Cold gear and UA Glow compilation.
Their effective product differentiation strategy has created market capabilities. Under Armor has fruitfully extended their company by focusing on women apparel. Under-Amour is expanding products for women. It is now using a unique feature with a slogan, “No matter what, sweat every day”.
The most renowned face associated with the brand is Kevin Plank. The organization is dedicated for providing solution to the customers. The employees are efficiently working in order to provide with a distinction. UA is the recent new market player in the industry with a relative larger market share. Few segments in the industry are susceptible to new competition rather than the entire industry.
UA is using an effective business process to create a difference in the mind of the customers. The goods are manufactured at different stores and imported to different countries as per the requirement. It has the most efficient distribution system at the national and regional level making it fruitful as independent and specialty retailers (Van den Driest & Weed, 2014).
The company is using an effective market presence through its online and physical stores. It has an extensive global reach. UA is operating 188 factory house stores. It also has 57 brand houses. The company is planning to expand its business functions in order to compete against Nike and Adidas.
Under Armour is having a current consumer base of which 53% are male and Out 47% are females. The brand is common among the college graduates and the majority of UA customers fall in the age range of 25-34.
Recommendations and Conclusion
An insight into the marketing analysis allow in managing the activities in well-defined way. The purpose is to manage the activities in the best possible way by organizing the resources and factor. The PESTLE analysis helps in ensuring the macro environmental factors in the organization and its effects. This will allow in organizing the activities in the best possible way and act as a key factor to meet the possible outcome. The brand has to gain a competitive edge over its competitors like Nike and Adiddas. This is only possible if the brand is able to develop itself as a significant market leader. Nike and Adidas both are ver well established in the market. In order to create a significant competition it is evident to reduce the price. The reason behind why people don’t opt for UA is due to its excess price. If the company wants to create a competition in the market it has to develop significant market strategies. These strategies will allow in meeting the result by establishing an effective market condition.
References
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014). Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.
Babin, B. J., & Zikmund, W. G. (2015). Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.
Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. (2013). Contemporary marketing. Cengage learning.
Brohi, H., Prithiani, J., Abbas, Z., Bhutto, A. H., & Chawla, S. K. (2016). Strategic Marketing Plan of Nike.
Hobbs,T.(2016). How Under Armour plans to become world’s largest brand. (Online). Retrieved From: https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/05/04/how-under-armour-plans-to-become-the-worlds-biggest-sports-brand/ ( Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Kell, J.(2017). Here’s Why Shares of Under Armour Are Plummeting Today. (Online). Retrieved From: https://fortune.com/2017/01/31/under-armour-sales-soften/ (Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
Martin, M. (2017). Porter’s Five Forces: Analyzing the Competition. (Online). Retrieved From: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5446-porters-five-forces.html (Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
Mullin, B. J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. (2014). Sport Marketing 4th Edition. Human Kinetics.
Mullin, B. J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. (2014). Sport Marketing 4th Edition. Human Kinetics.
Shank, M. D., & Lyberger, M. R. (2014). Sports marketing: A strategic perspective. Routledge.
Statistics & Facts on Under Armour, (2017).( Online). Retrieved From: https://www.statista.com/topics/2470/under-armour/ ( Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
Strauss, J. (2016). E-marketing. Routledge.
Team, T. (2013). Under Armour Through the lens of five forces. (Online). Retrieved From: https://www.trefis.com/stock/ua/articles/186040/under-armour-through-the-lens-of-porters-five-forces/2013-05-16 ( Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
Team, T. (2016). Here Are The Key Growth Drivers For Under Armour. (Online). Retrieved From:https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/09/29/here-are-the-key-growth-drivers-for-under-armour/#241344cb7db5( Accessed on: 25 August 2017)
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Van den Driest, F., & Weed, K. (2014). The ultimate marketing machine. Harvard Business Review, 92, 54-63.
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