The idea of Under Armour all started in 1996, when a 23 year old and former University of Maryland special teams captain, Kevin Plank, had an idea that revolutionized the “Armour” of athletes. Back in his playing days, Plank despised having to wear a cotton shirt underneath his uniform and pads. He and his teammates also hated having to change those sweat filled shirts over and over again during practices and game days. Frustrated with the sweat filled t-shirts, he set out to create a solution, a solution known today as Under Armour. After researching the benefits of synthetic fabrics, he came up with the first ever designed Under Armour HeatGear t-shirt, which he named #0037. Plank began working out of his grandmothers basement in Washington
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The culture within the company is also a big strength. Employees at the headquarters in Baltimore are encouraged to work out at the office everyday; in fact, there is a basketball court in the middle of the headquarters. This culture within the company attracts some of the country’s smartest young people to come work at Under Armour. Another strength of Under Armour is simply that they sell some of the highest quality material clothing in the sporting goods market. Under Amour also benefits from its good image in the public eye. While Nike is often associated with and slandered by claims of using sweatshops, Under Armour has been able to avoid bad press for the most part. One way they have done this is by implanting a strict Code of Ethics. In their Code of Ethics, Under Armour states, “we require that all of our manufacturers adhere to a code of conduct regarding quality of manufacturing and working conditions and other social concerns” (Under Armour, Inc. - Who Makes Our Products, 2013). One of the biggest strengths the Under Armour has is the fact that …show more content…
Retailers want to find the strong alternative to go to. Adidas has been inconsistent. Under Armour keeps coming up with the new products and interesting ideas” (Cheng, 2013). The strengths of Under Armour are numerous and when put together it is easy to see why they have been able to grow so rapidly in the past 17 years. Weaknesses: Of course, no company is without their weaknesses. In the case of Under Armour, their biggest weaknesses are a lack of a customization line, lack of female focus, limited product range, relatively high prices, and a weak presence outside of the United States. Under Armour does the majority of their sales online, but one thing that is missing form UA’s website is a section for customization. The technology is there so it is a mystery why they have chosen not to allow for personalization yet. Under Armour also has a weakness of lacking a substantial female following. Sales of women’s clothing make up only a quarter of their total sales, but Under Armour is working to improve this number. In fact, CEO Kevin Plank has been quoted as saying, “Women’s has the potential to be larger than men’s,” when referring to sales numbers (Meehan, 2013). Though they are trying to increase future sales to women in a major campaign,
The culture within the company is also a big strength. Employees at the headquarters in Baltimore are encouraged to work out at the office everyday; in fact, there is a basketball court in the middle of the headquarters. This culture within the company attracts some of the country’s smartest young people to come work at Under Armour. Another strength of Under Armour is simply that they sell some of the highest quality material clothing in the sporting goods market. Under Amour also benefits from its good image in the public eye. While Nike is often associated with and slandered by claims of using sweatshops, Under Armour has been able to avoid bad press for the most part. One way they have done this is by implanting a strict Code of Ethics. In their Code of Ethics, Under Armour states, “we require that all of our manufacturers adhere to a code of conduct regarding quality of manufacturing and working conditions and other social concerns” (Under Armour, Inc. - Who Makes Our Products, 2013). One of the biggest strengths the Under Armour has is the fact that …show more content…
Retailers want to find the strong alternative to go to. Adidas has been inconsistent. Under Armour keeps coming up with the new products and interesting ideas” (Cheng, 2013). The strengths of Under Armour are numerous and when put together it is easy to see why they have been able to grow so rapidly in the past 17 years. Weaknesses: Of course, no company is without their weaknesses. In the case of Under Armour, their biggest weaknesses are a lack of a customization line, lack of female focus, limited product range, relatively high prices, and a weak presence outside of the United States. Under Armour does the majority of their sales online, but one thing that is missing form UA’s website is a section for customization. The technology is there so it is a mystery why they have chosen not to allow for personalization yet. Under Armour also has a weakness of lacking a substantial female following. Sales of women’s clothing make up only a quarter of their total sales, but Under Armour is working to improve this number. In fact, CEO Kevin Plank has been quoted as saying, “Women’s has the potential to be larger than men’s,” when referring to sales numbers (Meehan, 2013). Though they are trying to increase future sales to women in a major campaign,