Under Armour: Where Do We Go From Here?

I read an interesting article about Under Armour and how their “I Will What I Want” campaign in 2014; how it positioned them from ahead of Adidas in the fitness and sneaker market but still behind Nike (they are still a dominate force in sneaker and fitness apparel). The campaign was targeted towards women and used different popular artists on social media. The ads featured ballerina Misty Copeland and super-model Gisele Bundchen (who for some did not think she should be featured but proved everyone wrong with the response of her ad). Under Armour realized that the women’s market was not being tapped into, so what better way to get into the market than by showing strong, athletic women doing what they want.

When you think about the market segment, UA focused on the athletic market. They wanted to show that ladies can purchase UA and it was not just for the men. They also showed strong women to prove it. When it comes to market segmentation strategies, some things companies want to look at are certain demographics (i.e. men or women, middle class or upper class, teen or adult), looking at what else is in the market (i.e. types of shoes that are popular, the popular color, the popular brand), what influencers are looking at, at the moment (i.e. what is trending) and the behavior of the market (i.e. pricing of rival products, when the product will be used, who is using it).

Market segments are something that I did not pay much attention to originally but when I observe trends and what is going on, I notice a new segment of luxury shopper. This is a person that only purchases luxury items like cars, clothes, and the way they furnish their homes. From what I see the best place that I have noticed to promote a luxury brand is through YouTube and other social media outlets like Instagram. When a luxury influencer shows the latest Louis Vuttion handbag their viewers will call their local boutique with the name of the bag and if it is still in stock. Social media has become a great marketing tool and it is also not very expensive to use. For example, Louis Vuttion sent several influencers their new Multi-Pochette bag mid summer. They showed the bag styled in many ways from Instagram, YouTube, and some were even photographed with it in the streets during big events. The bag flew off the shelves and is still on back order on the web site and in the boutiques. This is a segment that is being tapped into by the luxury brands and the style of marketing they are using it to their advantage.

Market segments are a thing that all companies have to look at and figure out what their products tap into. You never want to launch a product that is not useful to some consumers. Most would love their products to work for everyone but unfortunately it does not always work that way.

Reference:

https://services.hbsp.harvard.edu/lti/links/content-launch