Under Armour: Supplements-

WILLPower SeriesMax Simpson

Description

Under Armour is continuing to grow in the forever competitive sporting apparel industry.

Yet, they all seem so similar as they offer the same sorts of products with no one willing to risk their brand certainty and familiarity to strike bid by pushing the boundaries with innovation.

I propose that Under Armour ventures out and formulates a line of supplements that are geared toward the every day athlete as it will put a focus on helping you find your “I WILL”.

Goals

To separate from other athletic companies by pairing a well known apparel company with cutting-edge formulated supplements

To appeal to a diverse range of athletes To stay true to Under Armour’s vision and image of a unique company

who continues to push the limits To bring existing customers into the new product line eager to see

how Under Armour can continue to exceed their expectations To corner new consumers with a friendly formula geared toward

personal growth at the user’s desired rate

Environmental Analysis

Increasing movement to be fit and healthy. This coincides with aging seniors as well as teenagers wanting to start getting in shape at a younger age.

“Health craze” highlighted by fad diets and increase in supplement use.

Government regulations have already started to limit serving sizes of fast food options, increase the push for daily exercise, and explored ways to age healthy.

Supplements are growing as a “get in shape quick” way to transform one’s body.

Competitive Analysis

Main competitors are name-brand supplement companies. Their entire company revolves around the health industry as they usually have different types of supplements including pre-workout, during workout, post-workout, meal replacement, “cutting” mix, “bulking” mix, weight maintenance, endurance stimulator and many, many other types.

This creates a gigantic market for Under Armour to enter into. The negative about this is that there are so many competitors to

compete with. The positive about this is many customers, especially those new to

the supplement industry, go off of word-of-mouth since almost all companies advertise similarly. Because of this, Under Armour will be a well-known brand in an industry that doesn’t have a clear frontrunner.

SWOT Analysis: Strengths

Awareness will be high due to brand recognition Under Armour is always on the cutting edge of technology Company geared toward the everyday athlete Supplements will be able to support a large range of target audience Company has been looking to expand to different sectors of market

SWOT Analysis: Weaknesses

New territory; Under Armour hasn’t even begun to think about a possible supplement line

Customers will only know the company for apparel; may think they are not as credible as other more legitimate companies

If people aren’t even familiar with Under Armour than the credibility for the supplement is tarnished

SWOT Analysis: Opportunities

Too many supplement choices. The causal, first-time user will be overwhelmed with choices as far as what to pick.

Many people are wanting to get in on the “latest and greatest” health craze

People are geared towards a more active and fit lifestyle Other supplement companies advertise their products to provide

massive growth and transformation. Some casual users may be turned off to that, instead wanting a more gradual, natural fit shift.

SWOT Analysis: Threats

Supplement line is hard to navigate. Too many choices. There is no clear-cut model to follow.

Other more established companies are prominent in the market. Supplement companies revolve their business solely around the

supplements that they sell; Under Armour doesn’t More research has been put into other companies thus making them

more prepared and more appealing to dedicated customers

SWOT Analysis: Analysis

After careful analysis, the SWOT helps to identify that Under Armour will need to heavily rely on its brand and name recognition in order to win over customers. If they attempt to stray away from this aspect, they will fall into “supplement purgatory” as they will fail to become differentiable among competitors.

Under Armour’s biggest challenges will be overcoming over companies whose sole purpose is supplements. It will be a competition of Under Armour’s personal history versus that of the entire supplement world. Users will have to in essence “take Under Armour’s word for it” that their line of supplements will be as high quality as their shirts will be.

STP: Segmentation

Demographic: must be 16+ to take (Bodybuilding.com). Groupings can be 16-23 (high schoolers/college kids), 24-35 (prime years), 36-55 (middle aged), and 56+ (seniors). Income would range from lower middle class to upper middle class.

Geographic: U.S. and outside U.S. in prospective countries such as Europe

Psychographic: Available from professionally driven athletes to first time casual users. Target audience could be highly involved in work life as they may not be able to work out as often as desired. Could leave a lifestyle of careless eating or stick to a strict regiment of clean eating.

Behavioristic: Consumers could use our product every day as intended or it could range to rare/minimal use. Consumers could also be extremely loyal to our brand or they could be just trying it out as a casual experience.

STP: Targeting Our desired target would reach the following types of people: We would like to focus on the 24-55 year old age bracket. The reasoning

behind this is we would like to focus on those that are trying to get back in shape. Our product we be tailored to the “everyday man”: one who leads a balanced life and wants to lose a few pounds on the side. Women would also be targeted in this age bracket.

Our main target audience would be within the United States. Yet, unlike past UA efforts, I would like to expand this line to foreign countries. Since Europe is already familiar with our brand (via the English Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspurs) it will be easy to push our brand to them as a way to shift their health to that similar of Western culture.

While we would be open to catering to professional athletes (especially in the essence of sponsorships), we would want to tailor the products to “average Joe”. We would want to appeal to someone who is taking the steps to get back in fit shape.

We understand that customers may be a bit skeptical at first. Yet, we would like to target pre-existing customers as well as those that are newcomers to the sports supplement world.

STP: Positioning

After choosing our target market, UA will be able to position itself by adopting the customer mindset.

The Under Armour supplement line will represent a point of difference within the rest of the market as it will be able to distinguish itself on its ability appeal to the casual user. It will be marketed to those that want to shed a few pounds and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Aside from marketing strategies, the formula for the WILLPower supplements will be blended with natural ingredients in order to help maintain strict integrity with gym users and pro athletes alike. Many companies do not appeal to all athletes as they have been discovered to be against pro rules (Mensfitness.com).

STP: Positioning

Positioning Statement: “For the “everyman or woman” who is looking to get in shape and in

tune with a healthy, active lifestyle, Under Armour WILLPower is a interactive health and fitness line that pair with Under Armour’s well-known reputation and high quality of products to deliver a product that is guaranteed to work as hard as you do.”

Product The actual supplements will be geared toward weight maintenance,

increased endurance, and weight loss in its initial stages. Once the product catches on with consumers, program packages such as “bulking” and “extreme burning fat” will be introduced.

The product will eventually grow to have customers be able to interject their voice into new flavors being created. Yet to start, core flavors such as Vanilla, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Cookies and Cream will be unveiled. These are time tested flavors that seem to rate consistently favorable with supplement users (Vitaminshoppe.com).

Protein powder will be the initial surge in product development. Over time, supplements in capsule form will be utilized for anti-aging, increased metabolism, and better sleep regulation among other functions. During initial launching, UA will introduce a multivitamin for regulation purposes.

The product is named as such due to Under Armour’s promotion of the slogan: “I WILL”. Taking this entrenched wordplay, Under Armour can use this advantage by rolling out the “WILLPower” product line.

Promotion

Since there are so many supplement companies, many of them try to throw promotions or bundles at people in order to gain a competitive advantage. Under Armour has the unique distinction of having a sizeable portion of their products in the apparel department.

To capitalize on this fact, Under Armour will be able to bundle/significantly discount apparel products in conjunction with their new supplement line.

For instance, one promotion could be “buy a canister of WILLPower Increase Endurance and receive 20% off an Under Armour Alter Ego t-shirt.”

Another example could be “buy two canisters and receive a container of multivitamins for free”.

Promotion

Advertising: Commercials have been a huge success for Under Armour in recent months. Under Armour can continue to utilize celebrities (such as already sponsored athletes like Tom Brady or newly crowned NBA MVP Stephen Curry) to hype the new line.

Events: Many teams are sponsored by Under Armour. A great way to promote the line would be to highly push for events at these games. Perhaps a halftime show contest/activity where the winner receives a free canister of powder.

Place

Distribution would take place at both outlet stores as well as online through Under Armour’s website. I do not want to have the product line thrown into other websites such as VitaminShoppe and BodyBuilding as they already have a surplus of non-differentiable products.

By keeping the products completely in the realm of Under Armour, they will be able to maintain the name of the brand (which is one of the key reasons why customers will be attracted to it) while simultaneously distancing themselves from competitors.

Price

Pricing supplements can be tricky. There are a wide range of products ranging from $21.95 (very generic whey protein brands) to $69.49 (differentiable, well-known brands). This is all based off of 2.91 lbs. which is approximately a one month supply which is a great basis for protein powder.

One has to balance Under Armour’s well-known reputation with the fact that they are new to this market. Considering all of this, I will price a one-month supply at $40. (Note that this does not include shipping, taxes, handling, etc.)

This puts a day’s worth of supplement at a little over a dollar a day for the customer, thus establishing a fair, yet competitive price. This gives Under Armour the ability to increase prices in the future whenever it decides to roll out a more intense type of product such as “Bulking” or “Extreme Burning Fat”.

Physical Evidence

The facility will be housed in Under Armour headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. By keeping the facility in close distance with headquarters, it will give upper-level management the ability to monitor progress and react quickly to any errors.

For the factory, I want to take a more hands-on approach. This will ensure that every canister and container will be checked by a human rather than a machine. This will ensure product safety, product quality, and product accuracy. WILLPowe

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People

Employees will have to be trained to properly handle the ingredients that go into making these products.

Additionally, experts will be brought in to help create/update the environment that the powder will be stored in. This will include making machinery is up to date and that temperature of the factory is at an optimal temperature.

Process

Under Armour will produce tracking numbers for all of there canisters. This will allow the customer to track his/her package throughout the

entire process. This will increase Under Armour’s credibility by showing their

responsibility towards the customer.

Conclusion

Under Armour has been very successful when releasing new products as they have made a conscious effort to make it a focal point of its business. The line of supplement products will continue to do the same as they rely on the cutting edge and creative thinking that Under Armour has continued to provide. If consumers can buy into Under Armour’s reputation, it will make it that much easier to begin to win over the market as Under Armour continues to push its way into this new industry.

References

“Building Muscle in Strength Under 16 Years Old”, Bodybuilding.com, n.d., n.p. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/teens.htm#/under16

“Supps in Flux”, MensFitnessEditors, n.d., n.p. http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/supplements/supps-flux

Vitamin Shoppe Search results: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search/xfilters/N-cp96mi?Ns=priceDesc&search=protein+powder+2.91+lbs