Under Armour's Product Strategy

From the previous part of presentation, we have known Under Armour’s product line , then let me tell about Under Armour’s product strategy.

 Under Armour is a youth company without a long history, at the beginning years  this company found its own location and highlighted its products’ uniqueness. Under Armour can be a good example that applied successful differentiation.

We divided Under Armour’s developing history into two periods, the first period from 1996 it established to 2011.We can conclude this company’s keyword of its first period is differentiation.

KP Sports, Under Armour’s used name, had a positioning “Cotton is the enemy”in its early years, with this slogan’s guiding, KP Sports focused on researching and developing different compression shirts. At that time, many companies which focused on producing and selling sportswear didn’t have enough experience in developing T-shirts with microfiber. Compression shirts on the market were so homogenized, customers had few choices. We can find that this company focused on creating its differentiation advantages.

For that theory “Keys to creating differentiation advantages“ ，an important part is “Product Features and Performance”. I think KP Sports’s product strategy followed this theory. Different material can bring different feelings for customers. Under Armour’s high-tech microfiber shirts can provide a snug fit and remained drier and lighter than a traditional cotton shirt. It turns out that the company’s strategy is successful, this strategy help this company raise its prestige. In 1998, the company’s sales revenue and growth prospects were sufficient to secure a $250000 small-business loan from a tiny bank in Washington D.C; the loan enabled the company to move its basement operation to a facility on Sharp Street in nearby Baltimore. As sales continued to gain momentum, the D.C bank later granted KP Sports additional small loans from time to time to help fund its needs for more working capital.

After the primary capital accumulation, KP Sports considered expanding its product line, but this company didn’t expand its product line sharply, we can see a KP Sports expand its product line slowly. From 1996 to 2003, KP Sports focused on men sportswear, this company moved women sportswear in 2003, and in 2004, KP Sports started producing outdoor sportswear, this company expand its product line for different kinds of sports. Just like that, for a number of years, expanding the company’s product offerings and marketing them at multiple price points had been a key element of the company’s strategy. The goal for each new item added to the lineup of offerings was to provide consumers with a product that was a superior alternative to the traditional products of rivals ---striving to always introduce a superior product would, management believed, help foster and nourish a culture of innovation among all company personnel. Although this company was expanding its product line, this company always concentrated on creating its differentiation.