Under Armour Media Plan 2013 Lindsay OBrien Dr.

Lewis APR422-Fall 2012

Product: Under Armour Time Frame: January 1, 2013 December 31, 2013 Budget: $60,000,000 National Spending: $43,6344,000 Spot Spending: $16,365,600 Target Audience: The primary target audience is White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian women ages 18-34 with an annual household income of at least $60,000. This target lives an active lifestyle; Under Armour calls her the Team Girl. Spot Markets: The spot markets chosen are regionally scattered throughout parts of the United States. These are the top ten cities that spend the most on Womens fitness apparel according to SimplyMap. They include: New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, San Diego, CA, Phoenix, AZ, San Francisco et al, CA, San Antonio, TX, Philadelphia, PA, and Dallas-Ft. Worth TX Market Objective: Under Armour will increase sales annually by six percent in 2013 to increase their market share of fitness apparel. Media Objective: Under Armours 2013 campaign will focus on frequency in order to push the female-targeted Whats Beautiful campaign and change the consumers attitude toward the brand. Network TV Cable TV Spot TV Outdoor Magazine Internet Spot Cable National Contingency Spot Contingency Total Dollars Spent (000) $9082 $5150.6 $3587 $9587.3 $4450.6 $16,318.5 $1818.4 $6,000 $4,000 $59994.4 Percent of Budget 15% 9% 6% 16% 7% 27% 3% 17% 100%

Executive Summary

 SITUATION ANALYSIS Company History In 1996, 23-year-old Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland special teams captain, discovered a solution for keeping athletes dry, cool, and light during different climates. Under Armour generated $17,000 within the year strictly through word of mouth. Plank eventually moved his business from his grandmothers basement in Washington, D.C. to a factory in Ohio to fill the $100,000 in orders of the moisture-wicking athletic shirts. After making deals with Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, and other Division I football teams, the positive word spread like wildfire and Under Armor made its first profit in 1998. Today, Under Armour gear is available in over 25,000 retail stores all over

the world. From footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and even children, these innovative products have managed to post revenues of $1.6 billion. Under Armours brand mission is To make all athletes better through

passion, design and the relentless pursuit of innovation, and its vision is To empower athletes everywhere. Some of the companys brand values include building products better than whats currently available in the market that are best in class, field testing every product, help others, walk with a purpose, protect the Under Armour culture, but embrace change, and to be humble and stay hungry. 1
1

http://www.underarmour.jobs/our-history.asp

 Products Under Armour offers products ranging from apparel, footwear, and accessories. The company strongly believes it a more innovative and advanced alternative to traditional athletic products. These products are offered at multiple price levels. With the main percentage of revenue represented by apparel (76%), footwear and accessories still play a major role on sales with 12% and 9%, respectively. Under Armour apparel includes three gearlines each carefully designed to

regulate body temperature and improve performance based on the weather. HEATGEAR is meant for consumers to use in the heat, COLDGEAR for when it is cold, and ALLSEASONGEAR for in between. The consumer can then choose between the three primary fit types for each gearline of either compression (tight fit), fitted (athletic fit) and loose (relaxed). Footwear is offered for men, women and youth in the sports categories of

football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats, slides, performance training footwear, running footwear, basketball footwear and new in 2011, hunting boots. Each shoe is designed to maximize the athlete or active consumers comfort and performance. Under Armour accessories include hats, bags, and baseball batting, football,

golf and running gloves. Each of these is also categorized into either the HEATGEAR or COLDGEAR technologies. Some other accessories offered include socks, team uniforms, baby and kids apparel, eyewear, and custom-molded mouth guards. No

matter what the accessory, however, Under Armour is sure to maintain brand standards and enhance the athletic experience for consumers. 2 Advertising History Under Armour began advertising in 1999, when they used product placement on the actors of the football movies Any Given Sunday and The Replacements. In 2003, the brand launched the first television commercial, incorporating the slogan, PROTECT THIS HOUSE. The brand utilizes sports marketing by selling products and sponsoring to

high-performing athletes and high school, collegiate, and professional teams. By doing so, the Under Armour brand is exposed on the field, and in turn, advertised to other consumers through multiple mediums. This product placement ultimately aids in establishing credibility and authenticity for the brand with broader audiences. 2
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/UARM/1887461670x0x553892/7bb998c7-0789-453b-8245- f11ec4419fe7/2011_FINAL_Annual_Report.pdf

Hosting and sponsoring different sporting events across the globe such as

combines, camps and clinics that target male and female athletes has further enhanced the brands authenticity and awareness level. Under Armour employs a variety of vehicles for advertising such as national

digital, broadcast, print media, and social marketing in order to engage consumers. They launched a free magazine publication called UA RUN that was distributed to 200,000+ runners at key marathons. The brand hit the million-fan mark in 2011 on social sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Under Armour has also made use of in- store advertising in their retail accounts. They are sure to pay close attention to detail when it comes to the flooring, lighting, walls, displays and images in order to make sure the consumer has the best shopping experience possible. 3 The brands latest Whats Beautfiul campaign targeting women

incorporates traditional television spots, but has more digital activity on Facebook, Twitter, a microsite for the campaign, whatsbeautiful.ua.com, and more. This is Under Armours first major attempt to attract a female audience, since it has historically been more successful marketing to men; however, the extremely inspiring campaign has proven to be more than thriving so far, showing a significant increase in females attitudes toward the brand before and after the campaign according to a YouGov Brand Index survey. Under Armour has reached its highest consumer 3 http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/UARM/1887461670x0x553892/7bb998c7-0789-453b-8245- f11ec4419fe7/2011_FINAL_Annual_Report.pdf 6

perception levels with women ages 18-34 in nearly four years.4 They have also recently teamed with Lady Foot Locker for an exclusive #WhatsBeautiful Training Camp in Atlanta. 5 Competition The fitness apparel market is constantly evolving as competition continues to

increase and already established companies expand their production and advertising of products. Many competitors have stronger worldwide brand recognition than Under Armour such as Nike and Adidas. These other brands also have a greater number of resources in order to comply with a larger market since Under Armour does not own any fabric or process plants. The brand also competes with floor space at retailers, but believe they have been successful in doing so because of their strong sales of products. If, for example, Nike was to earn higher margins at a retailer, they may favor the display and sale of those products over Under Armour. 4 http://www.brandindex.com/article/under-armour-campaign-resonates-women-0 5 http://whatsbeautiful.ua.com/ 7

Nike is Under Armours toughest competition, considering it is the worlds #1

shoe and apparel company. It is the leading manufacturer and marketer for athletic apparel, and wields significant pricing power. Nike represents more than half of the purchases by Foot Locker and Finish Line, and 13 % of purchases from Dicks Sporting Goods. The company markets very similar products as Under Armour, to many of the same sports, and the same target market. The brand has established solid global relations and is extremely well known worldwide. Following Nike, Adidas is considered to be the #2 sporting good

manufacturer, known globally for its iconic three-stripe logo. Although both Nike and Adidas mainly focus on the athletic shoe market, they are both major competitors in the fitness apparel market. Smaller competitors for Under Armour include the more comfortable and

affordable apparel brand, Hanes (Champion). Other innovative fitness apparel brands also directly compete with Under Armour, especially when targeting women, such as Gaps Athleta and LuluLemon. LuluLemon, a $10 billion yoga apparel empire, believes it competes with Under Armour by offering better quality, and it maintains its enviable margins by taking charge of every stage of the process from design, to production, to sale. 6

6 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/18/us-lululemon-patents-idUSBRE87H03720120818 8

 CONSUMER Consumers interested in purchasing fitness clothing obviously include those

who exercise the most, which is those aged 18-24, families, Asians and Hispanics. Other races usually turn to general retail sports stores for their apparel needs and tend to use a range of online retailers, especially Hispanics who show strong interest in online shopping. Non-white consumers are more willing to pay for better technology and more fashionable fitness apparel compared to whites. Brand names are more important to blacks and Hispanics, resulting in them being more brand- loyal to a certain fitness apparel line. Mintel reports that Hispanics also stand out as purchasing the greatest number and variety of clothing items. They are also most likely to undertake research, look at magazines, and to seek the feedback of others when purchasing apparel. The younger age group is also more concerned with more high-tech and fashionable fitness apparel. 7 7 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594371/?highlight=true#hit1 9

Families are a huge focus, as those with kids are more likely to purchase

fitness apparel than those without children. People with children are also prone to buy fitness clothing not only for themselves, but for their children as well as they are often involved in sports. Consumers with household incomes of $150K+ purchase fitness apparel at a 74% higher rate than those with less household incomes. 8 The rise in sports participation, especially among women, has heightened

fashion awareness, focus on healthy lifestyles and growing gym memberships are fueling the worldwide industry for sports and fitness clothing.9 Since yoga has had a 28.1% increase from 2010, with aerobics also increasing 10% in participation rates,
10 women are nearly three times as likely as men to have purchased apparel for

yoga/Pilates (11% vs. 4%).11 According to Mintels report about attitudes toward fitness clothing, women are more likely to wear the same fitness clothes casually, as well as when exercising. Los Angeles Times also reports that retail analysts say active-wear brands have successfully broken the barrier between workout attire and street clothes, which has further boosted sales. 12 Mintel also indicates that more females than males think its important for their fitness clothes to be fashionable. 13 Since there is more of a variety of fitness apparel for women to choose from like leggings, yoga pants, sports bras and tank tops, they tend to purchase more amounts of these than men. 14 8 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594379/?highlight=true#hit1 9 http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fitness-370424-lululemon-clothing.html 10 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594383/?highlight=true#hit1 11 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594379/?highlight=true#hit1 12 http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/13/business/la-fi-lululemon-athleticwear-20110713 13 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594387/?highlight=true#hit1 14 http://academic.mintel.com/display/594383/?highlight=true#hit1 10

 According to a Harvard Business Review about the female economy, women

are the main drivers of the economy. Globally, they control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that gure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next ve years. Any company would be wise to target female customers, but the greatest potential lies in six industries. Four are businesses where women are most likely to spend more or trade up: food, tness, beauty, and apparel.15 New York Times reports that Kevin Planks goal is for Under Armours womens apparel business to some day be larger than their mens apparel. 16 15 http://news.curves.com/images/20003/HBR%20The%20Female%20Economy.pdf 16 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/business/media/01adco.html 11

SWOT ANALYISIS

Strengths
High quality performance apparel Focused gearline Product endorsers High postitive brand image and recognition "What's Beautiful" Campaign

Weaknesses
High price of product Do not own fabric or process plants Similar products to competitors Rely on wholesale distribution Already have masculine reputation

Opportunities
Large multi-ethnic target market Positive growth in broad uitness sector Rise in sports participation among women Variety of uitness apparel for women

Threats
Growing number of competing products Competitors have better brand recognition and greater resources Retailers may favor display and sale of competitors' products Could be considered discretionary product in uncertain economy

12

MARKETING OBJECTIVE Under Armour will increase sales annually by six percent in 2013 to increase

their market share of fitness apparel. The sales will be targeted at the young, passionate and active female. These women are of multiple races, but mainly white, black, Hispanic, and Asian. They live in either major cities or the suburban areas around them. In order to attract this target market, Under Armour will continue its current Whats beautiful campaign, which focuses mainly on women, using media such as targeted television programs, magazine print, and internet advertising on both web pages and social media. Nontraditional media such as eye-catching in- store displays at retailers will be executed to make the brand stand out among the competition. Sales promotions will include product giveaways at sponsored events, and coupons retrieved through social media. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVE Under Armour will aim for the team girl, a young female who is competitive

and confident, who works out on a regular basis. 17 This frequency campaign will change the consumers attitude toward the brand to be more gender-neutral instead of solely masculine. The brand will maintain a masculine image to keep the male consumers, but will change the attitude of the female consumer that it is not only for men. It will differ from strictly feminine competition by targeting a stronger female, one who does not only participate in holistic exercise such as yoga, rather partakes in multiple activities to stay fit. In order to keep Under Armours innovative 17 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/business/media/01adco.html?_r 13

reputation, they will use modern advertising to capture this audience. This campaign will increase sales of womens apparel, while making women aware of its new and improved female line. TARGET AUDIENCE The primary target audience for Under Armour, beginning in January of 2013

will be females of white, Asian, Hispanic or black decent, ages 18-34, who make an annual household income of at least $60,000, according to a Simmons OneView crosstab. These women are health-conscious, educated and technologically savvy, with one or more computers in the household. She is the ultimate consumer, defined by the L.A. Times as female, relatively young, fashion-forward and willing to spend money. If she has a family, she is accountable for the buying decisions. The consumer is a moderate user of Under Armour apparel. She lives a healthy lifestyle and has a gym membership of some form. This female is passionate and participates in different activities like yoga and other aerobics classes. She lives an active life even outside of exercise, and likes to sport her fitness apparel even while running errands. These women are avid readers of fitness, health and beauty magazines, but prefer online blogs. MEDIA OBJECTIVES Under Armours 2013 campaign will focus on frequency in order to push the female-targeted Whats Beautiful campaign and change the consumers attitude toward the brand. This campaign will be digital-heavy to keep Under Armours modern and young consumers, though executions on television, outdoor and print media will also be incorporated. Although Under Armour sales do not fluctuate 14

much according to the season because of the focused gearline apparel, the campaign will be scheduled around times women tend to exercise and shop the most; this includes months like January after making New Years resolutions, right before Spring Break in March, in the summer in May, during back to school time in July and August, and again before the Holidays in November. The digital and social media portion of the campaign will continuously run from January to December.
80 70

Reach and Frequency Goals for 2013-2014

60
50 40 National Reach National Frequency Spot Reach Spot Frequency

30 20

10
0

-National From January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013, Under Armours advertising

will run through some of the major networks in the United States. The main focus of the campaign will be on National advertising, using 75.3 percent of the total $60,000,000 budget amounting to $43,634,400. The plan will be implemented using the Pulsing mechanism, having some level of continuous advertising, but increasing during the months the target tends to work out or buy clothes the most. Under 15

Armours 2013 campaign will begin in January, focusing on frequency to get the communication objective across to the newer female audience. January will implement a National Reach of 70 and Frequency of 5. March, May, July, August, and November will also be pulsing months, as the target tends to work out and shop for back-to-school clothes during these times. These months will have a Reach of 70 and a Frequency of 4. Since Under Armour is known for their innovative seasonal apparel, users tend to purchase it year-round; therefore, the brands social media- based Whats Beautiful campaign will be continuously running during the months of February, April, June, September, October and December. A National contingency of $6,000,000 was set aside in order to do so. -Spot Networks Spot Networks will be used to target those who spend the most on womens

fitness apparel. The Reach and Frequency goals will mirror the National Networks, January being the highest with a Reach of 75 and Frequency of 6. March, May, July, August, and November will have a Reach of 75 and a Frequency of 5. The ten U.S. cities that are going to be emphasized are: New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, San Diego, CA, Phoenix, AZ, San Francisco et al, CA, San Antonio, TX, Philadelphia, PA, and Dallas-Ft. Worth TX. These cities were chosen as the spot markets according to SimplyMaps list of top cities that purchase womens fitness apparel. 18 These ten spot markets target 26.6% of households alone. Spot advertising will make up 24.7 percent of the budget, accounting for $16,365,600 dollars. 18 http://sm2.simplymap.com/ 16

MEDIA MIX This media strategy will incorporate multiple mediums, both traditional and

non-traditional in order to reach as much of the wide target market as possible. Under Armour will implement Cable and Network Television, Spot Television Internet, Magazine, Outdoor, and Social Media vehicles. Sales Promotions will also be included, but are not included in the media mix. The graph below shows the break down of the percentage of each medium used across the $60,000,000 budget. -Internet Internet takes up most of the Media Mix, at 27 percent of the budget, or approximately $16,318,500. Internet marketing was chosen based on the fact that those aged 25-34 show the highest level of online shopping through the website of general retail sports stores and smaller specialists sports stores, according to Mintel reports. This Under Armour campaign is also Frequency based, so using Internet ads will generate this. Popular websites for the target market will feature Under Armour banner ads. Based on a Simmons OneView Crosstab, these websites 17
7% 16% 9% 9% Internet Outdoor

Media Mix Break Down

Network TV Magazine Cable TV Social Media/Other Spot TV

17%

27%

15%

Google, YouTube, AOL.com, Yahoo, and Expedia. These sites all showed an index above 100 for all demographic categories including Hispanic, Asian, Black and White females ages 18-34.19 Key words will be bought so that when women type specific things into a search engine, any phrases dealing with fitness apparel, getting in shape, or even the competing brand, links will pop up for either Under Armours website or a link to the Whats Beautiful campaign site. -Network Television Network Television will receive 15 percent of the budget, amounting in

approximately $9,082,000 of the budget. The advertisements will be shown during the day and also during primetime television during the week, since Simmons OneView shows high index numbers for the target market during these day parts. Spots will be bought during the week during shows such as Friends and Sex and the City. -Cable Television Cable television will be implemented in order to target women who tune in to specific channels. Since research shows that Under Armours target market watches VH1, TLC, MTV, and ABC Family the most, 135 GRPs will be used to do so. This is 9 percent of the budget, which is $5,405,400. 20 Cable advertising will be used during daytime, primetime hours and late fringe, when the target audience watches the most television. 19 http://oneview.experian.com/main/#
20

http://oneview.experian.com/main/#

18

-Magazine Four-color full-page ads will be featured in both Womens and General

Interest magazines. Seven percent of the budget is allotted to print media, 200 GRPs in Womens and 130 in General Interest. The womens magazines will consist of those that the target reads the most of such as Cosmo, Allure, Country Living, Ebony, Fitness, InStyle, Latina Style, Parenting, Working Mother and Shape.21 The specialty magazines will aid in reaching the ethnic target market. -Outdoor Although outdoor only consumes 16 percent of the budget, it has a high level

of duplication, resulting in high levels of frequency. The $95,87,300 spent will be used to place billboards in the ten designated spot markets. -Social Media Since the Whats Beautiful campaign has been proven to be successful, it will continue in full effect. A total of $10,000,000 in contingency was set aside in order to continue a modern brand image and to keep up with the ever-changing social media marketing strategies. The Sweat Every Day microsite and mobile app will continue to be implemented, as women can document and share their daily workouts and health tips. These features will continue to be pushed via Facebook posts to the brands nearly two million fans on the social site, and will incorporate more of their Under Armour Women Twitter account. According to the companys senior director of womens marketing, this campaign push is social by design and built to engage our audience, which it will continue doing. The companys goal is to eventually gain share of the womens fitness market from the likes of Nike, Asics and 21 http://oneview.experian.com/main/# 19

New Balance, and since the target market is full of social network addicts, this is the best way to do it. 22 -Sales Promotion Under Armour will sponsor free exercise classes for women to kick-start the

New Year the first two weeks of January; however, they will be a secret. The only way to know about them is through social media or word-of-mouth, in turn, gaining more social network followers. If users repin Under Armour promoted pins on the website Pinterest, they will be able to receive a ticket. The exercise classes will also target specific races based on the amount of time they work out, and what they enjoy doing the most. For example, since the Hispanic population prefer dance, (according to Mintel) over running, jogging, or weight training, free Zumba classes will be held in urban areas with a high Hispanic population. In order to target the family market, back-to-school specials will be

implemented in retail stores such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, etc. during the last week of July. This will include in-store free giveaways like Under Armour sports balls and kids accessories, tickets to local sporting events, and family discounts on fitness clubs. This promotion will be advertised through online couponing sites such as GroupOn and in-store QR codes consumers will be able to scan. Under Armour will continue the Whats Beautiful campaign promotion via social media, but will further increase sales by making the competition and winners known. The plan is for the campaign to ultimately select three winners who will be sponsored by Under Armour and get to train with UA athletes. They will eventually become a part of the Under Armour Womens Ambassador Team, receiving free gear 22 http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/under-armours-largest-ever-push-women-143522 20

and promoting the Womens brand.23 In 2013, Under Armour will hold more competitions in order to continue recruiting ambassadors from college campuses and major cities. These women will give away free merchandise and coupons to their friends, spreading the brand by word-of-mouth and social media. This will happen near the holidays in November to further promote the womens line of clothing and change the attitudes of the target market. CHARTS

Reach and Frequency Goals for 2013-2014

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 National Reach National Frequency Spot Reach Spot Frequency

23 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9433313.htm

21

Media Schedule for January 1, 2013-December 31, 2013 8000

7500 7000 6500 6000 5500 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

Spot Spending (In Millions)

National Spending (In Millions)

Budget Recap Dollars Spent (000) Network TV Cable TV Spot TV Outdoor Magazine Internet Spot Cable National Contingency Spot Contingency Total $9082 $5150.6 $3587 $9587.3 $4450.6 $16,318.5 $1818.4 $6,000 $4,000 $59994.4 Percent of Budget 15% 9% 6% 16% 7% 27% 3% 17% 100%

22

23