Off Brand
How Under Armour Bet Everything on the Wrong Customer
The athletic-gear company made the mistake of obsessing too much over its most influential customers
A year ago, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank was as blunt as he could be about the company’s strategy: “We’re going to double down on performance.” At its core, this is a strategy many companies embrace when times are tough: Let’s do even more of what we do best. But as Under Armour would learn, that’s not always the right move.
Still, it was an understandable stance at the time. The “performance” corner of the athletic-wear market — meaning products made for actual sports use, not for sitting on the couch in front of the game — is where Under Armour made its name. Plank created the brand’s very first moisture-wicking garments as a direct result of his experience as a college football player and an understanding of what other athletes might want.
Under Armour went on to live out the axiom that if you win over the most demanding consumers (in this case, serious athletes), then the wannabes fall in line and follow whatever trend those influencers set. The consumer market rewards authenticity; that’s the conventional wisdom, at least. And for years, that was the story of Under Armour’s meteoric rise…
