Under Armour is developing a nice little roster of athletes to call their own. Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Jordan Spieth, Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Cam Newton, Eddie Lacy, Michael Phelps, and Andy Murray among others are sponsored by Under Armour, and the brand is beginning to creep up on the likes of Nike and Adidas.
Nike does about eight times more business than Under Armour, which seems like a lot until you realize that number was 19 times more just five years ago.
With Steph Curry coming off a NBA MVP season, and Jordan Spieth coming off back-to-back major wins earlier this season, it’s the perfect time for Under Armour to capitalize with their first major brand campaign. The first ad, releasing Monday, features Curry, Spieth, and ballerina Misty Copeland, who became the first black to become a principal dancer at a major ballet company.
Channeling the Malcolm Gladwell theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practice at something to achieve elite level status, the ad campaign is titled “Rule Yourself” and the first spot shows 10,000 versions of Curry, Spieth, and Copeland working on their craft to achieve greatness.
Senior Vice President of brand marketing Adrienne Lofton explained to ESPN how the company came up with the idea:
“We sat around [founder and CEO] Kevin Plank’s table, and we talked about the momentum we’ve had this year, telling our brand story through the lens of the hottest athletes in the world, and the one thing that was constant, whether you are young or old, is that in order to be the best you have to train consistently on the field, court and gym and improve every day.”
A second spot featuring Tom Brady is said to be on the way soon.
It’s certainly a huge chance for the company to expand since they have the reigning Super Bowl MVP, NBA MVP, Masters winner, and National League MVP all under their control — not to mention perhaps the greatest Olympian of all-time, and the possible 2015 NL MVP.
Under Armour may never catch Nike or Adidas, but they have a huge opportunity to do some serious damage if they can strike while the iron is hot and take advantage of all of the success their athletes have been having in the last calendar year.
(Via ESPN)
