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U n d e r A r m o u r S n o w s t o r m | 1

Under Armour Snowstorm: Brought to you by Under

Armour

By: Gregory Baron, Seth Hidde,

Mason Thorbjornsen, Corinne Wright


Table of Contents

Executive Summary 4 Background 5 What is Under Armour Snowstorm? 6 Brand Equity Analysis 8 Organizational Mission 11 Organizational Vision 11 Organizational Goals 13 Market Assessment 15 Market Selection Decisions 18 SMART Objective 20 Marketing Mix Decisions 21 Advertising 26 Survey Results 27 Competitors 28 Sponsorships 29 Service Decisions 32 Risk Management 34 Trademark 36 Financial Analysis 37 Monitoring of Marketing Mix 39 Anticipated Response from Competitors 40 Appendix: Survey 41 Survey Results 42 Graphic I 43 Graphic II 44 Graphic III 45 Works Cited 46


December 2nd, 2013

Dear Matthew C. Mirchin,

The brand image of Under Armour is very important, it is essential that we enhance as

well bring positive recognition to this brand. This is why we bring to you Under Armour

Snowstorm. Under Armour Snowstorm is the new revolution in winter athletic wear. The

products that will be introduced in this new branch of the company will reach out to new markets

while at the same time making the brand that much stronger. This new era of Under Armour gear

will not only enhance our brand image but also increase our overall sales. Under Armour

Snowstorm we feel is the new wave in winter sports products, we thank you for your time and

hope that you are even more intrigued as you read through the rest of our proposal.

Sincerely,

The Public Relations Department.


Executive Summary

We at Under Armour are here to proudly announce our introduction of our new product

line. Snowstorm is our new line geared towards winter sport athletes. As UA is currently growing

at a rapid pace, we feel this is a perfect time to expand. We are looking to come out with new

products that will be directly fit the needs and wants of skiers and snowboarders. Our goal is to

reach into the market and be big time competitors in our first 5 years. For this to happen we are

going to be sponsoring both males and females who have reached the professional level in either

skiing or snowboarding. We also plan on sponsoring major events such as the Winter X Games

as well as the Winter Olympics.

As a company, we believe that sponsoring such mega events directly related to our target

market is a perfect way to get our brand in the customer’s eyes. To start, we are going to have

products such as board bags, helmets, custom boots for both skiing and snowboarding, bindings,

snow shoes, and goggles with new technology.

We feel that by being able to break into this market, UA will be able to expand even

further if the Snowstorm line as successful as we expect it to be. Since Under Armour is already

a house held name in a lot of middle to upper class families, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get

out name out there. Since Snowstorm is an UA line, we are hoping that loyal customers will want

to purchase are newest products that we are coming out with. Our brand image and loyalty is

very important to us and we feel like by coming out with this new line there is only benefits to

come for Under Armour.


Background

Kevin Plank, University of Maryland alumni founded Under Armour in 1996. He

originally started by driving up and down all of the east coast selling clothing out of his car. The

idea of Under Armour came when Plank was playing football at Maryland. He did not like the

feeling of his wet shirt he used to wear under his jersey. He realized that his compression shorts

would always stay dry throughout the day and then came up with his idea of making a shirt made

up of synthetic fabric.

Under Armour broke into the scene in 1999 when Warner Brothers asked them to make

outfits for the films Any Given Sunday and The Replacements. Later that year, Kevin Plank

bought an advertisement page for ESPN the Magazine. Under Armour was able to profit

$750,000 from this advertisement alone. In 2000, Under Armour was asked to be the main

uniform sponsor the XFL. A few years later, in 2003 when Under Armour launched its first

commercial, there new motto “Protect This House” quickly became well known saying

throughout America.

Today, Under Armour has quickly become a top competitor to companies such as NIKE,

Adidas, and Reebok. The company has now been expanded well beyond clothes and now makes

high end sporting goods and accessories. They are now the main sponsor of the Cal Ripken JR.

World Series as well as the NFL Combine. Today they sponsor some of the biggest athletes in

their sport. Some of these athletes include Tom Brady and Ray Lewis of the NFL, Bryce Harper

of the MLB, Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn a USA skier, and Canelo Àlvarez a Spanish boxer.


What is Under Armour Snowstorm?

When you think of the brand Under Armour many things come to mind. You think of

top-notch athletic wear, whether it is a pair of football gloves or a pair of high top cleats. With

Under Armour Snowstorm we are trying to enter the winter sportswear market and take it by

storm.

We have a new line of products that are going to truly revolutionize what people do out

on the slopes but at the same time stay true to the brand and represent Under Armour as the top

class athletic wear company that already exists. We plan on promoting our line of products to the

already existing winter sports market and showing our potential consumers how versatile and

innovative this new branch of Under Armour can be.

The name Under Armour Snowstorm speaks for itself, when you think of a snowstorm

there is high winds, icy conditions and you need gear that can withstand all of this. With the

products that will be introduced to the market there will never be hesitation ever again when

entering a Snowstorm. Our product line will tap in to the complete needs of all of our consumers.

Whether it is the need for a winter hat or something as advanced as our revolutionary snowboard

goggles. There is a product that taps into almost every need or want a consumer can have and we

feel like that is very important. At the end of the day no matter what your revenue is or how

many stores your product is in, the most important judgment tool is how responsive and satisfied

your consumers are.

We feel we have a product line that can really bring Under Armour to its absolute

potential. When looking at all of the competitors and potential markets Under Armour


Snowstorm seems like the answer. This branch off of the already successful Under Armour will

bring this entire brand to a level that the global market has never seen.


Brand Equity Analysis

Perceived Quality

Under Armour as a supplier of athletic apparel and equipment has already established

itself as a top competitor in the ever growing sport market. It is widely understood and accepted

that the Under Armour brand provides quality, durable, and comfortable performance-based

products to its consumers. As proof of this, in a 2008 survey of runners, over one-third of

respondents claimed that they purchased Under Armour brand footwear as a result of the brand’s

product quality and over sixty percent said they would indisputably purchase the brand again

(Kerrigan, 2008). This perceived quality of Under Armour footwear is vital to the success of the

ski/snowboard boots in the Snowstorm product line.

For apparel in the Snowstorm line, Under Armour ColdGear and HeatGear have already

provided examples of the ability that the brand’s products have to regulate body temperatures in

various weather conditions. We firmly believe that the perceived quality of and the customer

experience with the Under Armour brand is what will push our new product line to be successful.

Brand Awareness

When consumers within the target market can recognize and remember the brand name,

the organization has achieved brand awareness (Shank, 2009). Provided that Under Armour held

75% of the performance apparel market share in 2011, it can be assumed that brand awareness

has been achieved. Furthermore, Under Armour products are synonymous with the Under

Armour name which allows us to conclude that Under Armour has gone above and beyond brand

awareness. An example of this synonymy is that when consumers are referring to their base layer

apparel they do not say “base layer”, instead they simply refer to the apparel as “Under Armour”.


Nike has been able to achieve this level of brand awareness with their footwear but it seems that

Under Armour is the only brand to achieve this in the athletic apparel market. Additionally,

Under Armour consumers go further than referring to their products by the brand name. Perhaps

it was a strategy implemented by Under Armour or just luck, either way consumers often refer to

their products by the name of the product line such as ColdGear or HeatGear.

Provided with consumers who are currently overwhelmingly aware of the Under Armour

brand, the Snowstorm line is faced more with the challenge of product awareness rather than

brand awareness. As previously stated, the ColdGear products will greatly assist in this as they

are vastly similar to products within the Snowstorm line.

Brand Association

A large part of Under Armour’s success can be attributed to their early efforts of

associating themselves with sports and organizations that would increase the publicity of the

brand. We understand that this is not only important for the brand, but for each individual

product line as well. We plan to associate the Snowstorm line with professional winter athletes

such as Olympic and world champion downhill skier Lindsey Vonn, a prime candidate to be

sponsored by the Snowstorm line as she was recently featured in Under Armour’s “Under

Armour Makes You Better” campaign. The campaign focuses on current professional athletes

while conveying an underlying message of empowerment to youthful competitors. The current

associations that Under Armour has with winter sport athletes will provide the organization with

a platform that we can use to attract potential consumers within our desired target market.

Furthermore, the use of both male and female athletes will assist Under Armour in appealing to

both male and female consumers.


Additional brand association exists within both domestic and international relationships

that Under Armour has formed. In 2014, national winter-sport teams in the U.S. and Canada will

be outfitted with highly innovative and stylish Under Armour performance apparel and

equipment.

Brand Loyalty

According to Shank in Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective, brand loyalty exists

when consumers display a consistent preference or repeat purchase of one brand over all others.

Due to the market size and competition, brand loyalty can be difficult to achieve in the athletic

apparel market. However, Under Armour’s consistent product quality and overall brand

awareness provides the organization with a slight edge over some competitors.

The major brands that Under Armour competes with for brand loyalty are Nike, Adidas,

and Reebok. The Under Armour brand stands out because of the unique technology used in its

products. Under Armour products are notorious for their durability but also their capabilities. As

previously stated, the ColdGear and HeatGear lines are capable of regulating body temperature;

the Storm product line is known for being water-resistant, a technology that causes water to bead

up and dry on the apparel without absorbing into the material.

We feel strongly that the technologies being introduced with Snowstorm will reinforce

brand loyalty with our current customers as well as introduce potential customers to Under

Armour with the intent to make them loyal to the brand.


Under Armour Mission Statement

o To make all athletes better through passion, design and the relentless pursuit of

innovation

Under Armour Vision

o To empower athletes everywhere

Brand Values

o Respect the UGOP (Universal Guarantee Of Performance). Every product we

build must be better than what’s currently available on the market—best in class. Every

product must be field tested. And every product must make athletes better. That’s our

guarantee.

o Let’s Be Great.

§ Build great product, tell a great story, provide great service, and build a

great team.

o Integrity.

§ Without it we cannot be a team.

o No One Person is Bigger than the BRAND – TEAM.

§ No athlete either.

o Make One Dollar Spend Like Three.

§ We must be creative with the resources we have.

o Help Others.

§ Volunteerism and serving others are vital parts of our mission.

o Walk With a Purpose.1

1 All of the information on this page was obtained from www.ua.com


§ Everything we do is part of a deliberate, long-term strategy/vision. Know

where you’re going.

o Protect the UA Culture, But Embrace Change.

§ Evolve and innovate. We’re a different company every 6 months, and we

can’t use culture as an excuse to not change product, process, or people.

o Be Humble and Stay Hungry.

§ Nobody’s going to give us anything. We have to earn it every day.2

2 All of the information on this page was obtained from www.ua.com


Organizational Goals

As part of the Under Armour organization, our main goal is to create a new line that will

be attractive to a new target market. The new Snowstorm line is geared specifically for winter

athletes who enjoy skiing and snowboarding. This line will have many new products that Under

Armour is first going to be making. We at Under Armour have set a timetable and are hoping to

be top competitors within are first five years.

Since Under Armour is not a “new” company already, we feel that our goals are not out

of our reach. With are already big customer base; we are hoping that people will be happy to

make the switch over from one of our competitors such as Burton or Oakley. We believe

Snowstorm will be a very valuable line, because we are getting away from the typical UA lines

of clothes and coming out with gear and accessories for skiing and snowboarding.

Our goal of being a top competitor within 5 years, all starts with our advertising. We have

contacted top winter athletes as well as up and coming athletes. We have talked to them about

having Snowstorm being one of their individual sponsors. As well as sponsoring individual

athletes, we are going to sponsor mega events such as the Winter X Games and the Winter

Olympics. With the 2014 winter games right around the corner in Sochi, Russia, our organization

feels this is a perfect opportunity to break into the market. By using our athletes, tabling and

billboards, we feel it is a great way for fans at the event to get a look at our new line. Television

is going to be are biggest and most efficient way to get people at home to get a look at our

Snowstorm line.

We are hoping that the pre-existing brand image and loyalty, Snowstorm will have an

easier time breaking into the market rather than a new company building up from scratch. Under


Armour is currently on the list of the fastest growing companies so we feel our customer base is

already in existence and large enough for us to reach our goals. Our organization is hoping that

our customers and products can help us reach our goal quicker than five years and hopefully

make us the top of the competition in five years instead of just an average competitor.


Market Assessment

Market Research

The Snowstorm line is engineered for the ski and snowboard industry. Although ski and

snowboard participation rates decreased from 2011 to 2012, the accessory, equipment, and

apparel sales in the industry have remained relatively consistent since 2004 (Snow Sports

Fact Sheet, 2013). Reports show that sales in these three categories totaled over $3 billion

during the 2012 season, an increase of 3% from the previous year. Since our product relies

more on purchasing habits than participation, we remain confident that our product can thrive

in the current market.

SnowSports Industries America (SIA) reported that over one-third of the ski and

snowboard population lives in areas that were directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy in the

latter months of 2012 which directly impacted ski and snowboard sales in the South and

Northeast through November, decreasing the sales by an average of 25%. SIA’s reports also

indicated that ski and snowboard participants ages 25 to 35 have less time and discretionary

income to devote to skiing and snowboarding. However, despite these two issues, SIA

conducted a survey which revealed that almost 50% of surveyors’ buying habits remained

consistent to past seasons.

SWOT Analysis

In an effort to project the likelihood of our product being successful we have conducted a

SWOT analysis to outline the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are

foreseeable. Included in the strengths of the Snowstorm line are brand awareness and

reputation. Given that Under Armour is a top brand, not necessarily in the ski and snowboard


market but in the overall apparel market, we believe that consumers will be more willing to

try our products as opposed to if we were a new company. Consumers throughout the entire

sport market are aware of the Under Armour brand and the perceived quality that comes with

it. Additionally, the uniqueness of our product is also a projected strength. Our apparel is

engineered to retain heat and regulate the body temperatures of our consumers and the

pairings of our equipment with the latest technological developments is unprecedented.

The weaknesses of our product include entering an already cramped market which

contains established leaders such as Oakley, The North Face, and Burton. Competing with

companies who have been at the top of their respected market for long periods of time could

make it difficult for Snowstorm to achieve its goal of becoming a top competitor within the

first five years of its existence. Additionally, Under Armour has little to no experience in the

snow sport industry which may make innovations and marketing strategies difficult to

compose.

Snowstorm has the opportunity to attract consumers who have not yet established brand

loyalty within the market. As many skiers and snowboarders are equipped with multiple

brands, Under Armour has the ability to create brand loyalty with these consumers. Also, due

to some of the Snowstorm equipment being unprecedented, consumers are highly likely to try

our products at least once, increasing the chance of brand loyalty being established between

us and the consumer.

The obvious threats in our situation are the established brands within the market and their

ability to match our products. With today’s technologies it does not take long for one

company to produce a similar product that has been engineered by a different company. With


the existing snow sport brands’ experience in the industry, they might be able to quickly

produce products that have better quality and performance than ours.

After conducting this analysis we concluded that Snowstorm could use its strengths and

opportunities to overcome any weaknesses or threats. Given that Under Armour is held in

such high regard from a consumer’s prospective and is considered a leader in performance

innovation, we believe that it is possible to become a top competitor in the snow sports

market no matter what challenges and obstacles we are faced with.

Competitive Analysis

As stated in the SWOT analysis, there are many brands that Snowstorm will have to

directly compete with. Due to the fact that Under Armour is not creating a brand new

product, it will have competition in all product areas including apparel, accessories, and

equipment. To be competitive we plan to launch products that are not new, but have new

technologies not found in current products within the market. We feel that it is important to

continue innovating and developing products into the future to ensure that our line remains

competitive.

Indirectly, our products must overcome the decreased participation in the ski and

snowboard industry. Although decreased participation does not influence the buying habits of

those who do participate, it could affect our overall sales. Reasons for decreased participation

include weather conditions and sports leagues that run year-round. There is no way to combat

what Mother Nature does, but it is possible to compete with other sports. Under Armour

should work with the ski and snowboard industry to promote the skiing and snowboarding as

both a sport and an activity which could help increase participation.


Market Selection Decisions

Segmentation & Target Marketing

Our marketing segments include geographic, demographic, and behavioral segmentation.

Our geographic segmentation will be molded by the market overview we have obtained from

SnowSports Industries America (SIA) which stated that New York, Pennsylvania, Texas,

Illinois, and California are the states with the most snowboarders. SIA also stated that almost

half of snowboards also alpine ski so we can target these states for both skiers and snowboarders.

The demographics in our target market vary significantly between skiing and

snowboarding. SIA concluded that 29% of male and 24% of female snowboarders are under the

age of 17 and 52% of alpine skiers are between the ages of 18 and 44. Similarly, both sports and

male-dominated with alpine skiing consisting of 61% males and snowboarding consisting of

65% male. However, both sports include a large amount of female participants, both totaling

more than 30% of their respective populations. The variety within the market will force us to be

appealing to both young and old, and male and female participants.

Furthermore, SIA’s research revealed that even in years when participation has declined,

consumers purchasing habits have remained constant. This means that lower participation will

not necessarily yield lower sales or revenue. This is important because it provides us with

consistency in buyer behavior, allowing our marketing strategies to be more effective.

Positioning

We will attempt to position Snowstorm in a way that will most positively impact the

line’s success. Under Armour is currently positioned as a leading brand in its existing markets

and we believe this reputation and position will carry into the snow sports market. By portraying


our product as a leader in innovation, quality, and performance we believe Snowstorm will thrive

and stimulate the success of Under Armour’s climb into a new market.


SMART Objective

We hope to break through the snow sports market with Under Armour Snowstorm with

the goal of becoming a top competitor in the market within the first five years. We believe this

objective meets the SMART requirements of being specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and

time bound. We have targeted a specific market in which our product will be engineered for; we

have multiple established competitors in which we can use to measure our success; given the

resources that Under Armour has this objective is surely attainable; and giving Snowstorm five

years to establish itself as a leading product line makes our objective both realistic and time

bound.


Marketing Mix Decisions

Products: This new branch of Under Armour is focused on a few key products:

Go-Pro Infused Solar Faced Snowboarding Goggles

Our biggest project is this new revolutionary pair of snowboarding goggles. These

goggles are so unique due to the fact that they have solar faces built in which provides these

goggles with the ability to be charged when you are out on the slopes. What really makes these

goggles so different from that of their competition is the built in Go-Pro camera linked with an

interface that is over the eye of the rider. This built in Go-Pro allows the rider with the

convenience and ease of mind when they want to record their runs. Every rider likes to be able to

show their family and friends what their view looked like going down the mountain. No longer

will riders have to worry about attaching a bulky camera on their helmets or goggles. This built

in Go-Pro concept we feel like is going to change the game when it comes to snowboarding gear.

Custom Under Armour Snowboard Boots

When you think of Under Armour and any kind of footwear apparel it is natural to

automatically think of a training shoe or an athletic cleat. When it comes to the brand Under

Armour snowstorm we want the sole thought to be about snowboard boots. Under Armour

already has a bunch of products that closely resemble what a snowboard boot would look like

without the true functionality that particular boot would need. With our new products we plan to

change all of this. Our snowboard boots are going to have the lightweight high ankle support of

Under Armour latest Highlight Speed MC football cleat. White at the same time having the

durability and waterproof features of Under Armour most premier hunting boot. What set our


snow boot apart from our competitors are the reinforced ankle support and the snap in and out

bottoms that will click into our custom binding pads.

Innovative and new Snowstorm binding pads

These bindings are unique due to the fact that they are made specifically to fit our snow

boots. These binding pads are different from traditional bindings in the sense that they are just

pads that the snow boots click into and out of with enough security and flexibility to accomplish

all of your desires out on the slopes. We feel that binding pads are better than just normal

bindings because for one they provide an easier time when getting on and off the slopes and they

also make it that much easier for riders of all skill levels. Our goal at Under Armour is to always

satisfy the consumer and we feel with how easy these binding pads are to operate this idea is a no

brainer from a functionality standpoint.

Key Note

As a new branch of Under Armour we wanted to focus on just a few products in our

proposal. When it comes to actual winter sports performance apparel Under Armour is already

leading the market in that phase. We wanted to dive into an area of the winter sports market we

felt that we were lacking in and that why we developed the Snowstorm line. These three products

are all unique in nature and we feel as if these are the products that are going to truly put Under

Armour as a whole into a league of our own.

Price:

When determining the prices of these products a lot of factors were involved, we wanted

to have products that were affordable for our consumers but at the same time within a


competitive range with our competitors. We felt it was very important to keep a balance between

pleasing our customers as well as not selling our products short. When researching a price point

for our Go-Pro Infused Solar Faced Snowboarding Goggles we researched similar goggles

with similar capabilities. We found that these types of goggles ranged anywhere from $400 to

upwards of $600, so we felt comfortable setting our price for these goggles at $475. We felt that

this price is fair to the consumer and also puts us in a place to really take advantage of our

comfortable price point. As for our Custom Under Armour Snowboard Boots, setting a price

for these boots were a little more difficult since these boots correlate directly with our binding

pads we had to keep this in mind. We wanted to set the price for the boots and the pads in an

affordable range so that they could be purchased as a package deal if need be. For that reason we

set the price of the custom UA boots at $250 and the binding pads at $150. Together that is a

total of $400; this price combined still keeps us competitive with companies that are solely

pricing their boots at this price. We thought long and hard about these prices and a lot of research

went into these price point decisions. We are very comfortable and confident that these prices

will prove to be successful.

Place:

Under Armour as a brand is a global name throughout the world. This company is located

throughout countries such as Spain all the way to Australia. Under Armour Snowstorm is a

continuation of this already successful global name. Under Armour Snowstorm is a product line

that is obviously focused towards winter sports so as a company we plan on having these

products available in locations that would have the highest demand for these new winter sports

products. For example in the United States we would want these products readily available in

areas such as Colorado, Vermont, Central and Northern New York. In a global sense we would


want these products available in the northern countries such as Canada, Sweden, Norway and

Finland. All of these products will be available on the Under Armour website but it is very

important to have our products at stores that our consumers can get to. As for the actual stores

that our products will be located in, we will have them in every ski and snow house throughout

the U.S as well as having our products in stores like Dicks Sporting Goods, and as many small

business ski and snowboard stores that we can get our product out to.

Promotion:

In any promotional mix the goal is to inform, persuade and remind our target audiences.

In our first phase of promotions, would be to get our new product line Under Armour Snowstorm

out to the masses. The way in which we would go about doing this is through online advertising

on almost every athletic apparel and winter sports website out there. We would also send our

new products out to some of the premier riders in the world. Sending out our products for free to

top tier riders allows for us to one get feedback from the individuals who know their gear the

best and potentially if our products tests the way we know they should, then we will gain those

riders support and they will spread our new product line out by word of mouth to the entire

winter sports market. Among these ideas we also plan on holding expos and test runs with our

gear at ski resorts throughout the globe. Under Armour is already such a huge name in sports

apparel and to have the ability to work off of that existing name with our new line gives us that

much more opportunity to reach every facet of our target audience. Another way in which we

will promote our product line is through the usage of commercials. Our price points for these

products are extremely affordable and we want to let our consumers know that in our product

you are not only getting a great price but you are also getting the best product. We have already

put forth efforts to have riders such as Shaun White, Markus Keller, and Terje Haakonsen to


name a few who are featured in our commercials. All of these techniques will hopefully allow

Under Armour Snowstorm to receive the exposure it deserves.

Public Relations:

The perception of Under Armour Snowstorm is a product line that was created with our

consumers in mind. When we developed all of the concepts for our new products our consumers

were being included in every decision and every testing phase we had. It is very important to us

as a company that our consumers realize that we are trying to benefit all of the individuals that

buy our products in every way possible. The brand Under Armour believes in the idea that every

product put forth to the public should be tested and proven before any athlete gets their hands on

the products. This thought process is very important to us; we want to be able to say at the end of

the day that Under Armour Snowstorm thought of every little detail possible before even

deciding whether or not to go through with putting a product out on the market. The new

products we have introduced in our product line we feel are revolutionary. They were designed

with convenience and sophistication in mind and we feel like every athlete or even just an

everyday rider will benefit from our products.


Advertising

Advertising is a key part to any business, with a solid advertising plan in place any company

will greatly benefit from it. Since our mother company Under Armour already has a strong

advertising plan in place. We will meet with them to discuss their forms and methods of

advertising. With regards to their advertising plan, we will create one of our own that is very

similar to theirs. Yet, we will focus more on our select target market in hope of gaining new

business.

In addition to incorporating our brand in to Under Armour’s already existing advertising

plan, our main target market in terms of advertising is the 2014 Winter Olympics. As a team, we

feel that this will bring us the most recognition and will help create awareness for our brand. We

will advertise before, during and after the Olympic Games through various outlets, such as, TV

commercials, billboards, magazines, and through our sponsorships. From these different outlets

we will concentrate on the northern half of the United States. We also will hold an experiment

expo a week before we will release our products, so that potential customers can come in and

have a chance to see and experiment with our new products.


Survey Results

After handing out 40 surveys to all different types of people we have tallied up the results

to see what the public thought of our idea. As the graph below shows nearly everyone agreed

with us that Under Armour Snowstorm has the potential to be a very successful branch company.

Through this survey we have gained both support and encouragement. However, in

understanding that the sample size was quite small we still believe we can use this as a good tool

of reference.


Competitors

Competing with your competitors is a key part to succeeding in the retail industry. Some of our

main competitors will be Oakley, Burton, Giro, SPY, GoPro and DC. Although all of these

companies are very successful and well known, we hope to separate ourselves from the pack by

offering an assortment of high end products at a reasonable price. However, since that is a lot

easier said than done, we will also focus on providing our customers with a quality product that

has the Under Armour lifetime guarantee on it.


Sponsorships

Sponsorships are a great marketing technique, not only do they create awareness for your

product or service but they also connect your brand to the person or event you are sponsoring.

We understand that choosing the right person or event to sponsor is vital in creating a respected

and successful company. That’s not only because those you sponsors will become the face of

your brand, but also because the more well-known and respected that athlete or event is, the

more marketable they are. The events that we plan on sponsoring in the future are the Winter X

Games and the Winter Olympics. However, before doing so will try to strength out products

through individual sponsorships, the athletes that we have chosen are listed below.

Skiing:

Female: Lindsey Vonn- 2 Olympics medals, 5 World Championship medals

Male: Bode Miller- 5 Olympic medals, 5 World Championship medals


Snowboarding:

Female: Kelly Clark- 2 Olympic medals, 8 Winter X Games medals

Male: Danny Kass - 2 Olympic medals, 6 Winter X Games medals


Service Decisions

Since Under Armour is already an established company with many outlets of sales. We

will use that to our advantage in releasing our new Snowstorm product line. As a branch

company, our plan is to follow our mother company (Under Armour) to its retailers and sell our

new products there, where Under Armour already has a reputable and profitable means of sales.

In doing so we will provide our sellers with extravagant displays, to not only advertise for our

new products but to also stimulate sales for those individual stores. Although, we will only

provide our products to the retailers in sates that regularly receive a good amount of snow each

year. Below is map of the United States, its shows the annual show fall for the different regions

of the country. In correlation to this map, our goal is to strategically place out product line in the

snow filled regions of the country.


However, before we begin to sell our products we must familiarize the sellers with the

products. To maximize the sales we will put the retailers through a training seminar, which will

explain all of our new products in great detail and will show our sellers how to go about

supplying the customers with knowledgeable information on our products.


Risk Management

Risks can come from uncertainty in financial markets, project failures, legal liabilities,

credit risk, accidents, natural causes and disasters as well as a deliberate attack from an

adversary, or events of uncertain or unpredictable root-cause. When dealing with risks the usual

strategic process is to transfer the risk to another party, avoid the risk, reduce the negative effect

or probability of the risk, or sometimes accepting some or all of the potential or actual

consequences of a particular risk.

Our risk management plan will involve taking into account all of the potential problems

that a new branch can have on a pre-existing company. First off, since we are introducing new

products into the market we have to take into account the fact that our products are going to

endure some type of scrutiny from our competitors and critics of winter sports products. At the

same time we have to be aware that because our products are brand new the harsh reality could

mean that some of our products might have functional or aesthetic flaws. If this problem were to

come about we are confident in the fact that our product manufacturers will handle this problem

in a professional and very timely manner. Along with the risk of products critiques and flaws we

also have to worry about our competitors in the winter sports market. We are a global brand that

is known all over the world and due to the fact that we are introducing our new line of products

in the Under Armour Snowstorm branch, some of our competitors are going to try to do whatever

they can to compete with us in the winter sports markets. We might run into risks such as other

corporations copying our new concepts as well as adjusting their prices to face off with our

extremely affordable products. All of these scenarios are practical risks that we are already

planning to handle. The unfortunate truth about risks is sometimes you can’t plan for everything

that comes your way, as a precautionary measure we will have contingency plans set up in order


to attend to whatever risk we did not directly plan for. What these contingency plans will do is

allow our corporation the ability to have a list of steps to follow for risks that were not precisely

planned for. For example, if a competitor would decide to use our product in one of their

commercials and completely try and trash its credibility, not only would this situation be a legal

predicament but we would refer to one of our contingency plans to go through steps and decipher

what the most responsible and professional risk management plan would be necessary. Whether

it is complete avoidance of the situation or on the other hand accepts all of the scrutiny and

simply produces a more professional commercial in return. The fact of the matter is these

contingency plans allow for proper procedures when handling risks that we as a company were

not directly expecting.


Trademark

Our trademark will be the same trademark in which Under Armour has now, expect for a

minor adjustment. We will put our SnowStrom logo beneath the Under Armour logo, this will

only appear on our gear and nothing else Under Armour makes. From there, we will get our

SnowStorm logo legally registered to prevent any problems down the road. We also will be

displaying our new brand logo profoundly throughout our advertisement campaigns to generate

awareness for our up-and-coming product line. To better visualize our logo, the picture below is

in fact the logo we have chosen to represent our brand.


Financial Analysis

Sales and Income Projections

Creating projections for a company can be a very tricky process because you are never

really sure what’s going to happen. However, since we are already part of an organization we

will reference and follow Under Armour’s projections that we got from www.4-traders.com. As

shown in the timeline below our sales and income projections from now through 2017 should

increase at very steady rate. We believe this will happen because both past and current sale

numbers and also our reliable and growing customer base. We acknowledge that much of this

Annual Income Statement Data

Actuals in M $ Estimates in M $

Fiscal Period December 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Sales 1 064 1 473 1 835 2 269 2 767 3 361

Operating income (EBITDA) 144 199 252 315 385 477

Operating profit (EBIT) 112 163 209 263 327 409

Pre-Tax Profit (EBT) - - 203 - - -

Net income 68,5 96,9 129 155 194 246

EPS ( $) 0,67 0,93 1,21 1,44 1,79 2,23

Dividend per Share ( $) - - - - - -

Yield - - - - - -

Announcement Date 01/27/2011

12:00pm

01/26/2012

12:00pm

01/31/2013

12:00pm - - -


success is due to the quality products that we offer. That’s why we will never cut corners when it

comes to providing our customers with top level performance gear.

http://www.4-traders.com/UNDER-ARMOUR-INC-39444/financials/


Monitoring of Marketing Mix

Since monitoring the marking mix is an important part of the evaluation and control of an

organization. We will proactively monitor our branch company to help prevent problems from

occurring. This will be done by first hiring good and dependable staff, and then we will make

sure to always keep an eye on all the components that make up the marketing mix to assure we

are performing at our most profitable level. From there we will do our best to stay up to date on

upcoming trends and products, so we do not fall behind the competition. We also will require

each manger to fill out a weekly evaluation of the progress within our branch. This will cover

things such as, expenses, profit, and revenue, demographic of sales, advertisement costs, and

much more. Once that is complete, we will review each of them and make any necessary

changes. This process should and will always keep us in a position to max profit and prevent

problems from within the marketing mix.


Anticipated Response from Competitors

We at Under Armour have thought of responses that we might receive from our

competitors. We understand that companies such as Burton, Oakley, DC, SPY, and GoPro

produces similar products to the ones we are going to be coming out with. What makes

Snowstorm unique is that we take similar products and combine them into one company. Some

of these companies have different target markets and we are trying to take everyone and bring

them together with Under Armour Snowstorm. Our biggest threat will probably be Oakley, since

they just came out with a similar type of goggle technology. What is going to separate us from

them is that in our goggles, we are implementing a new camera similar to the GoPro, which will

help us, stand out from the rest of the competition.


Survey

Please Circle One

1. In the winter season, do you go skiing or snowboarding?

Yes No

2. Do you think it is a good idea for Under Armour to start making winter sports gear?

Yes No

3. If they did, would you be interested in buying it?

Yes No

4. Do you think Under Armour can compete with the other brands that sell winter sports

gear?

Yes No

5. Would you say that Under Armour: Snowstorm has a good chance to thrive in its field

of sales?

Yes No


22

35

32 31 31

18 5 8 9 9 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Ques6on 1 Ques6on 2 Ques6on 3 Ques6on 4 Ques6on 5

Survery Results Yes No


3

3 This graphic was obtained from SnowSports Industries America


4



5


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