p12-13 Under Armour FEB:SGBGolf_NEW_template 26/02/2009 12:04 Page 13
SGB Sports
– but mainly, we just shoes being sold in running speciality shops, and we haven't
look at what we're had a base layer/running line in market as long as
doing, and try to get we've had the other pieces of our business.
that right first and These customers may be slower
foremost. The actions to uptake, be a bit more
we're going to bring to cautious, but we tell a great
our products and the story, and we want to 'grow
things we are going to the pie', appeal to a
do with our retailers, different, new consumer, and
and with our sports hopefully that footballer
marketing assets, are all about coming into the running specialist
helping us grow. We tend not to focus will see Under Armour and say "I'll try
on what our rivals are up to. We're not going to out-spend Nike, these, I know this brand".
that's clear; we're not going to get into an editorial argument with any of
our competitors and start comparing technologies; we have a great belief in SGB: Tell us about the shoes, then…
ourselves, which makes us so different and relatively humble in the business BT: The shoes have many noteworthy things about them; all the fabrics in
as well. the shoes are Under Armour fabrics, so they're good, technical wicking
materials. Perhaps the biggest story in the footwear is the Cartilage, which is
SGB: You're coming from a broader user base in apparel and launching into our version of shock absorption and cushioning. It comes in varying
a narrower user base with running shoes – why? thicknesses depending on the model of shoe. For lighter runners, it's
BT: When you talk about Under Armour running, we're approaching the thinner, for heavier it's thicker; It's like the Cartilage in the knee in that it
category a different way to those that are in the category now are and have helps the moving parts interact well with each other, helps provide stability,
approached it. One of the nice things about the brand is that we have not security, motion control…
really been pigeon-holed into a particular sport. People don't see us as a If you look into the shoe under the tongue, there's what's called a foot
rugby, football, cricket or even as an American brand; they see us as a sleeve. It's designed to hug the runner's foot and eliminate the slipping and
sports performance brand. That has its advantages, as we discovered when sliding you might get within the shoe. It helps keep the foot snug and in
we decided how we were going to approach running. There's the very place. If you have a very high arch or high foot, this might be a little
technical runner, the kind of runner that might finish a marathon in 2:15, uncomfortable initially, but most users who tried it in our wear testing, liked
then there's the approach we took, which goes back to our tag line of it. It's not taking the place of the laces, it's keeping the foot more snug in
'athletes run'. If you a rugby player, you run to train; a cricketer, a the footbed.
footballer, a basketball player, a casual weekend athlete, a boxer… they all We have two 'silos': stability and neutral. The two stability shoes are the
run to train. Illusion and Revenant, and the difference between the two is that the
We would love to have Revenant has that bit more cushioning. On the neutral side there's
the business of the Apparation and Spectre, which again have differing cushioning, which both
die-hard 6-0-70 have a very symmetrical last for that straight stride. The Spectre is our
mile a lightest weight shoe, up to the Revenant which would be for the heavier
runner. Spectre will retail for £70, Illusion is £75, Apparition is £80 and
Revenant is £85.
We also have women's versions for these too, and the shoes are
identical except for the colourways.
SGB: What stores do you want to reach, and how
will you reach them? Who do you want to sell
your shoes?
BT: Extremely tight distribution, which is our
choice. We're going to work with partners who
have been successful in selling running footwear, but
also who believe and can tell the Under Armour story. We
have good brand awareness in the sports world, but in a new
week runner, but our core athlete comes arena we need people who will invest time and expertise and believe
from a much broader spectrum. The platform in the brand so they can sell it effectively.
we're building from and the shoes – and apparel – we've produced is really
focussed on being part of that everyday sportsman's mix of training gear. www.underarmour.com
We're taking a very unique approach from the perspective. We're not
trying to go head-to-head with Saucony, Mizuno, Asics – though we feel
our footwear stands up as equal to or better than that product – but we're
trying to appeal to runners for who running is a part of their life, but it is not
their whole life.
SGB: But you're asking a retailer to take out Nike, Mizuno, New Balance,
Saucony – and put Under Armour in there. How are you going to win that
battle?
BT: In a lot of cases, in our distribution, we haven't had the time in market
in this area that we've had in sporting goods distribution. We see these
FEBRUARY 2009 SGB SPORTS 13
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