Good evening, folks! It’s time for your weekly KYW thread. This week, we’re putting a bit of a spotlight on Under Armour.
On Monday, I wrote about the ill-timing of their 600 layoffs. But that’s just one piece of a larger picture for this company that has had so many ups and downs in 2020. From news about the S.E.C. probe to the UCLA and Cal deals to re-upping Steph Curry, there’s just so much going on here.
What do you think about the company’s current place? Are they on a good path? If not, what do you think they’re doing wrong and how do you fix it?
At my pretty suburban high school, the opinion on Under Armor as compared to bigger brands such as Nike, NB, and Adidas is that it's the brand no one wants to wear, but everyone has to wear at one point, which I think is reflective of them was a company, especially among younger buyers. They haven't really made themselves out to be an appealing brand to younger consumers who care more about looking dope rather than costs, which has lead slightly to their decline. However, none of that seems to be more important than the fact that they've been forced to cut off some workers. I don't particularly see a way to justify this considering the pandemic and everything, but then what happened to UCLA, it wasn't the move whatsoever. But Re-upping Steph? under normal circumstances, I guess it would seem like an intelligent move, but I can't seem to rectify that in concerns to the cost-cutting around the company. I don't think they're on the right path at all, but as George Day said, they aren't cool! no one's hitting up their friends and saying, "Yo, u get the new Under Armor Drop?" Until they can get a respectable amount of people invested enough to start saying that, they ain't gon be respected for a while.
I don't even think they know about their state of their company to be honest. They just seem to lurch from one questionable decision to another. Part of their issue in my view sales wise is that....they just don't make anything I want to wear, they're not a desirable brand. To fix that you have to shift their main focus away from the performance oriented stuff they make right now, to something...cooler. The question is, what is that? New Balance are obviously big right now and they're making lots of cool new shoes and clothing and leaning into their history as well. I just don't know where you get that inspiration from with UA.
I spent 3+ years working at UA recently. Lots of the decisions that get confused reactions from the outside got the same inside. Huge shifts in the business would come with little warning to the people most affected, or they'd be rumored and leaked and whispered about for months before being announced after the moment had passed.
There are so many talented people who work at UA (and countless more who *worked* there), but the company just can't seem to figure out how to use them. It was frustrating to be a part of and remains really frustrating to watch.
I think the timing is hella off honestly. Wit everything that’s goin on in the world and the state of UA, I don’t think the time was right. I respect Curry for gettin the bag but it’s just off to me.
It's just been years of schizophrenia. They started as a high-performance brand, spent some time investing in the outdoors hunting/fishing category, were late to the athleisure trend, signed deals like with Steph and UCLA/Cal but haven't truly invested in the culture of either sport, and now they're back to focusing on high-performance. They've obviously got a lot of problems, but it has to start with just deciding what they want to be and executing on that.
I think the biggest issue for UA is they got tooo far out of their lane. Their name is Under Armor which (at least for me) makes you think of performance gear. Like my man Omar Little would say, "You come for the king you best not miss". Maybe you're capping your self by sort of sticking to that...but I think it could keep you from over extending yourself. I think they should dial it back, lean into the partnership with The Rock and focus on making performance enhancing gear again: compression shorts, tights, long sleeves to keep you warm/cool...etc. Everyone is a fitness model on IG these days so go after that demo. Maybe then start to slowly work other aspects back into the fold. I dont honest know the last UA item I bought but I can promise you it was absolutely something I picked up to wear to the gym or while playing sports for a reasonable price. Not every brand needs to be an international fashion icon like Nike & Adidas....and def doesn't happen in short order.
UA was great when they first started in the apparel game but the more they branched out from there the worse everything got. Now everything feels cheap. Not sure where they go from here but it probably takes a huge haircut and agreed on a reset on everything.
I think they are dying in a way we havent seen before because i cant remember a shoe company fighting a school about taking their apparel deal. As a umd grad, ua and kevin plank have been propped up as a success story so its still astonishing theyve fallen this far. They should start over but right now they gotta do same damage control and clean everything up and start again in summer 2021. By then, the tertiary onlookers will have forgotten about this mess and gravitate to it and their core will still be there. Hope they work it out but i dont see it. At least puma had soccer to prop them up for some years and new balance dc md and va to keep them going cause its looking ugly for ua.
At my pretty suburban high school, the opinion on Under Armor as compared to bigger brands such as Nike, NB, and Adidas is that it's the brand no one wants to wear, but everyone has to wear at one point, which I think is reflective of them was a company, especially among younger buyers. They haven't really made themselves out to be an appealing brand to younger consumers who care more about looking dope rather than costs, which has lead slightly to their decline. However, none of that seems to be more important than the fact that they've been forced to cut off some workers. I don't particularly see a way to justify this considering the pandemic and everything, but then what happened to UCLA, it wasn't the move whatsoever. But Re-upping Steph? under normal circumstances, I guess it would seem like an intelligent move, but I can't seem to rectify that in concerns to the cost-cutting around the company. I don't think they're on the right path at all, but as George Day said, they aren't cool! no one's hitting up their friends and saying, "Yo, u get the new Under Armor Drop?" Until they can get a respectable amount of people invested enough to start saying that, they ain't gon be respected for a while.
Just like the LA Clippers. :)
I don't even think they know about their state of their company to be honest. They just seem to lurch from one questionable decision to another. Part of their issue in my view sales wise is that....they just don't make anything I want to wear, they're not a desirable brand. To fix that you have to shift their main focus away from the performance oriented stuff they make right now, to something...cooler. The question is, what is that? New Balance are obviously big right now and they're making lots of cool new shoes and clothing and leaning into their history as well. I just don't know where you get that inspiration from with UA.
I spent 3+ years working at UA recently. Lots of the decisions that get confused reactions from the outside got the same inside. Huge shifts in the business would come with little warning to the people most affected, or they'd be rumored and leaked and whispered about for months before being announced after the moment had passed.
There are so many talented people who work at UA (and countless more who *worked* there), but the company just can't seem to figure out how to use them. It was frustrating to be a part of and remains really frustrating to watch.
I think the timing is hella off honestly. Wit everything that’s goin on in the world and the state of UA, I don’t think the time was right. I respect Curry for gettin the bag but it’s just off to me.
It's just been years of schizophrenia. They started as a high-performance brand, spent some time investing in the outdoors hunting/fishing category, were late to the athleisure trend, signed deals like with Steph and UCLA/Cal but haven't truly invested in the culture of either sport, and now they're back to focusing on high-performance. They've obviously got a lot of problems, but it has to start with just deciding what they want to be and executing on that.
I think the biggest issue for UA is they got tooo far out of their lane. Their name is Under Armor which (at least for me) makes you think of performance gear. Like my man Omar Little would say, "You come for the king you best not miss". Maybe you're capping your self by sort of sticking to that...but I think it could keep you from over extending yourself. I think they should dial it back, lean into the partnership with The Rock and focus on making performance enhancing gear again: compression shorts, tights, long sleeves to keep you warm/cool...etc. Everyone is a fitness model on IG these days so go after that demo. Maybe then start to slowly work other aspects back into the fold. I dont honest know the last UA item I bought but I can promise you it was absolutely something I picked up to wear to the gym or while playing sports for a reasonable price. Not every brand needs to be an international fashion icon like Nike & Adidas....and def doesn't happen in short order.
UA was great when they first started in the apparel game but the more they branched out from there the worse everything got. Now everything feels cheap. Not sure where they go from here but it probably takes a huge haircut and agreed on a reset on everything.
I think they are dying in a way we havent seen before because i cant remember a shoe company fighting a school about taking their apparel deal. As a umd grad, ua and kevin plank have been propped up as a success story so its still astonishing theyve fallen this far. They should start over but right now they gotta do same damage control and clean everything up and start again in summer 2021. By then, the tertiary onlookers will have forgotten about this mess and gravitate to it and their core will still be there. Hope they work it out but i dont see it. At least puma had soccer to prop them up for some years and new balance dc md and va to keep them going cause its looking ugly for ua.