Kevin Plank Confident Dedication To Digital Fitness Community Gives Under Armour Leg Up

Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank "is confident data collection" gives his company an advantage in the robust athletic market, but he "knows data alone won't be enough to defeat the competition," according to a Q&A with Peter Verry of FOOTWEAR NEWS. Plank: "The most important asset anyone has is health, but why is it that we know the least about it? ... We run through life and expect to remain healthy, but things happen and the ability for us to use predictive analytics and data can help us. Over 2 billion workouts and over 389 million runs were logged into our database last year." Plank added, "Our consumer wants us to have more information about them, and we need to give them something back. ... We're positioned to be a brand unlike anything that's been defined. When our industry talks about innovation, it's a joke, it's laughable." Plank said UA's international growth is "critical." Plank: "It's been a long slog for us; we're on year 10 in Europe, and it took us that long to get to profitability. Latin America is very important to us; Central America and Brazil are very important. Japan has always been the stalwart of our leading markets internationally, but China is fast on the way to becoming larger than Japan and be our largest market outside the U.S." Plank said in 10 years from now UA will "be the best player in" the digital health and fitness community. Plank: "We'll be the best player in sports footwear. Competition in our space (is) beatable, (and) I think innovation has not been at the cornerstone of sports. We're going to push the envelope -- and by us pushing so hard, it'll make our competitors better, too, so I'm not predicting anyone's going away" (FOOTWEARNEWS.com, 5/4).

WHAT THE COOL KIDS ARE WEARING: UA VP/Omnichannel Digital Sid Jatia said that there "has been a 'changing of the guard'" in the U.S. market. Jatia: "The younger generation is super enthusiastic about the brand. You go into schools and everyone is wearing us so that gives us a lot of confidence about the future. Nobody wants to wear Nike anymore because it isn't cool." Jatia also "claims big-name athletes no longer want to be associated with Nike or Adidas and prefer to align with sports brands that stand purely for performance." While devices offer an opportunity to engage with consumers, Jatia said that they "can also be profit drivers, although he admits the margin for consumer electronics is less than for apparel or shoes." Jatia: "It's all about scale. If we sell enough hardware, we can make up the margin." Jatia "believes tying the two businesses together through connected shirts and shoes are the future of sports brands." Jatia said the U.K. is a "work in progress." But he said that "rather than just recycle" its U.S. strategy, UA will "adopt a localised approach." Jatia also is "not concerned about a resurgence from Adidas" (MARKETINGWEEK.com, 5/4).