Under Armour "will increase its ad budget by more than one-third" in '14, based on projections for sales to reach $2.91B this year, up 25% from $2.33B in '13, according to Natalie Zmuda of AD AGE. UA Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank told analysts he "expected to allocate 11% of revenues to marketing," or $330M. That is an $83.5M increase (34%) "over a year ago," and a $125M boost from '12. The company "handles some marketing in house, in addition to working with" agency Droga5. Plank: "You look at the largest sports-marketing assets out there in the world, it really doesn't put us out of the game for anything. We could theoretically go buy anything we wanted to, but we don't have all the money in the world, so we just have to be really thoughtful and we have to pick the right deals." Nike spent $2.7B globally "on advertising and promotions during its most recent fiscal year." Plank: "We want to remain opportunistic about staying close enough to the athlete and the consumer to find those Jordan Spieths out there, and as you know, they're incredibly rare. But I promise that's what we're trying to do is find athletes before they're really out in the open and the market really has a chance to understand what we're doing" (ADAGE.com, 4/24).
PIRATES' COVE: In Baltimore, Lorraine Mirabella noted UA will outfit the varsity athletic teams at Seton Hall Univ. starting in July, "continuing a string of deals this year with high-profile Division 1 schools." The company under a multiyear agreement "will design and supply footwear, apparel, uniforms and equipment for training and games to all 14 men's and women's teams" at SHU (Baltimore SUN, 4/26).
