Brand Development For Under Armour 6m2t30

Assessment Item Student Name Course

Campus Lecturer

Table of contents

1

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 4

2

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5

3

Assumptions ........................................................................................................................ 5

4

Positioning Strategy............................................................................................................. 6 4.1

Target Market ............................................................................................................... 6

Geographic ......................................................................................................................... 6 Demographic ...................................................................................................................... 7 Psychographic .................................................................................................................... 7 Behavioural ........................................................................................................................ 7

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6

4.2

Competitor Analysis ..................................................................................................... 8

4.3

POPs and PODs .......................................................................................................... 10

Building Brand Equity ....................................................................................................... 12 5.1

Brand Awareness ........................................................................................................ 12

5.2

Selection and justification of brand elements ............................................................. 13

5.3

Brand Image................................................................................................................ 15

5.4

Brand Associations ..................................................................................................... 16

Communication Strategy ................................................................................................... 17 6.1

Message and Creative Strategy ................................................................................... 18

6.2

Media Mix .................................................................................................................. 19

7

Measuring Brand Equity .................................................................................................... 20

8

Assumptions and Recommendations ................................................................................. 22

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9

Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 23

10 References ......................................................................................................................... 24 11 Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 27

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1

Executive Summary

Under Armour Inc is a leading international sports brand with a mission “To Make All Athletes Better Through ion, Design And The Relentless Pursuit Of Innovation” (Under Armour, n.d.). This brand plan proposes a brand extension in the form of a category extension into the smart biometric clothing category. The unique feature of this brand is the integration of wearable electronic LED displays into the product. This new technology will afford the brand extension a unique competitive advantage, highlighting a key POD. The focus on innovation creates a clear synergy with the parent brand. This brand plan fully details the proposed strategy for the new brand extension, including brand positioning, outlining how to build brand equity and detailing a communications strategy for the brand. Furthermore this report highlights several key recommendations drawn from the analysis in this report. Failure to implement this plan could result in a lost opportunity to be a market leader in this category, potentially damaging the parent brand’s image through a perceived failure in not fulfilling its mission, “To Make All Athletes Better Through ion, Design And The Relentless Pursuit Of Innovation” (Under Armour, n.d.).

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2

Introduction

Under Armour Inc. (hereby referred to as UA) is a corporate brand containing several brands within its brand hierarchy (appendix 1). This brand plan has been developed to propose a brand extension, in a new product category, known as a category extension. This extension is a move into the biometric, smart clothing category, with the distinct difference of incorporating wearable LED displays (Jeffrey, 2015). The proposed brand extension is to be called Under Armour SmartGear (hereby referred to as UASG). The plan will focus on a single geographic location, North America, where UA currently generates 94.1% of total revenues (MarketLine, 2014). This extension represents a growth strategy, developing new products into existing markets, According to Ansoff, a product development strategy (Keller, 2013).

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Assumptions

The author when developing this plan has relied on the following assumptions: •

That no new competitors will enter the market in the next twelve months.

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That the USA’s economy will remain stable for the next twelve months.

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That the marketing budget for launching the new brand extension is unlimited.

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That there are no new technological developments in biometric clothing in the next twelve months.

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That consumers presently have an awareness of, and favourable associations about the parent brand.

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The organisation will conduct market research of the proposed target market prior to executing the brand plan to obtain a quantitative baseline measure of brand equity and awareness from which to gauge the success of the proposed elements of this plan.

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Positioning Strategy

Brand positioning creates a distinct and valued place in the consumers mind by deg the company’s offer and image. Good positioning clarifies what a brand is about, highlighting the reasons a consumer should purchase the product (Keller, 2013). Positioning involves the identification of the target market using market segmentation. Optimal competitive brand positioning requires defining the competitive frame of reference and selecting and establishing points of parity and points of difference (Keller, 2013).

4.1

Target Market

The marketing process begins with the identification of the target audience with unfulfilled needs, these form the focus of the organisation’s advertising and promotional efforts (Belch & Belch, 2015). Market segmentation is the process of dividing a larger market into groups that have common needs and will respond similarly to market action (Hanson, Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2014). Segmentation produces results that indicate desirable marketing action (Johnson, 1971). Bases for this segmentation include geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural (Solomon et al., 2013).

Geographic Geographic segmentation focuses on the region to be targeted (Beanne & Ennis, 1987). This brand plan will focus on a single geographic territory, North America. This is the country of origin of the parent brand and UA currently generates 94.1% of total revenues from this region (MarketLine, 2014).

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Demographic Markets can be divided using demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income, or ethnicity (Solomon et al., 2013). Several demographics will be targeted by UASG: •

Males and females aged 16-50 year old

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In a mid to high income bracket

Psychographic Psychographic data refers to shared activities, life-style, interests or opinions (Beane & Ennis, 1987). In this campaign we plan to target: •

People who have a fit and active lifestyle.

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Athletes, sportspeople and sports enthusiasts who participate in a wide range of sports.

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Athletes, sports people and sports enthusiasts who want to develop and improve themselves in their training.

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Athletes, sportspeople and sports enthusiasts who want to reduce risk or injury in their training.

Behavioural Segmentation based on behaviour examines loyalty, status, purchase occasion and benefits sought from the purchase (Beane & Ennis, 1987). The following behavioural characteristics will be targeted: •

People who like the status associated with buying the latest technical gadgets

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People who are driven to and like the status associated with performing well and achieving the best possible results

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People who are worried about enduring injury during training

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•

4.2

Loyal customers

Competitor Analysis

In order to arrive at the optimal competitive brand positioning, it is important to define the competitive frame of reference. Identification of category hip is essential in order to link the brand to its product category. USAG aims to compete in the smart, biometric clothing category. This competitive environment is one of monopolistic competition. This market structure is characterised by many sellers competing for buyers in a certain market, each company offering a slightly different product (Solomon et al., 2013).

To be successful in a competitive market, it is essential for marketers to have a clear understanding of their competition (Solomon et al., 2013). There are several primary competitors currently offering smart clothing (see table 1). However this category is in its infancy, due to the recent development of the technology. Consequently the current product offering is quite limited, and the majority of existing competitors only service the male demographic. Additionally none of the competitors offer a wearable LED electronic display, which is a key feature of the UASG products. These factors could afford UASG a unique competitive advantage.

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Table 1: Primary competitors

Bergen and Peteraf (2002) highlight the importance of focusing not only on the product market, but also scanning the environment for indirect or potential competitors. A wearable electronic device, such as a watch or bracelet, can fulfil some of the benefits offered by smart clothing. These secondary competitors are highlighted in table 2. It will be essential to communicate the additional benefits received from UASG’s smart clothing. This situation should be continuously monitored for further technological developments.

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Table 2: Secondary competitors

4.3

POPs and PODs

Points of parity associations (POPs) are associations that are not unique to the brand but are shared with other brands (Keller, 2013). Certain POPs must be met in order for consumers to perceive your brand as a competitor in the chosen frame of reference. Furthermore it is especially important not to shortchange POPs when extending a brand in order to create links to product category (Keller, Sternthal & Tybout, 2002). POPs are outlined in table 3.

Table 3: POPs

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Points of difference associations (POD’s) on the other hand are positive attributes or benefits that consumers associate with, and are seen as unique to that brand (Keller, 2013). Keller, Sternthal and Tybout (2002) outline that these strong, unique and favourable associations distinguish a brand from others in the same frame of reference and as such are therefore fundamental to successful brand positioning. UASG’s intended PODs are outlined in table 4.

Table 4: PODs

The positioning strategy for UASG will focus on the consumer. This approach links the product with the benefits the consumer will derive from its use and through creating a favorable brand image (Belch & Belch, 2015). The positioning will remain in line with UG’s mission statement, “To Make All Athletes Better Through ion, Design And The Relentless Pursuit Of Innovation” (Under Armour, n.d.). Several positioning strategies will therefore be employed in order to target the identified market segments, link to product category through showcasing POPs as well as highlighting the brands POD’s;

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5

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Positioning by product attributes or benefits

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Positioning by use or application

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Positioning by product

Building Brand Equity

Customer based brand equity (CBBE) is an approach to brand equity from the consumers perspective. CBBE occurs when the consumer has strong, favourable and unique brand associations in memory, as well as a high level of familiarity and awareness of the brand. The CBBE perspective acknowledges that brand knowledge is the key to creating brand equity (Keller, 2013). Brand knowledge consists of two main elements; brand awareness and brand image. These two elements are the sources of brand equity (Keller, 2013). These elements are analysed below UASG.

5.1

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is the consumer’s ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the products category (Keller, 2013). The associative memory model explains this ability (Pitta & Katsanis, 1995). Aaker (1992) argues that brand awareness contributes to brand equity by providing an anchor to which other associations can be attached, creating familiarity and providing a signal of substance and commitment. Additionally brand awareness has been shown to positively effect brand loyalty, an essential element in building brand equity (Aaker, 1992).

Brand awareness is established by exposing consumers to brand elements. These brand elements all help to aid recall (Keller, 2013). The greater number of elements reinforced, the

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better. Repetition increases the brand’s ability to be recognisable (Keller, 2013). This plan proposes a wide-ranging approach to build brand awareness. The brand’s positioning should be consistently reinforced, providing positive linkages to product category. Brand awareness will be built through the selection and use of brand elements, these elements are outlined in section 5.2.

Brand awareness will also be created through extensive advertising. Each of the ments should reaffirm the positioning and slogan, featuring the brand name and logo (Keller, 1989) see appendix 2. The new brand will have a URL within the existing parent brand website and a social media presence with links to the parent brand’s social media s. Keller (2013) highlights the importance of brand recognition at point of purchase, therefore it is recommended that UASG aid this with the use of unique and branded POS fixtures at selling locations. Furthermore social media buzz will be created by leveraging secondary associations from the parent brand, including the use of celebrity athlete endorsers currently under contract with the parent company.

5.2

Selection and justification of brand elements

Brand elements are trademarkable devices that identify and differentiate the brand. Brand elements should be memorable, meaningful, likeable, transferrable, adaptable and protectable (Keller, 2013). Brand extensions retain one or more elements from an existing brand (Keller, 2013). This plan proposes the following brand elements:

Brand name To improve brand awareness brand names should be simple, easy to pronounce or spell, familiar and capture key associations (Keller, 2013). “Under Armour SmartGear” is a unique

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brand name, which follows these guidelines while leveraging the parent brand and reflecting category hip.

Logo The UASG logo will incorporate the parent brand’s existing logo, this will leverage the existing brand equity of the parent brand. Additionally it will incorporate the new brand name in the distinctive font used across the family of brands, this will make the logo appear more familiar (see appendix 3).

URL UASG will have a dedicated URL within the parent brand’s website, the URL is www.underarmour.com/smartgear

Slogan The slogan “Don’t participate, COMPETE” will be used for the UASG. Slogans help to build brand awareness by reinforcing brand positioning (Keller, 2013). This slogan highlights the usage benefits, appealing to the target market behavioral segmentation. It’s tough, competitive style remains consistent with the brand personality of the parent brand. Reece, Van Den Bergh and Li (1994) outline that an effective slogan summarises the brand message and provides continuity across marketing campaigns. Its use is a key factor in establishing and maintaining a strong brand identity.

Product labelling A unique labeling program will be used across the UASG range. The labeling will include the brand name /logo. To convey the technical nature of the product labels will feature key

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elements in holographic material (see appendix 4). The labeling will also include technical information about the product, its benefits and information on its use, again reinforcing links to product category and highlighting PODs.

Logo branding on products Each of the products in the range will feature high density, reflective printing of the logo in key prominent positions (see appendix 5). This will create brand awareness by generating repeated exposure of the brand elements when the wearer uses the product.

5.3

Brand Image

Brand image is the perceptions a consumer has about a brand based on the associations they hold in memory (Silverman, Sprott & Pascal, 1999). Creating a positive brand image requires marketing efforts that link strong, unique and favourable associations whether they be brand attributes or benefits (Keller, 2013). UASG’s positioning identifies the benefits that the consumer could expect to receive from using the product, highlighting the brands PODs. The brand positioning should be ed in all marketing activities, as brand image is strengthened by repeated exposure (Keller, 2013). By consistently exposing brand elements and positioning over time, UASG will strengthen its brand image.

In line with the strategy of positioning UASG as a market leader, UASG will employ a pricing strategy. A higher price creates perceptions of higher quality (Belch & Belch, 2015). Furthermore the brand will be distributed through existing channels with unique POS displays.

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5.4

Brand Associations

Brand associations can be classified into two categories; attributes and benefits (Keller, 2013). Attributes relate to product performance and are connected to the products physical characteristics, while benefits highlight the want satisfaction the product features provide (Pitta & Katsanis, 1995).

Core brand associations are abstract associations that characterise the most important aspects of a brand. They serve as the basis for brand positioning (Keller, 2013). The core brand associations for UASG are shown in table 5.

Table 5: Core brand associations

Secondary brand associations are connections between the brand and another entity. The leveraging process works when there is awareness and knowledge of the entity, if this knowledge is meaningful and relevant for the brand, then associations, feelings and judgments about the entity may transfer to the brand (Keller, 2013). Leveraging these associations the brand can increase its brand equity. By creating a brand extension that combines the family brand name along with a new name, the brand is able to leverage the brand equity from the parent brand (Pitta & Katsanis, 1995). Other secondary associations

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recommended in this plan are celebrity endorsement using elite athletes currently used by UA and the sponsorship of elite sporting events.

Brand mantra The brand mantra is a phrase that captures the essence of the brand. Brand mantra includes three distinctive elements; the emotional modifier, the descriptive modifier and the brand function (Keller, 2013). We can define UASG’s brand mantra as: Competitive Technical Athletic Performance (see table 6).

Table 6: Brand mantra

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Communication Strategy

Strategies focus on the company’s future direction and achieving the long-term objectives of the organisation (Holm, 2006). Communication strategies outline the necessary action required to achieve the organisations communication objectives (Kelley, Sheehan & Jugenheimer, 2015). The aim of UASG’s communication strategy is to increase brand awareness by establishing category hip, linking to product category and highlighting the organisations PODs.

The basic communication process model has several elements that must be considered in the communication process; source, encoding, channel, message, decoding and receiver (Belch & Belch, 2015). These elements are considered below.

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6.1

Message and Creative Strategy

The source is the entity responsible for communicating the marketing message (Belch & Belch, 2015). UASG will use an indirect source in the form of an elite athlete. Consumers are more likely to be influenced by a persuasive message delivered by an attractive, likeable source. Yilmaz, Telci, Bodur and Iscioglu (2011) state that a likable source creates positive feelings towards the brand, which in turn creates favourable associations.

As part of the creative strategy the major selling idea for the campaign must be developed (Belch & Belch, 2015). UASG will use the slogan “SmartGear. Don’t participate, COMPETE”. The use of self-reference in a slogan leads to increased recall of the slogan, product or brand (Reece, Van Den Bergh & Li, 1994). This will be reinforced in all elements of the communication message.

Execution The message uses a combination of demonstration and imagery. Demonstration advertising can be an effective method to convince consumers of its product’s utility and the benefits of owning the brand (Belch & Belch, 2015). Imagery execution will be employed based on usage imagery, showing how the product performs in use, and imagery, showing the type of person that uses the brand. The message will be a visual, one-sided message highlighting the benefits of the UASG products. UASG holds a unique competitive advantage of being the only brand in its category to offer wearable LED display technology. This is a key POD and will be highlighted in all communication material.

Appeals

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Advertising appeals are used to capture the attention of consumers and to influence them towards the product (Belch & Belch, 2015). This message will use emotional appeals, which seek to make the consumer feel good about the product by creating a likable brand image, relying on feelings for effectiveness (Albers-Miller & Staford, 1999). The proposed message appeals to the consumer’s self-esteem and status. Albers-Miller and Staford (1999) outline an emotional response results in more positive reactions and subsequently a higher level of recall.

6.2

Media Mix

In order to achieve the communication objectives, a wide variety of media will be utilised with the aim of full market coverage. Marketers can increase the likelihood of achieving objectives by combining media to increase coverage (Belch & Belch, 2015). The specifics of the media to be utilised are outlined in table 7.

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Table 7: Media mix

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Measuring Brand Equity

It is important to continuously measure and track brand equity in order to monitor the outcomes of marketing activities on the consumer mindset (Keller, 2013). In order to effectively capture the customer mindset, both qualitative and quantitative techniques should be assessed.

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Qualitative Qualitative research techniques identify possible brand associations and techniques. Free association is a powerful way to identify brand associations that exist in consumer’s minds. Answers to questions such as “what do you like about the brand?” enable marketers to distinguish a range of possible associations. This also provides an indication of the strength, favorability and uniqueness of brand associations (Keller, 2013).

Projective techniques are diagnostic tools, which use ambiguous stimuli to uncover true feelings and opinions of consumers. These techniques are designed to break down barriers to communication, allowing insights into consumer mindset (Hussey & Duncombe, 1999).

Another technique to understand how consumers view brands and a method that is easy to conduct for market researchers without specialised training is Brand Concept Maps (BCM). BCM provides a map showing the network of salient brand associations that underlie consumer perceptions of the brand. Through this process valid depictions of consumer brand perceptions can be obtained (John, Loken, Kim & Monga, 2006).

Additionally brand personality and values can be measured using a method such as Aaker’s The Big Five. This method looks at five factors of brand personality; sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness (Aaker, 1997). This study outlined the importance of brand personality in increasing consumer preference, usage, increasing loyalty and evoking emotion.

Quantitative

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Brand awareness can be measured with the use of recognition tests. This requires consumers to identify any of the brand elements under a number of different circumstances (Keller, 2013). Another way to test brand awareness is through recall testing, where the consumer must retrieve the brand element from memory when given the related product cue. This technique can assess aided recall or unaided recall (Keller, 2013).

An important aspect contributing to brand equity is brand image. A technique for measuring imagery associations is by using beliefs. To gain specific insights, belief associations can be rated according to strength, favorability and uniqueness. Another option is the use of Multidimensional scaling or perceptual maps. These techniques convert consumer judgments or preference into perceptual space, however this process is more complicated (Keller, 2013).

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Assumptions and Recommendations

There are several assumptions and recommendations arising from this brand plan. These are listed below in order of priority:

1. According to the principle of synergy brand extensions should enhance the equity of the parent brand (Keller, 2013). It is essential to invest in heavily in R&D to ensure that the product performs as expected. If the product doesn’t fulfill expectations then not only will the new brand fail, but it will damage the parent brand and subsequently the brand family.

2. The implementation of brand tracking studies is recommended in order to collect information from consumers on a routine basis through quantitative measures of brand performance across several key dimensions (Keller, 2013). It is recommended that several tracking studies be implemented. Firstly, product brand tracking for the new brand UASG

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and its products. Secondly, corporate or family brand tracking for UA. This will ensure that marketing efforts are measured and adjustments to activities can be made accordingly.

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Conclusion

This brand plan has been proposed to create a brand extension for the existing UA brand into the smart clothing category. The plan outlines a positioning strategy based on target market segmentation, competitive analysis and through the identification of POPs and intended PODs. A CBBE approach has been taken to outline how to build brand equity for the brand extension, including the development of brand elements to build brand awareness and through the creation of strong, unique and favourable associations to build brand image. The author proposes a communication strategy aimed at targeting the identified market/s and linking the brand to product category. A comprehensive media mix is proposed and several recommendations are made based on the analysis undertaken in the brand plan.

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10 References Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of Brand Personality. Journal Of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347-356.

Albers-Miller, N. D. & Stafford, M. R. (1999). An international analysis of emotional and rational appeals in services vs goods advertising. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(1), 4257.

Beane, T. P. & Ennis, D. M. (1987). Market segmentation: A review. European Journal of Marketing, 12(5), 20-42.

Belch, G. E. & Belch, M. A. (2015). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing and communications perspective (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bergen, M. & Peteraf, M. A. (2002). Competitor identification and competitor analysis: A broad-based approach. Managerial and decision economics, 23(4-5), 157-169.

Hanson, D., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D. & Hoskisson, R. E. (2014). Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalisation (5th ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning.

Holm, O. (2006). Integrated marketing communications: From tactics to strategy. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 11(1), 23-33.

Hussey, M. & Duncombe, N. (1999). Projecting the right image: Using projective techniques to measure brand image. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 2(1), 22-30.

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Jeffrey, C. (2015). Researchers create soft, weaveable LED fibres for truly flexible wearable displays. Retrieved from http://www.gizmag.com/led-fiber-wearable-display-kaist/38890/

Johnson, R. M. (1971). Market segmentation: A strategic management tool. Journal of Market Research, 8(1), 13-18.

Keller, K. (1989). Red Bull: Building brand equity in non-traditional ways. Best practice cases in branding; lessons from the world’s strongest brands (3rd ed.). pp.73-99.

Keller, K. (2013). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity (4th ed.). Essex, England: Pearson.

Keller, K. L., Sternthal, B., & Tybout, A. (2002). Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand. Harvard Business Review, 80(9), 80-86.

Kelley, L., Sheehan, K. & Jugenheimer, D. W. (2015). Advertising Media Planning: A Brand Management Approach. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com

MarketLine. (2014). Company profile: Under Armour, Inc. SWOT analysis, 1-7.

Pitta, D. A. & Katsanis, L. P. (1995). Understanding brand equity for successful brand extension. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12(4), 51–64.

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Reece, B. B., Van Den Bergh, B. G. & Li, H. (1994). What makes a slogan memorable and who re it. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 16(2), 41-57.

John, D. R., Loken, B., Kim, K., & Monga, A. B. (2006). Brand Concept Maps: A Methodology for Identifying Brand Association Networks. Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR), 43(4), 549-563.

Silverman, S. N., Sprott, D. E. & Pascal, V. J. (1999). Relating consumer-based sources of brand equity to market outcomes. Advances in Consumer Research, 26, 352-358.

Solomon, M., Hughes, A., Chitty, B., Marshall, G. & Stuart, E. (2013). Marketing: Real people, real choices (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson.

Tractica. (0005, April). The Wearable Devices Market is Poised for Expansion into Smart Clothing and Body Sensors, According to Tractica. Business Wire (English).

Yilmaz, C., Telci, E. E., Bodur, M. & Iscioglu, T. E. (2011). Source characteristics and advertising effectiveness: The roles of message processing motivation and product category knowledge. International Journal of Advertising: The Review if Marketing Communications, 30, (5), 889-914.

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11 Appendices Appendix 1: Brand Hierarchy

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Appendix 2: Advertising example

Appendix 3: Proposed UASG logo

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Appendix 4: Labelling sample and holographic printing

Appendix 5: Product branding and print sample

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