In the case study article, what market segments were identified and what segmentation strategies were implemented?

The case study article identifies multiple market trends throughout. As stated initially in the case study, the first and most prominent market segment that Under Armour attempted to target was the athletic male’s market segment, specifically athletic menswear. Under Armour began their segmentation strategy revolving around traditionally masculine, younger athletic males. This was an initial success and allowed Under Armour to establish itself as a reputable brand for athletic wear. One could argue that this can be essentially important to establishing brand recognition early. If a brand is able to make themselves prominent and trusted within one market segment, its reasonable to believe that this success could be transferrable to other market segments as well, as brand recognition may not be limited to particular target market segments. (Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publishing, 2016)

After Under Armour established themselves as a reputable brand within the market segment of athletic men’s-wear, they developed expansion strategies in order to target new market segments and increase the overall scope of their operations and revenue. The additional market segments found in the case study included the strategy to expand to women’s athletic wear and increasing their target digital/social media strategies through consumer behavior analysis. This was implemented via the “I Will What I Want” campaign which targeted a specific female psychographic persona. A marketing persona that includes independent, strong-willed, and Type-A/achievement driven women for their new target market. The success of this strategy was enormous, and now Under Armour is a leading brand in this newer market segment, allowing themselves to have established brand recognition for both men and women’s athletic wear. (Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publishing, 2016)

The third market segment we can identify by analyzing this case study would be the global market, which is a very broad market segmentation but is still distinct from the domestic market in the United States for many reasons. Under Armour decided to begin assessing different global market segmentation, and by properly employing qualitative analysis of these segments achieved successful global expansion. The strategies for achieving global expansion included collection/analysis of behavioral, geographical, demographical and psychographic information. When marketers assess markets via segmentation and though proper qualitative analysis, they ensure the success of their marketing strategies. The results of Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” and global expansion strategies are supportive evidence of this claim. (Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publishing, 2016)

What do you believe are four to five key points to remember when implementing segmentation strategies?

• Understand your Target Market through extensive qualitative research.
• Meticulously craft a marketing persona that will ensure success of a segmented marketing strategy.
• Inundate this marketing persona/target market with a value proposition. “I Will What I Want” is a great example of this, and how it represents what the Under Amour Brand offers. Flexible, comfortable, and non-restrictive athleticwear is the value being conveyed through this message to a marketing persona that would greatly value these features, advantages and benefits of the product.
• Construct, maintain and utilize multiple marketing channels to reach consumers. As evidenced by the case study, Under Armour extensively managed their digital and social media campaigns to reach specific consumers.
• Consistently and adapt through analytical assessment. Under Armour did a fantastic job at identifying the opportunity for a new target market multiple times by adapting, measuring and analyzing potential outcomes.
• Appeal to customers emotions. The “I Will What I Want” marketing campaign appealed to the desire for independence and freedom that is sought by the target consumer persona. By appealing to this emotional desire, the brand is more likely to establish itself as coveted by consumers.

(Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publising, 2016)

Identify a new market segment that you have noticed recently (during your own shopping experience online, in a commercial ad, or in a secondary resource such as a magazine) that you believe would be a great market to explore. How might you create a segmentation strategy to reach this new market segment?

The contemporary world of business is dynamic, and presents an entirely new set of demands from consumers. One of the most glaringly prominent of these new sets of consumers demands, is the rising desire for products/services which are presented with a climate conscious brand recognition and mindfulness. Therefore, it could be reasonably argued that a new target market for Under Armour to focus on would be the eco-friendly consumer. This would require the development of an entirely new target market persona which would focus on these eco-friendly attributes. By expanding their business into eco-friendly/sustainable athleticwear, Under Armour can act as a spearhead for this newly development, centrally important market trend. (Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publishing, 2016) (Johns et al, 2023) (Shevlin, 2021)

Under Armour could continue to adapt some of its already established marketing strategies in order to reach this new consumer segment. The strategy would begin with thorough eco-friendly product development. Consumers are becoming much more likely to research a firm, and ensure for themselves that the firm in question is actually abiding by the claims they make. This can be referred to as a company “Greenwashing” their product, which in short implies that they are presenting themselves as an eco-friendly/sustainable firm, but are not following through with this presentation operationally. (Hayes, 2024) After ensuring that the product development is operationally sound and aligned with the brand’s goals, Under Armour would continue to apply the same strategies that have ensured success in the past. This would include digital media and social media campaigns directed at the newly developed eco-friendly target persona. This could be complimented with a digital analytics monitoring campaign, which would assess key consumer metrics and ensure an ROI on the marketing campaign itself. (Babin, 2021) (Darden Business Publishing, 2016) (Johns et al, 2023) (Shevlin, 2021)

references:

Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. (2021). CB (9th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9798214339405

Darden Business Publishing. (2016). Under Armour’s Willful Digital Moves. Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved from https://services.hbsp.harvard.edu/lti/links/content-launch

Hayes, A. (2024, June 30). What is greenwashing? how it works, examples, and Statistics. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/greenwashing.asp

Johns , L., Morrison, H., Davis-Peccoud, J., & Carbinato, D. (2023, June 5). How brands can sell to environmentally conscious nonconsumers. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-brands-can-sell-to-environmentally-conscious-nonconsumers#:~:text=Conscious%20consumers%3A%20These%20consumers%20are,24%25%20of%20the%20U.S.%20consumers.

Shevlin, R. (2021, September 2). The rise of climate-conscious consumers: The Climate Change Opportunity in banking. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/09/01/the-rise-of-climate-conscious-consumers-the-climate-change-opportunity-in-banking/