Under Armour, Inc. (UA): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're trying to make sense of Under Armour, Inc. right now, and honestly, the numbers from fiscal 2025-a $5.2 billion revenue year, down 9%, resulting in a $201.3 million net loss-show a company in the middle of a major overhaul. But don't just look at the top line; the real story is the deliberate margin focus, evidenced by Q4 gross margin hitting 46.7% as they intentionally reduced discounting. This isn't chaos; it's a calculated strategic reset designed to re-establish brand relevance. To see exactly how they plan to convert this discipline into sustainable growth, we need to break down the current Product, Place, Promotion, and Price levers they are pulling defintely.

Under Armour, Inc. (UA) - Marketing Mix: Product

You're looking at the tangible offerings from Under Armour, Inc. as of late 2025, which is all about performance gear designed to equip the athlete. The core of the business remains firmly planted in high-performance athletic apparel and footwear, aiming to capture the athlete's entire gear needs, both in competition and recovery.

The product innovation centers heavily on proprietary cushioning and material science. While the prompt specifies HOVR and Flow footwear technologies, the company's stated strategy for late 2025 is to revolutionize products through redefined processes and transformative innovations steeped in performance and significantly improved design language to increase consumer consideration. For instance, the Fall 2025 lineup included high-stack road running models like the Infinite Mega at a $250 price point, featuring a 43mm heel stack and collaboration with Speedland, signaling a push into premium, high-tech running shoes. The overall product engine received initial focus from CEO Kevin Plank upon his return, aiming for a simplified, more deliberate presentation of fewer, high-quality products.

Apparel is segmented into established performance lines. The core offerings include the HeatGear line, designed for warm conditions, the ColdGear line for cold conditions, and the AllSeasonGear line for transitional weather. In the most recently reported full fiscal year 2025, the apparel category, which is the company's largest, generated revenues of $3.5 billion, reflecting a 9 percent year-over-year fall. However, specific lines like the HeatGear base layers continued to deliver, and the Unstoppable collection resonated with consumers.

There is a strategic push to grow the higher-margin footwear category, even as the segment faced headwinds in fiscal 2025. Footwear revenue for the full fiscal year 2025 was $1.2 billion, a 13 percent decline. The strategy involves driving a more premium representation of the brand in this category, evidenced by the introduction of higher-priced, technology-forward running shoes, which is critical for margin health. The company noted promising signs from the Curry Brand and the Velociti Elite models as positioning for future growth.

Under Armour, Inc. is also expanding into the broader 'Sportstyle' or athleisure segment to capture a wider market beyond just the field of play. The executive vision is to operate as a 'global Sports House - capable of equipping athletes head to toe on and off the field, pitch, or court.' This indicates a deliberate product strategy to ensure brand relevance across athletic performance and lifestyle wear.

Here are the key financial figures related to the product categories for the full Fiscal Year 2025 (ended March 31, 2025):

The focus on product quality and reduced discounting helped strengthen the overall financial health of the product offering, as evidenced by the gross margin improvement. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, the gross margin increased by 170 basis points from the prior year period, reaching 46.7 percent. This improvement was attributed to supply chain benefits, lower product and freight costs, and reduced direct-to-consumer discounting.

Under Armour, Inc. (UA) - Marketing Mix: Place

You're looking at how Under Armour, Inc. gets its gear into the hands of athletes and consumers as of the close of Fiscal Year 2025. Distribution is definitely a balancing act right now, leaning slightly toward traditional routes while aggressively trying to control the brand experience through direct channels. This strategy is all about disciplined marketplace management.

Distribution is a balanced mix of Wholesale and Direct-to-Consumer (DTC).

For the full Fiscal Year 2025, the split of net revenues clearly shows the current weighting of the distribution strategy. While the company is pushing DTC, Wholesale still drives the majority of sales volume.

The DTC channel includes global e-commerce and Brand House/Factory House stores.

The Direct-to-Consumer segment saw significant shifts in FY 2025, largely due to planned actions to elevate brand perception by reducing promotional activity. This means the digital storefronts took a hit in volume but were intended to carry a higher-quality brand message.

• Owned and operated store revenue decreased by 2% in FY 2025.
• eCommerce revenue dropped by 23% in FY 2025, reflecting the planned reduction in promotional activities.
• eCommerce represented 35% of the total Direct-to-Consumer business for the full Fiscal Year 2025.

Wholesale relies on key partners like Dick\'s Sporting Goods and major department stores.

The Wholesale channel, at 58% of total net revenues for FY 2025, remains the largest component. The current focus, as part of the strategic reset, is not just volume but quality. Under Armour, Inc. is refining this by focusing on fewer, high-quality products and strengthening relationships with key accounts to ensure better brand presentation at scale.

International expansion is a major growth driver, especially in EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Geographically, North America accounted for approximately 60% of net revenues in FY 2025, leaving the remaining 40% to be driven by international markets. The EMEA region was noted as the strongest-performing international region in FY 2025, even though Q4 saw a slight revenue dip of 2% (flat currency neutral). The strategy here is to build on existing reputation.

• North America net revenues represented approximately 60% of total net revenues in FY 2025.
• EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America combined represented approximately 40% of net revenues in FY 2025.
• EMEA strategy includes building on UK success to scale into France, Germany, and Spain.
• Asia-Pacific revenue declined 13% for the full FY 2025.

Optimizing store fleet size to focus on profitable, high-traffic flagship locations.

The company is actively managing its physical footprint. While CEO Kevin Plank mentioned store expansion as a future ambition, the immediate action involves disciplined marketplace management and ensuring premium representation. The 2% decline in owned and operated store revenue for FY 2025 suggests a focus on productivity over sheer store count, aligning with the broader goal of tightening distribution and shrinking the battlefield where necessary.

Finance: draft the Q1 FY2026 cash flow projection by Friday.

Under Armour, Inc. (UA) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Promotion for Under Armour, Inc. in late 2025 centers on a massive reinvestment in brand storytelling, supported by high-profile athlete relationships and a significant digital push, while simultaneously pulling back on broad discounting to enhance brand perception.

The company signaled its intent for a major promotional push, with CEO Kevin Plank stating that 2025 would see the company's most significant marketing effort to date. This is supported by financial data showing an increase in operating expenses related to marketing.

The Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 rose by 6 percent to $638 million, a rise attributed primarily to increased marketing investments. Under Armour plans to utilize its existing marketing investment more effectively to launch the most significant and impactful activation in its history, aimed at amplifying awareness and consideration, particularly among young team sports athletes.

The brand narrative is being heavily reinforced through its athlete roster and core ethos.

• Engage Under Armour's underdog positioning infused with resilience and grit through its Sports House positioning in all aspects of storytelling.
• The brand is shifting marketing spend toward product storytelling and category-specific campaigns as part of its turnaround strategy.

High-profile athlete endorsements remain a cornerstone of the promotional strategy, with several long-term, high-value contracts in place, even as the company repositions its focus.

In terms of league and team visibility, Under Armour announced its sponsorship of Unrivaled, the women's 3x3 basketball league, as the official uniform partner and performance outfitter for the inaugural 2025 season. A past, large-scale college sponsorship was the 15-year, $280 million contract with UCLA.

Digital marketing and social media engagement receive substantial allocation, reflecting industry trends.

• Industry estimates suggest the brand allocates up to 30% or more of its total marketing budget to digital and social media initiatives.
• The annual digital marketing budget is estimated to be in the range of $200 million to $300 million.
• Estimated annual spend on influencer marketing is between $20 million to $50 million.
• Estimated annual spend on social media advertising is between $50 million to $100 million.

The promotional mix is also defined by a strategic reduction in sales promotions to support a premium positioning. E-commerce revenues within the direct-to-consumer segment saw a significant drop of 20% in Q3 FY25, which the company attributed in part to deliberate reductions in promotional activities. These reduced promotions accounted for 39% of the quarter's total direct-to-consumer revenue.

Under Armour, Inc. (UA) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at the pricing levers Under Armour, Inc. is pulling as they push through this brand reinvention. The strategy is clearly about elevating the Average Selling Price (ASP) where possible, which you see reflected in their product development and promotional discipline.

• - Generally employs a premium pricing strategy, positioning below Nike but above value brands.
• - Prices reflect the perceived value of proprietary technology and performance features.
• - Tiered pricing structure across product lines, from entry-level to professional gear.
• - Frequent promotional activities and markdowns in the Factory House channel to manage inventory.
• - Maintaining price integrity in the full-price DTC channel is a critical strategic goal.

The commitment to regaining pricing power is a key metric you should track. For fiscal 2025, the company noted significant strengthening in gross margin, which they directly attributed to reduced discounting and early progress in this area. Specifically, the gross margin for the full fiscal year 2025 reached 47.9%, up from 47.5% in Q2 FY25. Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2026, management projects gross margin to increase by 40 to 60 basis points year-over-year, again driven by a decrease in direct-to-consumer discounting.

The premium tier is being actively developed. Under Armour is launching "pinnacle defining products" at higher price points as part of a two-lever strategy. For example, a newly developed backpack is slated to cost between $140, which is approximately $80 to $100 more expensive than the typical product in that category. This contrasts with competitor benchmarks; for running footwear across all channels in late 2025, Nike's ASP was only $83, while On led at $143 per pair.

The tiered structure is most visible when comparing the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) channel to the Factory House channel. The strategic goal is higher price realization in DTC, which is why e-commerce revenue saw a planned decline of 27% in Q4 FY25 due to promotional cuts. The company is actively managing inventory through the Factory House channel, where discounts are deeper. For instance, during the Summer 2025 Semi-Annual Sale, markdowns reached up to 73% off, with items like women's shorts dropping to as low as $8.08 from a regular price of $30. Furthermore, special discounts for military or teacher groups are 20% off at full-price stores but only 10% off at Factory Houses.

Here's a quick view of the channel split and associated promotional impact for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025:

To be fair, the push for higher ASPs comes with near-term revenue pressure; full-year revenue for fiscal 2025 declined 9% to $5.16 billion. Still, the focus on reducing promotional activity is intended to support the gross margin, which is the clearest financial indicator of brand health.