Strategic Competition: Under Armour versus Nike
Under Armour is an American manufacturer of casual apparel, sports apparel, and footwear. The company’s international headquarters are located in Baltimore with other offices in Europe, Asia, South America, and other parts of the world. The company produces some of the best running shoes in the world, including the Under Armour HOVR Machina model. One of the company’s top-selling running shoes is the HOVR Machina model. This shoe combines a Pebax propulsion plate and HOVR midsole foam (Garage Gym Power, 2020). The shoe is highly responsive and highly cushioned. With these features, athletes get the best running experience. The shoe’s durability is increased by carbon rubber installed beneath the heel (Garage Gym Power, 2020). Its upper is made of engineered mesh. Besides, the shoe features Bluetooth connectivity for real-time coaching (Garage Gym Power, 2020). The shoe performs well over a range of distances.
Under Armour has several competitors. Nike is one of Under Armour’s main competitors. Also headquartered in the United States, Nike designs, develops, manufactures, and sells apparel, sports accessories, and footwear. Nike is a major manufacturer of sports equipment. The company’s athletic shoes present stiff competition to other manufacturers such as Under Armour. One of Nike’s best athletic shoes is the ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%. This unisex running shoe is light, comfortable, and sufficiently cushioned (JackRabbit, 2020). The shoe’s benefits include an engineered woven mesh, a wider toe area, lightweight side sashes, and comfortable Nike ZoomX foam (JackRabbit, 2020). With most of the shoe’s features similar to those of the Under Armour HOVR Machina shoe, customers would have a hard time choosing between them. To increase their competitive advantage, the two companies would have to implement strategic changes.
As for Under Armour, innovation would be a significant strategic change. According to Wojan et al. (2018), innovation involves improvement in existing services or products. Based on this definition, Under Armour might consider finding possible improvements to its HOVR Machina shoe. For instance, Under Armour might come up with innovations that will make the shoe more stable and comfortable. Coming up with these innovations will call for extensive research and development efforts. Under Armour might have to invest in innovation using more resources, skills, and competencies to create a better shoe. IN this way, Under Armour will better satisfy its customers’ needs and maintain a more extensive customer base.
Nike may respond to Under Armour’s innovation in several ways. First, Nike may also decide to innovate. If Under Armour designs a more stable and comfortable running shoe, Nike might challenge the innovation by researching on ways to make its running shoe more stable and comfortable. Nike may use Under Armour’s innovation as the basis for research and development of a better shoe. By developing a better shoe, Nike might hope to offset Under Armour’s strategic change.
Besides innovating, Nike may also choose to offer more affordable pricing. In doing so, Nike will first obtain a clear picture of what Under Armour’s competing product is priced. Afterward, Nike might determine the best price for its running shoe. Since beating competition will be the primary concern, Nike might opt for a competition-based pricing strategy. Using this strategy, Nike will ignore consumer demand and market rate. Instead, Nike will lower its prices to fall below or within the range of prices that Under Armour offers.