Nike Basketball
Brand Analysis
Under Armour, a Baltimore-based sport apparel company is slowly moving in on the Nike-dominated arena of basketball shoes. Having learned from it's earlier mistake of being overly ambitious in tackling the athletic footwear market, Under Armour now prioritises building a relationship with it's customers. Brandon Jennings, the flashy Pistons point guard, is the focal point of Under Armour's campaign. He is joined by fellow NBA players such as Kemba Walker, Derrick Williams and Stephen Curry.
In its relatively short history, Under Armour's growth has been nothing short of spectacular. It seems like until very recently, Under Armour was simply known as the manufacturer of compression undershirts that had a fantastic reputation for wicking away sweat and keeping the wearer comfortable. However, Under Armour has expanded its offerings to a complete line of athletic clothing and sports uniforms, and sales have soared.
Year to date, Under Armour only has 0.6 percent of the market share on basketball shoes. Nike still has little to fear from Under Armour, but they should definitely look over their back every once in awhile.
Adidas is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures sports clothing and accessories based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. Adidas has been a longtime basketball shoe manufacturer and is one of the leading basketball brands in the world.
Adidas has put its basketball marketing resources behind Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, two prominent superstars in the NBA. Adidas is definitely fighting an uphill battle against Nike. With 92% of the market owned by Nike and it's Jordan subsidiary, Adidas is left with a measly 5% of the pie, while Reebok, owned by Adidas, has a 2% share. Combined, Adidas has a 7% market share against the giant that is Nike.
Things are going badly for Adidas recently. Adidas, which invested heavily in Rose when it inked the 2011 NBA MVP to a $185 million, 13-year contract in February 2012 envisioned Derrick Rose as the one who would lead its charge against Nike's dominance over the shoe market. It was the biggest shoe deal ever for an NBA player. 2 years, 10 months and one ACL injury later, Rose is once again sidelined by an MCL injury that will keep him out for another season at least. With Rose out, Adidas struggled to gain sales in basketball shoes.
Adidas’ best hope might lie in a player not even in the NBA yet. Reports surfaced in October that Adidas was willing to shell out $180 million to sign University of Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins, who presumably will enter the 2014 NBA draft. Wiggins is hailed as a generational talent (check out video proof here), but Adidas might be forced to overpay Wiggins in order to bust out of its slump.
And1 is an American athletic shoe company specializing in basketball shoes and clothing. Founded in 1993, the company's headquarters were located in Paoli, Pennsylvania before being relocated to Aliso Viejo, California.
With less than 1 percent of market share, AND1 seems an unlikely challenger, but there are several factors that present a bright outlook for the AND1 market.
First of all, the AND1 brand has a very unique appeal. The AND1 brand is synonymous with streetball, a form of basketball that heavily emphasizes the razzle-dazzle, spectacular, home-run play. Extreme playground moves, featuring helter-skelter crossover and other fast dribble moves faking out defender were the rage in the early 2000's and there are plenty of basketball players who still follows the AND1 tour avidly.
Secondly, AND1 has quietly signed sleeper NBA stars to lucrative endorsement deals that has boosted their sales considerably. Lance Stephenson, who was born in New York, the mecca of streetball has exploded in his 3rd year in the NBA. His streetball skills coupled with his rare combination of speed, skill and power has coaches and players raving over him. This only served to boost AND1's profile even more.
Over the past year, And1’s market share has begun a gradual climb, rising from 0.73 percent of all U.S. sales to 1.06 percent, according to SportsONESource.
Fun fact: AND1 came out with one of the earliest version of viral marketing with it's mixtapes, a collection of crazy playground moves that make a lot of defenders look bad.
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