Under Armour: a brand repositioning campaign, broken down and benchmarked
Under Armour is a consumer brand. Here Under Armour is the lens for examining the brand repositioning campaign type. It covers what the campaign type is, how brands run it, the public benchmarks that frame it, and the mistakes that derail it. The Under Armour example grounds a model that any brand in its category can apply.
- Story: Kevin Plank returned as Under Armour CEO April 2024 after the company struggled with brand declines, slowing innovation, and weak comparison to Nike, Lululemon. Stock has declined from $50+ peak 2015 to under $10 2024. Strategic founder return case in athletic apparel. Brand resurrection challenge.
- Why it matters: Under Armour 2024 canonical case.
- Takeaway: Strategic decision at scale.
- Takeaway: Outcomes shape category.
- Takeaway: Lessons apply broadly.
Under Armour — the four-step story
Under Armour by the numbers
Quick facts
What a brand repositioning campaign is
The core idea, before the Under Armour detail. Brand repositioning is the deliberate work of moving how a market perceives a brand — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built.
Brand repositioning is the deliberate work of moving how a market perceives a brand — Under Armour included — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. A Under Armour team reads this closely. It is not a logo refresh. For Under Armour, this is the load-bearing part. It is a change in who the brand is for and — Under Armour included — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. A Under Armour team reads this closely. Done well it opens a larger market. For Under Armour, this is the load-bearing part. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. For Under Armour, it is the specific lever this page examines.
Claim: Old Spice's 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' repositioning lifted Red Zone body-wash unit sales 60% year over year by May 2010 and 125% by July 2010. Source: [Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing]. Context: The campaign reached its audience by targeting the female purchaser — Under Armour included — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. A Under Armour team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee.
Running a brand repositioning campaign, step by step
Run through the mechanics: a brand repositioning campaign for Under Armour is an operating system.
For Under Armour, a brand repositioning campaign is less one ad and more a set of connected decisions:
Claim: Mailchimp reported a 200% increase in user engagement within a year of its 2018 brand refresh, and Intuit later acquired the company for about $12 billion. Source: [COLLINS]. Context: The refresh, built with the design agency COLLINS, repositioned — for Under Armour, a real factor — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. A Under Armour team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee.
- Media weight to force the reframe. Perception is sticky. Under Armour planners would underline this. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — as a Under Armour team knows — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. This step decides how the rest of the Under Armour plan holds up.
- Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. In the Under Armour context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice moved only after research showed — Under Armour included — most body-wash purchases were made by women. Under Armour would budget real time against this.
- Audience redefinition. The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. Under Armour planners would underline this. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. This step decides how the rest of the Under Armour plan holds up.
- Message before mark. Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — and Under Armour is no exception — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. Skipping this is the most common Under Armour-scale error.
- Proof at the product level. A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. For Under Armour, this is the load-bearing part. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. This step decides how the rest of the Under Armour plan holds up.
The numbers that set the targets
Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Under Armour team what a brand repositioning campaign can realistically deliver.
Planning a brand repositioning campaign for Under Armour without category benchmarks is guessing. The figures here are public, sourced, and apply across its category.
Claim: Integrated campaigns running across four or more channels deliver about 26% stronger overall contribution than those using three or fewer. Source: [AdMonsters]. Context: A reposition needs coordinated weight across channels, not — and Under Armour is no exception — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. It is the sort of benchmark a Under Armour brief should cite.
| What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven |
| Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one |
| Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked |
KPIs that actually matter
The scoreboard decides the verdict. For Under Armour, weigh these measures over vanity numbers.
A Under Armour brand repositioning campaign should be measured on the following. Unaided brand awareness against the new positioning, perception-tracker shifts on the target attributes, audience-mix change in — for Under Armour, a real factor — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment.
A Under Armour brand repositioning campaign that reports only reach hides whether the spend worked. Lift is the honest figure.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
The failure patterns are predictable. A Under Armour team can design each of them out in advance.
These failure patterns recur across brand repositioning campaigns:
- Repositioning the message while leaving the product — for Under Armour, a real factor — untouched, so the new claim has no proof.
- Alienating the existing base faster than the new audience arrives, creating a revenue trough.
- Underfunding the media weight, so the old perception simply reasserts itself.
- Treating repositioning as a design project and changing the logo before the strategy.
How RGM reads the Under Armour example
One takeaway for Under Armour: treat the brand repositioning story as a model of the discipline, and copy the structure, not the creative.
What we see in audits: a brand repositioning campaign succeeds when a team like Under Armour's plans it as engineering, with baselines and targets, not as a habit.
The Under Armour example is therefore a template. Its mechanics fit its category broadly; its measurement logic makes a brand repositioning campaign something a team can stand behind.
Quick answers
- Is this brand repositioning case study based on Under Armour's own reported results?
- No. The figures are public industry benchmarks for brand repositioning campaigns, each sourced and linked. They show how the campaign type works, set against the Under Armour context. Any number that is not publicly sourceable is left out or marked as RGM analysis.
- How should a marketing team use this Under Armour example?
- Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Under Armour creative is one execution among many.
- How are the benchmarks here verified?
- The numbers are drawn from public reporting by Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press, and each one links back to its source.
Frequently asked questions
Does the product have to change during a reposition?
For a brand like Under Armour, the short answer is direct. Often yes, at least visibly. For Under Armour, this is the load-bearing part. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. It applies cleanly to Under Armour. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. For Under Armour, the detail is not optional. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — Under Armour included — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Under Armour included.
Under Armour case: what is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning?
For Under Armour and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. In the Under Armour context, that detail carries weight. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — Under Armour included — what it means, and what tier it sells at. A Under Armour team reads this closely. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — and Under Armour is no exception — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. That holds directly for Under Armour. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. A Under Armour team would plan against exactly this.
Under Armour case: where does a repositioning campaign start?
For Under Armour and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. It applies cleanly to Under Armour. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — and Under Armour is no exception — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For Under Armour, this is the load-bearing part. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — as a Under Armour team knows — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. A Under Armour team would plan against exactly this.
How long does a brand repositioning take to show results for a brand like Under Armour?
For Under Armour and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — Under Armour included — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. A Under Armour-scale brief should name this. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — as a Under Armour team knows — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment.
What is the biggest risk in repositioning Under Armour?
Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. That is exactly the Under Armour situation. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — Under Armour included — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. For a brand at Under Armour scale, this is where the plan is tested. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — for Under Armour, a live factor — credible thread back to the equity already built.
Why does this case study use Under Armour as the example?
Under Armour is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the brand repositioning mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Under Armour is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand.
Sources & references
- Old Spice repositioning case study — Documents the Old Spice unit-sales lift and the female-purchaser insight.
- COLLINS — Mailchimp rebrand case study — The agency record of the Mailchimp repositioning and engagement lift.
- Brand Master Academy — brand repositioning guide — Reference on repositioning strategy, process, and worked examples.
- AdMonsters — integrated campaign contribution data — Multi-channel campaign contribution benchmark.