Under Armour couldn’t land NBA MVP Kevin Durant, but the sheer aggression with which Under Armour went after him even spoke to the brand’s power. And to it’s future. Besides, Under Armour’s already got the Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry in its fold anyway–and Curry looks like a pretty good candidate to be holding up the NBA MVP trophy at the end of this season. As far as lifting trophies, Under Armour doesn’t have to wait till the end of the season. Advertising Age just named the innovative brand its Marketer of the Year. Hard to argue, though the mag must have just figured Apple and iPhones market themselves by now, because no company got any more for its marketing efforts than Apple this year. But back to Under Armour. The sports apparel prince (Nike is still king) was also named Yahoo Finance 2014 Company of the Year.
Under Armour is just 18 years old and it’s worth almost a billion for each year it’s been in business–with a $15 billion market cap. It’s an American brand, created by an American entrepreneur named Kevin Plank. Under Armour even manufactures its product in the US. The brand is also working to expand its brand by expanding the idea of what it means to be an athlete, with its genius campaign around the beautiful, powerful ballet dancer Misty Copeland. As sports (and just sporty) apparel takes over the casual wear market from jeans and denim, there seems to be no stopping Under Armour, even if all four of the 2015 College Football Playoff teams will be wearing Nike. That’s just this year. Wait till next year.
