Under Armour Is Interested In Outdoor Clothing Market.

Under Armour, who has always wanted to be a sports brand, not only announced its entry into the wearable field, but also had great ambitions for the outdoor clothing market and wanted to be a leader in this field.

Will it be more successful than other companies?

The brand with the striking "UA" logo has entered some unexpected areas. It has not only the famous athletes such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry, but also recently signed the Dietz runner and the skier's John Jackson.

In addition, Under Armour has signed contracts with 9 ski resorts to provide jackets for the ski resorts.

In the just concluded Salt Lake City

Under Armour launched its third largest outdoor display in North America with its winter equipment. It even sponsored a Matchstick Productions movie about skiing and launched its latest ski suit series in the movie.

In other words, Under Armour, a company with a market value of nearly $20 billion, is no longer a mere sporting goods provider. It is targeting the core consumer groups in the outdoor market.

Of course, the sporting goods giant tried to enter the market not just Under Armour, as early as in 1989, Nike launched its ACG outdoor series. In 2011, Adidas also had the Terrex series with mountain attributes, but the sportswear dealer from the ski suit to the outdoor market Under was the first one.

Under Armour just wants to capture its outdoor consumers from this field.

"You can't see much of our outdoor products in sporting goods stores or department stores," said Steve Metcalf, Under Armour outdoor dress director, Under Armour.

Although it tends to consume athletes, there are other differences.

Unlike Nike and others, who entered the outdoor market with their own patent fabrics, Under Armour chose to cooperate with well-known fabric suppliers such as Gore-Tex and Polartec, and dig high salaries.

She has been a designer for Helly Hansen and the North Face for many years, Kurt Gray said that UA has dug up a number of leading people in this industry to build its outdoor product line, including senior designers from Arc, teryx, Mountain, and other top outdoor brands.

The development also means that such a powerful company like Under Armour can better capture the market demand.

"Market research is much easier than it was ten years ago," Metcalf said. "We can test the style, color and design of products in real time."

With money and channels, the biggest challenge for Under Armour to open the outdoor market may come from the recognition of consumers' reliability of their products.

The core consumers of this market may prefer the Patagonia company, such as Yvon Chouinard founder, Chouinard spent a lot of time outdoors, while the founder of Under Armour Kevin Plank is good at rugby.

"People in Manhattan may need only a black down jacket, and for those who go skiing every weekend, how important the reliability of equipment is."

Metcalf feels that Under Armour will successfully solve all doubts about people's outdoor products.

In 2016, the outdoor product development center will move from Baltimore to Portland, a brand new outdoor sports shoes brand in March.

"We have won every product area that we are currently relying on for innovation and reliability, and for outdoor products."

Metcalf said.