Borrowed Equity Is a Tactic, Not a Strategy

This is the sort of advertising I just don't get.

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And that's not to suggest any ignorance on my part, either. In fact, I do understand why this might seem like a good idea. It probably does quite well getting attention. High energy, great editing, good looking jocks showing off their respective moves. But really that's not enough, because by the time we get to the brand plug at the end, we have no idea why we should buy this product.

The fact that athletes wear Under Armour is important, but it's really not the only thing that matters. Athletes also wear Nike for God's sake. And Adidas. And Reebok. And plenty of other brands. But at the very least, let's agree Under Armour hasn't established the same cache as Nike and move on.

This is a commercial for Under Armour, but the only reason I know that is because I pulled it off You Tube. Had I seen it on TV like the average consumer will, I probably wouldn't have had a clue.

Under Armour sells a particular type and style of athleticware (much of it form fitting and virtually none of it cotton), but there are a lot of me-too brands that sell similar LOOKING stuff.

UA's gear is made of a special fabric that wicks away sweat to keep the body dry, thus cool, thus better equipped to keep pushing ahead. Obviously if one's body overheats, it's all over.

But more importantly, UA was the pioneer of this type of fabric technology. No longer are they the only brand that offers a wicking fabric, but they were the first and there is huge credibility in that statement which I don't see leveraged here.

Imagine this spot, featuring all the same athletes, doing more to leverage the benefit of this superior wicking thing - rational and emotional. And a statement about how winning athletes don't trust the other knock offs and serious athletes shouldn't either.

Was there an insight here or just a tactical decision to pay athletes a lot of money to wear Under Armour and star in the commercial? If I were guessing, I'd say the latter.

This is a case where sweating the small stuff could have really paid off. For now, it's OFF Strategy.