When then-21-year-old alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn first joined Under Armour in 2006, the decade-old apparel and performance brand out of Baltimore didn’t offer much in terms of women’s-specific apparel or gear.
Like many companies before it and at that time, Under Armour fell victim to the “shrink it and pink it” marketing strategy in an effort to appeal to female customers.
Click here to read the story from forbes.com.
Questions for Classroom Discussion
- Based on information from this story, what is a “shrink it and pink it” marketing strategy?
- Why do you think Under Armour’s initial “shrink it and pink it” marketing strategy fell flat when it initially began marketing to female consumers?
- What are demographics? How might this story represent an example of demographics?
- What is a target market? Why would Under Armour want to target female consumers as part of their marketing strategy?
- What is innovation and why is it important for a business like Under Armour? According to this story, how has innovation and a new approach to how the brand markets to female consumers impacted Under Armour?