Under Armour really stepped up their game this year for the NFL combine. Their multi-tiered marketing and PR approach made waves throughout the football world. How did they do it?
1) Signing possibly the two highest profile players who were in the combine, Cam Newton and Julio Jones. Oh yeah, it doesn’t hurt to have them showcase groundbreaking technology that you developed.
Check out the E39 which both athletes will be wearing.
“Just below the sternum, the shirt also contains a removable sensor pack called a “bug” that holds a triaxial accelerometer3, a processor and 2 gigabytes of storage. The information collected can be broadcast via Bluetooth to smartphones, iPads and laptops so that scouts and trainers can view the power and efficiency of each athlete’s movements. Heart-rate and breathing-rate monitors are placed on both sides of the sensor pack, helping to gather even more intel from the body’s core.”
Why stop there? Have them showcase your new shoes as well. Cam Newton and Julio Jones will each be wearing these bad boys.
2) Grassroots marketing in the form of Under Armour Combines (http://combines.underarmour.com/). Under Armour is holding combines for high school athletes across the country. Lock them in at a younger age and capitalize on word of mouth.
3) Being the presenting sponsor never hurt anyone. Spend the money and own 4 days on the NFL Network. With the prospect of no NFL season next year fans are doing anything they can to grab a glimpse of the fleeting commodity. They are also beginning to really spend the necessary $ to compete with the big boys.
The Baltimore company’s sponsorship obligations totaled $167 million at the end of 2010, a sharp jump from $78 million in 2009, Under Armour’s annual reports from the last two years show.
Great work by the Under Armour team.
About Chris Partlow