This week golf’s latest superstar Jordan Spieth stepped onto an Under Armour private jet and embarked on a victory press tour backed by his apparel partner to celebrate winning the 79th version of Augusta’s annual golf major.
.@JordanSpieth wasn't kidding. He's taking his jacket everywhere. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/UDmwkVESBG
— Under Armour Golf (@UAGolf) April 13, 2015
The tour continues the brand’s leverage campaign around its latest superstar athlete ambassador.
After all, Spieth’s Masters win was also a major victory for sponsor Under Armour (UA) – a brand whose profile and reputation continues to climb.
The Under Armour logo featured on the 21-year-old’s hat, shirt, belt, pants and shoes – in fact, the Texan sported no less than 16 UA logos on his clothes for the final round.
Thus flooding television broadcasts and the press with the UA logo – exposure worth millions of dollars in value for Under Armour.
Indeed, according to Adam Grossman, founder of the sports media firm Block Six Analytics, UA received roughly $6.2m in value based on Spieth’s visibility during the tournament.
After Spieth’s social media rocketed during his victory, Under Armour moved impressively quickly to capitalise.
It immediately gave the youngster pride of place on its website homepage.
On Underarmour.com, Spieth’s photo and various outfits for sale dominate the home page on Monday.
(His website head-to toe look included a $20 belt, a $30 cap, $80 pants and $75 polo shirt.)
‘Thanks to Jordan, our company grew up today,’ commented UA CEO Kevin Plank after Spieth’s win.
‘This [the Masters] is a global event and he’s the leading trending athlete in the world right now.’
Plank said Under Armour deliberately dressed Spieth in a ‘clean and classic’ look that could sell more easily than the more-flashy colours worn by others.
‘He was like apple pie with a golf club. There was nothing more Americana than Jordan Spieth this weekend.’
UA followed up on its own and on paid social media platforms to attack the market with golf-related ads and promotions featuring Spieth and the #DriveTheGame hashtag,
History made.
Congrats, @JordanSpieth. pic.twitter.com/q1HqcHZRrk
— Under Armour Golf (@UAGolf) April 14, 2015
and a post-Masters Twitter campaign for its ‘Golf Pro-Pack’ contest.
.@JordanSpeith's Sunday look. It's just missing a little green. #MastersSunday
Shop now: http://t.co/iBnBnw6p9F pic.twitter.com/CYOHRTIb7c
— Ask Under Armour (@AskTeamUA) April 12, 2015
Plus it will follow this up with a campaign for its first golf shoe – which is out for sale in the coming weeks (for UA – the timing couldn’t have been much better).
Comment
Last year UA won Ade Age’s prestigious ‘Marketer Of The Year’ award (see case study) and its upward trajectory seems unstoppable.
The American sportswear outfit, which overtook Adidas in the US market last year with sales of $1.2bn (£820,000), is now taking on market leader Nike and golf is the Baltimore-based brand’s latest battleground.
In sales, UA is still a long way behind Nike’s $8.9bn, but with Spieth’s win over Nike’s star endorsers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (both of whom are paid in the $20m-per-year region by the giant Oregon-based brand) golf has become the latest frontline.
This is a relatively recent combat zone.
After all, it was only in 2013 that Spieth, then relatively unknown, became Under Armour’s first head-to-toe sponsored golfer in a four-year deal.
The relationship was renewed and enhanced in January 2015 when the Texan’s impressive showing led the apparel brand to offer him a blockbuster 10-year extension.
A decision that now looks like a master stroke.
‘Jordan is an incredible talent and has already accomplished so much in his short career,’ said Ryan Kuehl, Under Armour senior category director for global golf and tennis, when the deal extension was announbced.
‘This long-term commitment to each other emphasizes Under Armour’s continuing drive for dominance in the golf category.’
The 21-year-old US golf star could spend the duration of his 10-year UA deal slugging it out head-to-head with Nike’s golf star endorser McIlroy to engage with a younger generation of golf fans in the post Tiger era.
Indeed, according to a study before the 2015 Masters study by industry advisors Repucom, the millennials generation are much more likely to look forward to watching Spieth play than more established and older golf stars such as Phil Mickelson.
Click to download Repucom’s ‘Masters Golf Insights’ briefing report.
This could prove crucial to golf’s future as a top tier sports and sponsorship event – after all the number of players and the courses have both been in decline for the last five years.
Spieth is just one of an impressive set of both established and young sports stars snapped up by UA in recent years.
From big name ambassadors like Muhammad Ali, Andy Murray (who’s deal is worth around £15m) and skier Lindsay Vonn, to other next generation super stars such as boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, dancer M|issy Elliot and Golden State Warriors Steph Curry (the favourite to scoop this year’s NBA MVP award).
This dual, veteran star and next-big-thing combination even fronted UA’s recent Spieth Tv commercial which saw him play a round of golf with fellow UA ambassador and current Super Bowl MVP New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Spieth has become the next American face of golf overnight. Having a youthful winner is a position which will serve UA well for some time to come.
Links
UA Golf Website
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/sports/golf/mens
UA Golf Twitter
@UAGolf
UA Website
UA Twitter
https://twitter.com/UnderArmour
UA Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Underarmour.uk?brand_redir=1
UA Instagram
https://instagram.com/underarmour
UA Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/underarmour/
UA Goofle+
https://plus.google.com/+UnderArmour
UA YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/underarmour
Jordan Spieth UA Website
http://www.jordanspiethgolf.com/sponsor/under-armour
The Masters Website
