Under Armour invades the Olympics...

Brands galore, free advertising (well, not that free), and make or break for some companies. What I mean by this is that there are some new faces of companies taking on the Olympics in areas that aren't typically their realm. The brand that I have to applaud is Under Armour. The brand started off in Baltimore in the late 90's as an exclusively "Under the football padding" clothing company. It since has evolved into something much much more. The company has embraced the idea that quality and massive amounts of marketing can get you to where you want to be.

Under Armour has taken on previously untouched areas by other performance apparel such as hunting and outdoor blue collar work such as military and construction. Hunting has been dubbed by many the "Republican pastime". Many companies (Nike, Adidas) that had the opportunity to venture into that area chose to stay away from it because of the stigma that might come with promoting something "so awful" as hunting. UA has taken the idea of being an athlete to the field but not sports field but the hunting field. Their tag line for their hunting line is "Athletes Hunt". I find this incredibly intriguing and want to pat someone on the back for coming up with something so simple. Think about it, you take upper middle class, you tell them that they are an athlete if they hunt, that it takes athletic ability, conditioning, draw them into the preparation for the hunt a la running, lifting, training, they'll buy your products (because, remember, you are the brand that says that they are athletes) then when the season comes around, be it archery or rifle, they buy your outdoor apparel which is incredibly pricey (although very high quality) because they want to be athletes (and probably because the apparel works well). I love it! I love hunting myself and and drawn to the gritty photos, the majestic views, the images of a guy working hard to bring down his game... talk about branding... these guys have it down!

You might ask... what about the Olympics... well, here you go. As I was watching moguls skiing, I noticed the UA logo on the pants and jacket of the U.S. skiers. It got me thinking, here we go... what are they going to do for the sport? Think about it, skiing began as a wealthy passtime exclusively for those who could afford travel. It usually consisted of upper class white families that had vacation time and traveled to Vail, the Alps, Utah in order to grab a few days of powder. It was seen as a relaxing sport with the wind whipping by your ears... it was you and the mountain, nothing else mattered. Along came the new breed of youth coming from Park City, Vermont, Steamboat who took the sport to a new level. Reverse triple helicopters... inverted!... Quadruple backflips with a tail grab! It was pushed to new levels... even the typical ski bums bought into it and boom... a new age was born! Baggy pants, helmets (because new limits were pushed everyday), iPods and rippin it! But what was missing? Well, the athletes... That's not to say every single one of those new generation of skiers were not athletes but your basketball players with 42" verticle leaps, your football players running 4.4 40's were not involved. In comes Under Armour... picture it, the new ski line for UA "Athletes Ski"... now, you have that stud athlete choosing from a young age..."do I play quarterback, shortstop, point guard or shoot for Olympic gold, and get some rediculous sponsor money... and I get to be away from all the hustle bustle... hmmm.... what shall I do? I mean UA says that athletes ski, I'm an athlete, I think I'll ski". UA can usher in a whole new era of skiers. The class with the money to buy the training and ski apparel now becomes your target market... genius. Sheer genius.

(I must add here, Jeremy Bloom was a pioneer of the athlete to ski crossover, an incredibly gifted athlete he truly did embody what it meant to be an athlete that skied. He subsequently was sponsored by UA not for skiing but for football but one must think that he had something to do with the push for the move into skiing. He was an Olympic mogul skier... )

I was tempted to say how skiing did not fit into their portfolio but the more analysis that I did on it and saw their angle... I am convinced that it was a stroke of genius. The technology is there from their hunting line, all they have to do is make to skiers standards and you have it. Needless to day, UA is an innovative company that says true to its branding as an "athletes company". They are pulling in athletes everywhere and it's all about the brand.

Branding a team with its staff...

I have been following the off season for college football very closely. One of the things that has stood out to me is the coaching carousel. I'm always interested to see where a coach lands and to see what AD is going to want a certain type of coach. The biggest and best example of this is with USC. I loved Pete Carroll. He was great, he was a big brother in a dad's body that happened to be the football coach at one of the hottest programs in the country. I have always thought of USC as the pinnacle of college football.

When Pete built the program he did a great job of branding the program and what it stood for. His whole thought process was to make USC a factory for kids to come in and enjoy their time until they made it to the NFL. And that's exactly what he did! He had an upbeat attitude, he wasn't a Zen master like Phil Jackson but he was and is a motivational guy. He had his brand down. Prestige, fun, warm, athletic, intense, personal responsibility, biggest show in town, confident and revered.

When he decided to take the Seahawks job I was taken back a bit but understood why he would want to go. He went 8-4 last season, accomplished everything that he could while there including a style of coaching that has been disseminated throughout the rest of the Pac-10. I was left wondering who they would get to fill the role of the head coach and what type of brand would that coach project onto the team? I was worried that they might pull some other well known coach from the East Coast or maybe find another NFL guy but what they did was exactly what the doctor ordered. All of the above!

When Lank Kiffin was hired I was ecstatic, he literally brought with him that same time of attitude (albeit a bit more cocky but hey, age brings wisdom and he's just a young buck) and fire that Pete Carroll has. It doesn't hurt that Kiffin was brought up under Carroll's arm and grew in the ranks of Carroll's staff. Offensive coordinator, co-play caller then off to bigger things like oh... you know coaching the Raiders in the NFL, then when Al Davis ran him off like every other coach he went to Tennessee and started building USC East. How fitting is it that he came back to the place that made him what he is.

Kiffin I'm sure will have a little different attitude, maybe do some things differently but in the end the USC brand is still the same. They have the up beat, confident coach that they need. Think about it, it fits SoCal... who wouldn't want to be there? (I still for the life of me cannot figure out why San Diego State is terrible... who wouldn't want to live there?... honestly? Think about it, you can play in South Bend Indiana or San Diego? NO Brainer!) Kiffin will keep bringing in stars and making them play for a starting position and keep the competition level at a ridiculous high.

The attitude of the coach and his values can and are portrayed through the team. There is a feeling about the team that starts with the head coach. They don't know what it is called or how to explain it but it's a brand. They create a brand that becomes the face of the program. Each kid that comes in adopts the attitude and learns about it everyday in practice. There are the tough nosed coaches who demand perfection, the kids hate 'em but play with the precision, everything is tidy and no one says much... there is just a feeling of a military type program. Then you have the laid back type of coaches... kids love to play for them, they are fun to be around and are the older brother. The program is fun and it becomes a place that buddies get together. Both have their pros and cons but in the end it's the coach who determines that. Lane Kiffin is a perfect extension of the brand that USC has established. Now the question of the success on the field will need to be answered... that is yet to be determined.