Growth Strategy - Under Armour Targets Nike and Adidas as it Aims to Become a $10bn Business

A useful article here in BusinessWeek for business teachers and students - particularly those interested in the sports wear market. The article analyses recent comments by the CEO of Under Arnour, a fast-growing and increasingly global sports wear brand.

Under Armour is a great example of a business that has been able to sustain high levels of revenue growth using an organic growth strategy. But can it sustain this growth?

No sweat

Under Armour was founded in Maryland USA in 1996 by Kevin Plank who came up with a synthetic textile design which enabled sweat ti be "wicked-away" during exercise. The concept has, of course, been widely copied by all the major sports wear brands since.

Now, 17 years later, Under Armour generates turnover of around $2bn per year and is consistently growing at over 20% per year. It is doing this by expanding the product range, extending into retail operations and pushing into emerging markets.

Kevin Plank, still the CEO, has set an ambitious objective of becoming a $10bn brand. The article explains that the overall global market for sports wear isn't going to grow by $8bn in the next few years. So in order to reach its target, under Armour will need to take market share from its two main rivals - Nike and Adidas.

Can it achieve this purely through an organic growth strategy? Or will acquisitions be required?

What would you do to sustain the organic growth record of Under Armour and enable it to successfully enter new markets? A classic opportunity to get the Ansoff Matrix out and let students come up with ideas...