Who Can Save The Under Armour?

According to the world clothing shoes and hats net, the performance has been depressed for nearly a year.

There are no obvious signs of improvement.

Beijing time in June 28th, the United States in distress.

Announcing a series of high-level personnel changes.

Patrick Frisk, former executive of The Aldo Group, will become chief operating officer of Under Armour. Paul Fipps, vice president of global operations, was appointed chief technology officer, and global sourcing manager Colin Browne became chief supply chain officer, coming into force in July 10th.

The biggest change in a series of high-level appointments is that Patrik Frisk will not only serve as chief operating officer, but will take over as president of Kevin Plank.

After the appointment, the company reports directly from 10 executives to Kevin Plank, and the person in charge of products, marketing, supply chain, revenue and strategic departments will report to the new president. Patrik Frisk is expected to reexamine the long-term brand strategy of the company.

"Some decision-making power within the company will be dispersed," said Sam Poser, an analyst at Haina international, a financial institution. "This is a good omen for Under Armour."

At the same time, a number of analysts believe that the US brand is worth cheering.

The reason is very simple. As the founder of Under Armour, Kevin Plank has led the company to develop into a world-famous sports brand from Baltimore small brand, but its monopolizing power and tough personality are also criticized.

In 2015, when some employees of the company did not recognize it, Kevin Plank had spent nearly $1 billion in a short period of time buying digital fitness platforms.

In February this year, the Americans also issued radical remarks to support Trump, which had a negative impact on brand performance and made the company extremely embarrassed.

What's most offensive to the outside world is that Kevin Plank has repeatedly sold C class voting shares with no voting rights to strengthen its control over the group.

Under Armour shares are divided into three categories ABC, class A shares have one vote per share, and only B class shares held by the founders of the company are voting rights of 10 times that of class A shares. Although C shares have the same economic rights as other stocks, they do not have any voting rights.

The sale of C class stocks does not sacrifice control of the company at the same time. The practice of Kevin Plank left a lot of bad impression on investors, and even once was criticized by the corporate governance watchdog.

Today, Kevin Plank holds all B shares, which gives him a vote of up to 65.3%. Americans firmly hold their own hands in the group they founded in 1996.

If Under Armour still plays the role of second of the brave in the United States, Kevin Plank's "power" will not be subjected to many questions.

However, the reality is that the period of rapid development of this new brand has passed.

The first quarter of fiscal year 2017 released at the end of April showed that since the listing in January 2006, the company has suffered losses for the first time, with a total loss of US $2 million 300 thousand.

So far in 2017, the company's share price has fallen by about 20%, and second of the United States has been retaken by Adidas.

Faced with this situation, Patrik Frisk became the "decentralization" of timely entry to replace the position of president of Kevin Plank.

Prior to that, Patrik Frisk had nearly 30 years of experience in the clothing, footwear and retail industries, and was the CEO of The Aldo Group, a footwear company. She served as a senior executive in VF company for 10 years, serving as a well-known sports brand for The North Face, Vans, JanSport and the like.

"Patrik Frisk has a lot of experience in global brand building, including improving business performance and profitability, which will help change our business model and provide long-term value for our consumers, customers and investors," Under Armour wrote in a public statement.

According to public information, Kevin Plank gave up the position of president, but continued to serve as chairman and CEO of the group, responsible for and implement the company's market strategy and long-term growth plan.

The difference is that the new Patrik Frisk will become an important gatekeeper between Kevin Plank and many executives, including chief executive officer, chief product officer, chief marketing officer, chief supply chain officer, and brand strategy chief, who will report directly to Patrik Frisk.

As a result, the number of executives reporting to Kevin Plank dropped from 10 to 6, and the controlling power of the founders was undoubtedly suppressed.

It is noteworthy that, compared with other sports giant brands, Under Armour's footwear product innovation is obviously insufficient.

At present, the brand is still selling products through discount channels, rather than relying on the strength of the product itself. Whether it can reverse this situation will be the first examination paper after Patrik Frisk took office.

Second, the new CEO needs to improve its brand marketing and operational efficiency which is relatively lagging behind.

"In an increasingly digital ecosystem, the opportunities of innovation, brand strength, high-end sports marketing and consumer connections bring unprecedented opportunities," Patrik Frisk said on the eve of his office.

It seems that the 30 year old "insider" is very clear about his next step.

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