Athletic apparel company Under Armour created a popular buzz phrase five years ago when it introduced a stream of commercials featuring sweaty male athletes grunting -- literally -- the words "Protect This House" as they lifted weights or knocked each other around on the football field.
It was a marketing success with kids on little league teams to sportscasters to grown men at the gym soon shouting the phrase.
But in talking to its female fans, Under Armour executives found that many women did not completely identify with the slogan. Women wanted their own rallying cry. And now they've got one.
This weekend, Under Armour will unveil its biggest marketing campaign ever aimed at female consumers, complete with women athletes sweating and grunting on the field.
The new campaign is Under Armour's latest effort to focus on women's wear, since it's currently the fastest-growing part of the sports apparel market and a key piece to the company's future. The Baltimore clothing manufacturer acknowledged it made mistakes years ago in the original design of its women's apparel but executives believe they have improved that clothing line by adding various colors and styles. Executives are now looking to women's apparel to drive sales growth.
While Under Armour already has a customer following among women, analysts said targeting the female shopper is more complex because the strategy that works for men won't necessarily work for the opposite sex.
Women, for instance, typically pay more attention to whether their sporting apparel focuses on the latest trends.
And the women's athletic apparel market has several established competitors vying for those shopping dollars.
Under Armour's new marketing campaign, which was developed after an extensive survey with female athletes, works to address a feeling from some women that they needed their own slogan, which the company has tagged BoomBoom-Tap.
"They flat out asked, 'Where's our rallying cry?' " said Steve Battista, Under Armour's vice president of brand marketing. "They felt like from the advertising and marketing side they weren't getting the same aspirational message that we have on the men's side."
BoomBoom-Tap is a rhythmic set of claps -- two quick claps followed by one long one -- that has been heard in other Under Armour commercials. And it's something that female athletes have told the company they have adopted in their pre-game huddles.
Key to expansion
The campaign is crucial to the company's future as it sees increasing sales of women's apparel key to its expansion plans. Women's products are now about 24 percent of all sales and Under Armour executives believe those sales will eventually surpass that of men. Under Armour makes athletic apparel that wicks sweat from the body to control body temperature.
The product's appeal to women is being watched closely by Wall Street analysts, some of whom question whether the company will be able to expand revenue fast enough to maintain the value of the firm and keep shareholders happy.
An analyst at Goldman Sachs recently questioned whether the women's line was distinct enough from the men's product and said that it doesn't focus enough on style.
"We believe Under Armour is still struggling to find the appropriate game plan for winning in the women's market," Goldman Sachs analyst Margaret M. Mager wrote in a report. Mager wasn't available for an interview.
The company has acknowledged past missteps in its initial try at gaining a large share of the women's market. It scrapped its first line of women's products several years ago because it was nothing more than a smaller version of the men's line.
Battista said the company has expanded its offerings since then and that women's sales have grown steadily in the three years since they hit the market. More female collegiate teams wear the brand than men's teams do.
"There's a definite style and color factor that needs to be addressed," Battista said. "But the main emphasis is that they want the same type of performance that men get. They don't want the performance watered down."
Under Armour will roll out its latest women's campaign on ESPN during the ESPY awards on Sunday, which honor top athletes. The campaign will also run on MTV and in advertisements in magazines such as Shape, People and Runner's World.
This is the second campaign the company has introduced to target women. The first effort was launched in 2005 as part of the "Protect This House" campaign and featured soccer star Heather Mitts.
The newest campaign focuses on the "team girl," rather than individual athletes. It features amateur athletes along with sports stars such as Olympic gold medal softball pitcher Cat Osterman and Jen Adams, a former Maryland Terrapins lacrosse player from Australia.
The campaign was photographed locally at the University of Maryland, Towson University and St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., where Under Armour CEO and founder Kevin A. Plank played football.
Some analysts said it is a good time for Under Armour to target women because they are leading the growth in the $43.7 billion sports apparel industry. In 2003, women made up about 42 percent of the sports apparel market and that grew to 50 percent in 2005, according to the Mercanti Group, an investment bank that recently conducted a study on sports apparel sales.
'Faster than male side'
"The overall market is growing, but if you look at it as a captive market women are taking share" from the men, said Dave Remick, a director at the Mercanti Group. "That side is growing faster than the male side."
While Under Armour is entering a highly competitive market going up against companies such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas, some analysts said there may be room to expand.
Angelique Dab, a senior research analyst covering the footwear and specialty apparel industry at Nollenberger Capital Partners Inc., said many of the other sports companies haven't been successful at creating women's sports apparel that melds both fit and fashion. Under Armour can fill that void.
"Women continue to be more focused on active lifestyle and there is big movement for that," Dab said.
andrea.walker@baltsun.com