For over a decade every activewear brand has put ‘innovation’ at the forefront of the brand story.
That has always made sense, particularly for products that have performance as one of their key points of differentiation and value add.
R&D has continued – even escalated – in recent years. Yet for a growing number of brands, the return on investment doesn’t seem to be there.
On top of product innovation, these brands have gone all in on creating massive brand image and on building in-store experiences that rival anything Hollywood could dream up.
So who thought we’d see the day when for several quarters a power brand like Nike would underperform? Or that the seemingly unstoppable Lululemon would issue guidance that it might be hitting a sales speed bump?
And there’s Under Armour. The brand has struggled to grow revenue or profits and its share price down 83% since its peak in 2015, per The Motley Fool.
Yet that is exactly where we are today.
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