Chapter 2: Stragetic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Umbro's one plan, besides creating great numbers with their products, is to expand the culture of soccer to those who embody it in their every day lives. To these people soccer isn't just a sport but a passion that was built throughout their life. Other brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and etc. may see it as just another sport but Umbro enhances the soccer institution by sharing their passion for the sport with the people. Not only is the company creating a connection with the people, but they retrieve new members in to the Umbro institution due to their passionate way of embodying the sport through their brand.

When Nike marched in waving its wallet and trumped Umbro for the much-prized contract to supply Manchester United's kit from next year, it only underlined what observers already knew - that football had become a global media property.

Against that sort of competition, Umbro begins to look like the Premiership equivalent of Southampton: nice people but without the ability to mount a serious challenge to the high value institutions such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok. Last year, Umbro spent £500,000 on advertising, a fraction of Nike's £8m budget.

Not everything is lost, however. The strengths of Nike and Adidas, huge budgets and the desire for world domination of all sports markets, are also weaknesses in the football market. For Umbro there is only one sport: football (soccer). This gives it a powerful heritage and allows it to suggest that its rivals are not as focused on the soccer perspective.

This is a great opportunity for Nike on the other hand due to the concentration on the soccer department from Umbro.

Umbro is known on developing positive brand values and not seek to improve the image of the player that advertises their brand. The great thing about Umbro is that they use their own assets as tools for their own purposes and not allow them, the player representing the brand, to dominate  their campaign. For example, young people should remember UMBRO.COM and not Michael Owen as a result of your promotions. The media you choose should target young audiences.


The four Ps are imperative in the marketing career because it is the other half, besides the culture and creating a connection with the people, of a successful company.

Product/Price
I believe product and price kind of merge together in the same category. Umbro is one of the few companies that makes high quality products and sell them for a reasonable price. On the other hand, companies like Adidas and Nike sell high quality soccer appereal/equipment for a high price most of the time. Another reason why Umbro is such a great soccer institution for most of the people who advertise it.

Place
Umbro is a brand that is located all around the world and is still expanding trying to increase their number of locations immensely. It's amazing how a company starts off in one country, England, and becomes known worldwide to the soccer association and the people who follow it.

Promotion

Umbro has done a lot of promotions throughout the years they have been in business and one of the most imperative promotions that elevated the brand drastically was providing beautiful ladies with the country jerseys they made for the 2012 World Cup. Attracting the people is a big role in the marketing world and in my opinion this was a brilliant idea to catch the people's, mostly men of course, attention.