Underdog Strategy, Premium Goals: Under Armour’s India Story

When Under Armour launched in India in 2019, it entered a competitive market dominated by established global and domestic players. Leading the brand’s entry was Tushar Goculdas, a former Adidas executive and BCG consultant, who later founded Underdog Athletics—now Under Armour’s exclusive distributor and licensee in the country. Over the years, the brand has been building its presence steadily under his leadership. Without relying on discounting or large-scale retail partnerships, the company has focused on controlled expansion and product consistency.

Underdog Athletics India clocked a revenue of Rs 177.05 crore in FY24, up 26% from Rs 140.20 crore in FY23, as per regulatory filings accessed by Tofler. Net profit rose to Rs 33.21 crore from Rs 24.93 crore, marking a 33% increase. Earnings Per Share (basic) rose from Rs 249.31 to Rs 332.10. Footwear led category sales in both years, while foreign exchange outgo rose from Rs 69.77 crore to Rs 80.50 crore.

In conversation with BrandWagon Online, Tushar Goculdas, MD, Underdog Athletics, breaks down the business playbook, category bets, and why Under Armour doesn’t believe in sales—even in India. (Edited Excerpts)

Tell us a bit about your marketing strategy—what are your key focus areas across digital, traditional, and influencer-driven campaigns?

Our retail network itself is a key part of our marketing strategy. These 49 mono-brand stores, all located in high-footfall, premium locations, offer strong visibility for the brand. Beyond retail, we run multiple campaigns throughout the year. These include:

• Thematic brand storytelling—like the “Zidd for More” campaign with Neeraj Chopra, which we launched last year.
  
  

• Product- and innovation-led launches, which are shorter bursts of communication aligned with new collections or technologies introduced through the year.
  
  

We invest significantly in digital marketing, as that’s where consumers are increasingly consuming content and brand messaging. Our digital strategy spans social media, influencer tie-ups, and digital-first campaigns.

Within digital marketing, how do you balance social media, traditional channels, and martech tools like SEO—especially with AI now reshaping consumer discovery? Are there any defined budget splits?

I won’t be able to give you an exact financial split. But what I can say is that we aim for an optimal distribution of our marketing investments to achieve the best outcomes.

That said, we’re not a brand driven by heavy performance marketing. We’re also not focused on discounts or promotional tactics. Since launching in India in March 2019, we’ve never run a sale or discount event at any of our brand stores. We believe in maintaining the premium positioning of Under Armour.

When it comes to clearing old inventory, we do that through our factory outlets or the outlet sections on our website and through e-commerce partners. But our primary brand stores have never offered markdowns—even during end-of-season periods.

On the martech front, things are evolving fast. Traditionally, SEO and digital targeting were central to martech strategies. But now, with the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, consumer queries are shifting from keyword-based search to conversational answers. That’s the next frontier for brand visibility—ensuring we show up in AI-powered recommendations and responses.

How has FY25 been for Under Armour India so far? Any major challenges or breakthroughs you would highlight?

FY25 was an excellent year for us, despite facing some unexpected and serious challenges. One of the key hurdles we encountered was a temporary disruption in footwear supply due to the implementation of BIS standards. This led to a supply break for a few months.

That said, we managed the situation well. While we couldn’t predict exactly how the transition would play out, we had planned ahead and ensured we had enough merchandise for the year. As a result, we achieved a growth rate of approx 20%, which aligns closely with my long-term goal of maintaining 20–25% annual growth. We've sustained this pace for the last three years and expect to continue in this range going forward. So overall, it’s been a very positive outcome.

As you mentioned, we’re reinvesting all our earnings back into the business to fuel further growth. A significant portion is going into the expansion of our retail stores. Additionally, as our scale increases, so do our working capital requirements, so some of the earnings are being directed there as well.

What’s the current split between your key product categories—footwear, apparel, and accessories? And how has that evolved recently?

In FY24, the split between footwear and apparel was almost equal, both contributing around 47% each to our overall revenue. Accessories—which include caps, bags, gloves, etc.—made up the remaining 4–4.5%.

In FY25, apparel grew faster due to the footwear supply disruption we mentioned earlier. So, apparel contributed slightly more than footwear during the year.

That said, going forward, we expect footwear and apparel to remain roughly equal in contribution. Globally, apparel is a significant strength for us. In fact, many of our products don’t have real comparisons in the Indian market. Our apparel is extremely popular due to the technology and innovation behind it—it’s designed to benefit people engaged in fitness, training, or any kind of physical activity.

We also lead in seamless garments, which eliminate abrasion while running or working out. This segment is a stronghold for us globally.

In India, the upside is that our footwear category performs exceptionally well too, especially in the premium segment. The average selling price for our shoes at retail is ₹16,200, which positions us at the top end of the market. Consumers not only appreciate the comfort and performance but also the design and aesthetic of our footwear. The brand continues to enjoy strong consumer love across both categories.

Could you walk us through your retail expansion strategy? How are you thinking about store count, city presence, and future scale?

We’re currently at 49 stores, and we’ve hit a significant milestone in FY25—though not yet published officially—with our retail revenue crossing ₹500 crore. That’s a major achievement for us.

Given India’s potential and the continued rise in consumption, we expect to maintain high double-digit growth over the next three to five years. This growth will come primarily through our two main channels, with retail being a major focus. We’re expanding our store footprint steadily—our target is to open 8 to 10 stores every year. Of course, that can vary slightly depending on market conditions, but on average, that’s our pace.

What kind of traction are you seeing beyond the top metros? Are tier-2 cities becoming more important to your growth story?

As a focused, athletic performance brand operating in the premium segment, we’re very selective about where we expand. We currently have a presence in 30 cities, so we’re not just a tier-1 brand. While tier-1 cities contribute significantly, we’ve seen excellent traction in tier-2 markets as well.

In the last financial year, we entered new cities like Nagpur, Bhopal, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, and others. Lucknow has been part of our network since 2020. These cities may be labelled tier-2, but they’re anything but small, and we’ve seen strong performance in many of them.

That said, the top three metro cities—Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru—still account for nearly 50% of our retail business. Beyond these, key cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Chandigarh are also critical markets for us, and we have multiple stores in each.

Other important cities include Chennai, Lucknow, Jaipur, and in Punjab, Ludhiana and Jalandhar have been doing very well. Surat is also a strong market for us. So, while metros lead in volume, our presence in other cities is expanding meaningfully, and the response has been very encouraging.

How do your online and offline channels stack up currently in terms of contribution? And are you exploring emerging formats like quick commerce?

We operate through only two channels—retail and e-commerce. On the retail side, we sell exclusively through our mono-brand Under Armour stores. You won’t find our products in any other offline or multi-brand retail formats. We’re very focused and intentional about that.

In the online space, we follow a similarly focused approach. We run our own direct-to-consumer website, which is managed by us. It replicates the global brand experience and offers the full range of products available in India. In addition to our own site, we are present on select e-commerce marketplaces, and we also do business with e-commerce partners like Tata CLiQ.

As of now, offline retail contributes about 62–63% of our overall business, while e-commerce accounts for the remaining 37–38%.

Regarding quick commerce, while we’ve seen many brands explore that space, our current focus remains on conventional e-commerce. Given the premium price points we operate at, we believe our products are better suited for considered purchases rather than impulse buys. Our philosophy has always been: you need to earn your Armour. This isn’t an instant gratification product.

That said, we’re not ruling out quick commerce entirely—never say never—but for now, it’s not part of our core strategy.