Adobe Online Marketing Suite Success Story Under Armour Leading performance apparel company uses the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, powered by Omniture, to create an engaging online shopping experience and boost conversion rates Under Armour www.underarmour.com Industry Retail Apparel Challenges Optimizing online content for higher conversion rates Gaining visibility into customer behaviors Creating a consistent online and offline shopping experience Making brand assets available to all channels and users Solution Online analytics Content optimization Digital asset management and rich media Under Armour is using the Adobe Online Marketing Suite to create a rich online shopping experience, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased sales. Results Achieved a 300% lift in conversion by re-engaging customers who abandoned a sale Unified online and offline engagement metrics for a comprehensive online marketing strategy Created a consistent message and experience across sales channels Accelerated content and messaging development High performance goes high tech From grass roots to pros around the world, Maryland-based Under Armour strives to make all athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation. With its unique blend of high-tech athletic apparel and cutting-edge image, the company has staked its claim as a market leader in the multi-billion dollar athletic equipment industry. Today, Under Armour s online sales channel represents a growing percentage of overall sales. For the pioneering apparel, footwear, and accessories company, the online sales and marketing channel also plays a vital role in the company s broader marketing strategy, because it provides an exciting avenue for customers to interact with the brand through dynamic digital experiences. With the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, our brand can do more with less. We have greater insight into how our online retail channel performs at all levels and can control every aspect of our e-marketing efforts from a single platform. We can achieve greater customer engagement and retention, higher sales, and excellent returns on our investment, without adding staff or other expenses, says, Manager of Web Analytics & Optimization at Under Armour. Integrating online marketing activities Under Armour uses the Adobe Online Marketing Suite to capture, analyze, and act upon customer website, e-mail marketing, and social media engagement. The company continues to deliver more relevant, enticing content that drives conversion rates and higher sales through the integrated marketing suite that includes Adobe Scene7, as well as other Adobe solutions including components of the Adobe Flash Platform, Adobe Creative Suite 5, Adobe ColdFusion, and Adobe Acrobat. Under Armour has grown up with Adobe s best-of-breed solutions that enable us to design, develop, and deliver world class digital experiences to all our customer touch points, said Brian McManus, director of technology at Under Armour. In the past, the company was limited to high-level user interaction metrics such as page visits, orders, and revenues per product. With the help of Adobe Consulting, for Omniture technology, Under Armour conducted a comprehensive audit of its website and e-mail marketing channel. The company determined that leveraging web analytics and optimization solutions to modify e-mail marketing campaigns, website content, and purchase suggestions for customers could dramatically boost its online revenues without incurring additional expenses. Using the integrated Adobe solutions, Under Armour can effectively marry information from multiple user touch points. The more holistic view of customer interactions results in better decision making that ultimately drives higher sales. Optimizing website content for greater returns As one of the primary points of contact with customers, it s important for Under Armour s website to be easily navigable, enabling customers to quickly find the products they want, while reinforcing the brand s identity.
Adobe Scene7 gives customers a new way to view and interact with products online. Features such as panning, zooming, and automatic color change let customers see products from every angle and in every available color to help make sure they re getting exactly what they want. The Adobe Online Marketing Suite helps the brand increase sales by streamlining navigation and allowing customers to reach desired products more quickly, resulting in a better overall shopper experience. For years, Under Armour successfully drove heavy traffic volumes to its website through search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, paid search campaigns, and more recently, attracting visitors through social media sites such as Facebook. SEO and paid advertising were initially successful in bringing traffic to the site, but we were searching for avenues to increase visibility into how to convert that traffic into higher-value sales, Kemeys says. Adobe Online Marketing Suite solutions enable the company to capture and analyze how customers arrived at the site and their online interactions, including product searches, the content viewed, and the final steps leading up to a completed or abandoned sale. The reports provide key information to help optimize content for a more engaging online experience and clues as to how to re-engage lost sales for higher conversion and revenue. With the Adobe solutions, Under Armour managers can generate a variety of highly detailed reports using real-time data captured in multiple systems. The reports are generated from a single console, and offer virtually limitless segmentation. Under Armour leverages the segmentation capabilities to generate reports by price point, product line, and product traits colors, sizes, men s, or women s. These reports also enable decision makers to compare sales in retail outlets versus online sales to give product teams a comprehensive view of sales trends. In addition, analysts can compare how interactive elements like product listings can affect conversion and sales rates and then make adjustments on the fly. The product sales reports highlight the best-selling online products or those for which sales are lagging behind expectations. From there, products can be repositioned on the website or more heavily promoted through e-mail campaigns, banners, or recommendations to boost sales. The insights we gain can have immediate returns, explains Kemeys. For instance, we previously listed a relatively inexpensive cold-weather cap on one of the lower-traffic pages, says Kemeys. After running a few reports, we saw that when people found the product, it had a remarkably high conversion rate. We moved it to a higher-profile area of our site, and as a result, we quickly sold out the entire product inventory. We re now applying similar strategies to other products to boost overall sales. In addition, other reports uncovered important information about how customers navigated the site to find products and which content they viewed during their experience. This data enabled the company to refine its search functions to return more relevant results that lead customers directly to desired products.
Using the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, the brand can create a consistent message and consumer experience at every step of the marketing process, from first impression to the click-through. Optimizing both our landing pages and our e-mail messaging to have the same look, feel, and messaging has helped increase conversion rates. We found that more than 50% of our revenues come from direct pathways and easier product navigation, rather than just by trying to present engaging images alone, Kemeys says. The Adobe Online Marketing Suite helps the brand increase sales by streamlining navigation and allowing customers to reach desired products more quickly, resulting in a better overall shopper experience. The starting lineup An important part of providing an engaging, dynamic experience is to constantly test new features, functionality, and images to discover the right mix to keep customers interacting with the site. Under Armour wanted an efficient way to test new content and layouts without adversely affecting customers experiences online and potentially hindering sales. With Adobe solutions, we can test different layouts and pages side-by-side in real time. It s proven to be extremely valuable to us, Kemeys says. Adobe Online Marketing Suite solutions used by Under Armour Solution name Adobe SiteCatalyst Adobe Discover Solution type Provides Under Armour managers with actionable, real-time data for online strategies and campaigns Delivers deep insights and defined segments based on real-time data about website visitors Adobe Genesis Adobe Test&Target Adobe Recommendations Adobe Consulting for Omniture technology Adobe Scene7 Automates data integration with digital marketing capabilities for consolidated reporting, targeting, and optimization activities Enables marketers to continually improve content relevance through the design and execution of dynamic A/B and multivariate tests and content targeting Automatically promotes relevant content, products, and offers to users across multiple channels Delivers critical insights into online marketing strategies and solution implementation Hosted rich media solution manages, distributes, and dynamically serves all Under Armour images and brand assets to its channels, internal users, and external partners A new way to look at products Under Armour is passionate about the opportunities that dynamic, captivating imagery has a profound impact on consumers buying behavior. The brand has seen profound impact through the strategic implementation of Adobe Scene7 solutions for managing content and enhancing visitor experiences. Under Armour also leverages the Adobe Scene7 platform for managing, enhancing, and delivering rich content across channels and managing, collecting, and distributing product imagery and brand assets across internal teams, retail partner sites, its own website, e-mail marketing campaigns, and social media pages. The Scene7 solution plays a pivotal role in defining user experiences on the Under Armour website. Adobe helps enable the company to scale and automate the delivery of dynamic, interactive product imagery. Features such as zoom, panning, 360-degree views, and instantly applied color changes give customers new, inventive ways to view and interact with products. With Adobe Scene7, the company only has to manage a single master file and is able to dynamically generate and serve unlimited versions on demand for use on its retail, mobile, social, and experience sites as well its internal portal. In addition, Under Armour leverages Scene7 Media Portal as a one stop shop for all internal and external audiences to access any product, brand, or point-of-sale content. With nearly 80% of the company s sales driven through sporting goods stores, Media Portal enables Under Armour to seamlessly distribute pre-approved product images that retailers can use in weekly print publications or on their websites to ensure brand consistency.
With targeted e-mails generated based on information collected using the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, Under Armour can reengage customers after an online sale has been abandoned. By e-mailing special offers and product recommendations based on user preferences and browsing history, Under Armour lifted conversion by more than 300%. Our goal is to make shopping online as easy and enjoyable as it is in a store. The Adobe Online Marketing Suite helps us put the right product information in front of the right customer at the right time. Now, customers get exactly what they want and need, whether they re in the store or shopping online. Similarly, the company frequently refreshes product images on its Facebook fan page as a teaser mechanism to draw users back to the website. To date, Kemeys notes that the company has driven more than $200,000 in revenue from people who ve come to the Under Armour website after viewing content on the Facebook fan page. An innovative win-back strategy Even with simplified navigation, enhanced search capabilities, and rich product imagery and displays, some purchases are abandoned before being finalized. Reengaging customers who ve abandoned their purchase is a cost-effective way for Under Armour to improve its relationship with customers and expand sales opportunities. The company s overarching strategy is to tie shopping cart abandonment and browsing behaviors with targeted e-mail campaigns and website optimization to create an end-to-end acquisition and customer retention program. Under Armour uses Adobe solutions to execute three strategic tactics aimed at unifying e-mail and online marketing for stronger and more profitable relationships with customers. First, Under Armour developed an automated abandonment response that leverages real-time website fall out and shopping cart abandonment reports, to generate special-offer and reminder e-mails for customers who abandoned their purchases. We use business rules based on analyses of an individual shopper s online behavior and the respective abandonment points to generate the e-mails, which we send 72 hours after a customer left his or her order, Kemeys says. The strategy has succeeded in generating an average lift in conversion rates of over 300%. The company is also utilizing dynamic product recommendations in its e-mail campaigns to further enhance offer relevance and improve conversion rates as opposed to previously used manual processes. For example, once a customer has completed an order online, an order confirmation e-mail is sent along with relevant product suggestions for future purchases. As a result, the company is able to increase its up-sell and cross-sell opportunities with product offers that align with customer behaviors. More importantly, recommendations that feature the same dynamic product imagery and messaging as on the website present another opportunity for Under Armour to draw users back to the website for additional shopping.
Systems at a glance Adobe Online Marketing Suite. Components used include: Adobe SiteCatalyst Adobe Discover Adobe Test&Target Adobe Genesis Adobe Recommendations Adobe Scene7 Adobe Flash Platform. Components used include: Adobe Flash Builder Adobe AIR Adobe Flash Professional Adobe Creative Suite 5 Adobe ColdFusion Adobe Acrobat Combining the real-time testing and analytics capabilities of the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, Under Armour can systematically develop content in its display advertising to drive traffic to the website, where similar messaging and content can be found. Using the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, the brand can create a consistent message and consumer experience at every step of the marketing process, from first impression to the click-through, Kemeys says. Optimizing both our landing pages and our e-mail messaging to have the same look, feel, and messaging has helped increase conversion rates. Give them what they want Under Armour has long been at the forefront of the athletic apparel industry, offering athletes an extensive line of performance apparel. Its products have garnered the company a vast and loyal customer base. For Under Armour, the Adobe Online Marketing Suite is a vital resource for creating consistent, engaging online shopping experiences. Using a wealth of real-time and historical data, the company can continually adjust and modify online content to suit an individual s unique tastes and preferences. Our goal is to make shopping online as easy and enjoyable as it is in a store, says Kemeys. The Adobe Online Marketing Suite helps us put the right product information in front of the right customer at the right time. Now, customers get exactly what they want and need, whether they re in the store or shopping online. For more information www.omniture.com/ onlinemarketingsuite Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe AIR, Adobe Discover, Adobe Genesis, Adobe SiteCatalyst, Adobe Test&Target, ColdFusion, Creative Suite, Flash, Flash Builder, Omniture, and Scene7 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2011 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. 91048842 4/11