Auburn students and fans packed into the Hotel of Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center to hear the true Cinderella story of Under Armour told by its creator.
Kevin Plank is the Chairman and CEO of Under Armour and started the business in his basement in late 1995.
The brand now earns more than $700 million globally a year and is still growing.
"Under Armour is a story of hope, because that is what entrepreneurship is," Plank said. "It is talking about what is possible. It is taking something that does not exist and making something great."
Under Armour has formed a special relationship with Auburn and its students.
Under Armour has become a symbol of Auburn athletics as the company formed a partnership with Auburn more than four years ago under the direction of Athletic Director Jay Jacobs.
The last national commercial featured new head football coach Gene Chizik and Auburn's athletic program.
"Jay Jacobs was a person very early on that stuck his hand out and said sometimes people need a chance in life and that is what we are going to give Under Armour," Plank said. "It was big and bold of him to do that and something I will never forget. It is one of the reasons why we hope to be one of the long term partners of Auburn University."
Plank said that part of Under Armour's success today is the brand was built on the field with today's athlete and their mission is to make all athletes better.
He said they do it with this relentless focus on performance and innovation.
The company sees itself as the athletic brand of this generation.
"I can tell you that it wasn't always like that," Plank said. "In fact, prior to Under Armour, athletes never had a choice. The only option kids had when they played sports was a short sleeve cotton T-shirt in the summer and a long sleeved cotton T-shirt in the winter. I always knew there was something better out there."
Through his years of playing football in high school and at the University of Maryland, Plank said he wondered why no one addressed the equipment athletes wore beneath their pads.
Cotton T-shirts, when dry weighed, about six ounces, once it became wet on the body it weighed somewhere between two or three pounds.
"I had this idea for this compression T-shirt that wouldn't hold moisture, but more importantly wouldn't hold that moisture's weight," Plank said. "To test this concept, I wondered what if I made something like a synthetic that sort of stuck to the body like a second skin."
Upon graduating, Plank pursued the idea of a synthetic T-shirt, but he met challenges and resistance along the way.
"People said I was crazy and it will never happen and that I didn't stand a chance," Plank said. "But I woke up every single morning, and I never believed that it couldn't happen. My goals were that I am going to make the world's greatest athletic gear."
So Plank put his plan into action by purchasing fabric to fit his concept and taking it to a local tailor.
He purchased seven T-shirts and took them back to his teammates at Maryland to test them out.
"One by one, they all started coming back to me asking what is this thing and where can I get more of them," Plank said. "Not only were the guys on the football team asking for them, but also the guys on the baseball team. I realized that this idea to build a great T-shirt for football was a category that was much bigger."
Plank found a better way to manufacture and got the first 500 shirts made. He set up shop in a house that used to belong to his grandmother, where he worked in an upstairs office and kept inventory in the basement.
The first fabric has since been improved upon more than 40 different times.
"That first year of business in '96, we did about $17,000 in sales," Plank said. "But we had momentum, we had passion, we had people who enjoyed our product and that turned into $100,000 in 1997."
The Under Armour brand attributes its growth to its ability to tell the story of its product.
"To convince a bunch of 280 pound football players to wear what at one point was just women's lingerie on their body, you better be a good storyteller," Plank said.
Since Under Armour ran its first national ad in ESPN The Magazine in 1999, it has told many stories through campaigns.
"Probably the one that defines us more than anything is the campaign called 'Protect This House.'" Plank said. "We are proud of this legacy that we have built around these words that are also written in Jordan-Hare Stadium. To us it means protecting our team and protecting what we are building."
In the future, Under Armour plans to extend its footwear category since introducing shoes in 2006.
The company is also working on a new garment called Recharge that is meant to help athletes recover quicker after sporting events.
Another product the company is working on is a new mouth guard designed to align the jaw and increase flexibility.
"We have matured not only as a brand, but as a company," Plank said. "We are affiliated with some of the greatest organizations, leagues and schools in the world. At the heart of that is our flagship university and about being an Auburn Tiger and War Eagle!"
This story of inspiration spoke to some students who are about to enter the next phase of their life and trying to achieve goals of their own.
"I thought his story was encouraging and had a lot of energy," said Jennifer Stuart, a sophomore in nutrition. "It made me want to jump up and down and scream 'War Eagle!'"
Even those who invited Plank to speak said they were inspired by his incredible journey.
"We have a special relationship with Under Armour, in athletics," said Carol Warfield, department head of consumer affairs. "And what a great story it is to tell."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
