• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 20, 2010

CAPTIVA ISLAND, Fla. -- Under Armour marketer Kris Zimmerman says the company is trying to alter its image as an apparel provider for muscled "big, sweaty, burly" males. High-performance athletes remain a target audience, but the company is increasingly trying to appeal to the "young competitor" -- of both genders.  

"It's the aspiring athlete ... not quite as burly anymore," she said on a panel at MediaPost's Email Insider Summit.

But in addition to boys and girls looking to emulate the Under Armour archetype, there is also the need to reach their parents, who make the buying decisions.

Baltimore-based Under Armour has redesigned the look and feel of its emails, partly to advance the new image. Zimmerman, a marketing analyst, said the company began emphasizing email marketing as a customer retention tool about three years ago and recently invested in building new templates for its emails.

"The old creative was doing fine, our key metrics looked great, we had a really strong subscriber base and our return was very strong," she said. "But it was getting a little boring and a little stagnant, so we decided to mix it up."

A new design allows better showcasing of products and cuts down on copy, while allowing a person to forward a message to a Facebook or Twitter page. "We really wanted to catch on the vibe of social media," Zimmerman said.

Also new is a more prominent header that touts free shipping -- Under Armour does not do discounting -- so that's a linchpin for e-commerce. Zimmerman said the company also plans to launch email newsletters in June featuring training tips and nutrition advice, as well as product plugs, from its stable of professional athlete endorsers, such as Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters.

A mobile site is also coming, since historically its emails have looked unimpressive on BlackBerry devices, she said.