• Business Week , Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:45 AM

Under Armour is running its first-ever Super Bowl ad for a cross-trainer sneaker it figures will start to challenge Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and New Balance in the heavily competitive athletic footwear category. The 60-second ad--featuring a computer-generated version of company spokesman "Big E" (former NFL player Eric Ogbogu)--plays to the brand's near-cultlike following.

If Under Armour's track record with performance apparel is any indication of the strength of its brand, Nike and Adidas are right to keep an eye on the upstart, which is expected to post about $605 million in sales last year, up from $431 million in 2006. UA has 43% of the total U.S. performance apparel business sold through sporting goods stores, versus 32% for Nike and 5.1% for Adidas.

"Under Armour is identified with performance the way Starbucks is identified with better coffee, and that is a huge advantage in entering new categories," says marketing consultant Dennis Keene.

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