Under Armour Has Signed Gisele for Their Women's Campaign. Nike Might As Well Be Dead.

SOURCE – Under Armour has signed a model to be part of its new women’s campaign. And not just any model — Mrs. Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen. On Tuesday morning, the shoe and apparel brand posted a teaser video on YouTube featuring the world’s top-earning model. In the video, Bundchen is seen wearing the brand’s gear and heading into an empty loft with a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. It ends with the promise of more to come about the relationship Thursday. In 2010, Brady joined Under Armour, receiving an undisclosed piece of the company for his endorsement. Bundchen will be part of Under Armour’s women’s campaign, which kicked off last month with the signing of ballerina Misty Copeland, another nontraditional endorsement deal for the brand. The campaign, with its I Will What I Want slogan, also includes skier Lindsey Vonn, soccer player Kelley O’Hara and tennis player Sloane Stephens. Under Armour’s women’s business does about $500 million in sales and makes up roughly 30 percent of the company’s overall apparel sales annually.

This is the kind of business maneuvering that makes me think Nike and Adidas and Reebok won’t even exist five or ten years down the road. Under Armour is just too smart for anyone else to try to compete on the same level. Do you think Under Armour actually wanted to pay Kevin Durant like $260 million? Of course they didn’t. What’s another basketball player to their brand in the grand scheme of things? Not a whole lot. But it is a nice little distraction to throw Nike’s way.

While those idiots in Oregon were panicking about losing KD, Under Armour just went and turned the entire sportswear landscape on its head. Good for Nike getting that guy who got blown out in the NBA Finals that one time he actually made it, but UA just locked down the second half of the greatest power couple the world has ever seen. Brady and Gisele. Gisele and Brady. With just two people (Gods) Under Armour owns the entire athletic apparel world. The women’s market is rapidly expanding and they’ve got a spokesperson who’s the perfect embodiment of grace, beauty, and the strength of femininity. Now they’re adding Gisele to that, too? Unstoppable. I’m no expert, but if you’re holding Nike stock, I’d advise you to sell while it’s still worth something.