Kallee Kerestes

Steve Dyer
Maddy Munsee
Josh Peters

merrell
Joseph Smith
Gabe Alexander

FOR THE ADVENTURE IN EVERY DAY

TABLE OF

Contents
1 History of Merrell

2 Mission, Goals, Objectives, Strategies and

Tactics

4 Past IMC

5 Current IMC

6 Financial Details

7 Effects of Advertising

8 Direct Competitors

9 Brands Copy

10 Target Audience

11 Creative Brief
 1

The History
of Merrell
“Over three decades ago, Randy Merrell began

designing and manufacturing handmade custom

boots for a small group of outdoor enthusiasts.”

--Merrell Footwear, Our Story

Founder Randal (Randy) Merrell attended an

industrial shoe-making school and used his

knowledge and practice obtained there to begin

crafting boots. He began with handmade cowboy

boots and eventually designed and forged hiking

boots.

In 1981, Randy Merrell joined forces with Clark Matis and John Schweizer, two additional other

founders of the company, both of whom had backgrounds as ski company executives for Rossignol.

The trio brought their skills together to design and develop a high-performance hiking boot produced

in Italy and exported that could be sold at an affordable price. The uniqueness of this boot was the

combination of American cowboy boots and Italian-style boots and designed for durability.

In 1987, Karhu, a Finnish sports brand, purchased Merrell and moved product production to Asia,

which reduced prices and expanded sales. Merrell experienced extremely rapid growth from 1988-

1992 with sales reaching $20 million and products being sold in 22 countries.

In 1997, Wolverine Worldwide acquired Merrell. The brand then began manufacturing more

lightweight footwear with trail running shoes. This line featured a tough and harder outsole with a

flexible and softer upper. This design became Merrell’s signature shoe, the “Jungle Moc”, which has

had enormous success with upwards of 10 million pairs shipped.

In 2007, an expansion for Merrell included apparel and accessories. And by 2010, Merrell products

were available for purchase in 151 countries. Wolverine Worldwide reported in 2018 that Merrell

grew at a high single-digit rate during that year with increases across all consumer territories and

regions. It also reported having an exceptional year for Merrell’s Direct-to-Consumer businesses with

eCommerce growing over 30 percent and Stores growing at a mid-teens rate.

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The Mission, Goals, Objectives,

Strategies, and Structure of Merrell
“Merrell believes nothing should get in the way of enjoying active outdoor adventures. Merrell hiking

boots, trail running shoes and apparel are built on Merrell’s outdoor heritage, quality and

performance. The trail is the core of our design philosophy and has continued to guide us in the

development of innovative products that inspire and enable enjoyment of the outdoors.” --Wolverine

Worldwide, Merrell

Quality and Performance

Merrell has listed four core values that matter most in the quality and performance of their products:

Comfort

Design

Durability

Versatility

Merrell aims to deliver products that are uniquely well-rounded and satisfactory.

Outdoor Heritage

Merrell’s overarching message is-- explore, adventure, and

enjoy the outside world. Merrell praises athleticism,

especially individuals being active outdoors. Characteristic

branding for Merrell features media content of individuals

and products in nature, as well as the use of primarily earth-

tone and naturally-found color schemes. Merrell uses calls

to action that are intense and promote getting outside,

pushing limits, and having a good time.

Responsibility

Merrell is an established brand, with high brand loyalty, a

relatively long purchase cycle, and products that are

designed to be used daily.

To consumers...

Merrell is highly aware of its audience. So much so, that

Merrell’s audience is the face of their brand. Brand loyalty

and satisfaction is strategically demonstrated by consumers

in their advertisements and promotions.

To environment…

“As a company entrusted with the reputation of our family of brands, we hold ourselves to the

highest standards of human and environmental health and safety.” --Wolverine Worldwide, Merrell
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Merrell Past IMC-- Advertising,

Promotion Strategies and
Tactics
From the Wolverine annual report on Merrell Shoes, and Merrell products

(footwear/apparel/accessories) are created to empower amazing outdoor lives. Known for quality,

durability, versatility and comfort, Merrell is focused on delivering gear with compelling

technologies, performance features and inspired styling for use both on the trail and around town.

Merrell footwear offers an assortment of products in strategic categories such as technical hike,

trail, run, outdoor fitness, lifestyle and work for both men and women. Merrell footwear is sold in

outdoor specialty retailers, sporting goods chains, department stores, internet and catalog retailers

as well as Merrell stores and an eCommerce site. Merrell apparel and accessories extend to an

active outdoor lifestyle with a versatile line of apparel built for both performance and lifestyle.

Merrell apparel features stylized lifestyle silhouettes built with the technical, high performance,

weather fighting materials that consumers expect from a premium outdoor brand. Merrell also

markets accessories including technical duffels and backpacks.

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Add Your Own Scenery 2011 - Launched the

Add Your Own Scenery campaign. People were

encouraged to get outside, take photos of their

favorite vistas, post them to a website, which

compiles a 'round the world database of the

outdoor world, which others could view. The plan

was to create the world's largest panoramic photo.

For each photo shared Merrell donated $1 to a

selection of conservation groups, up to $250,000

USD. Plus happy snappers could win prizes and

gear for their involvement. Craig Throne, vice

president of global marketing at Merrell hoped the

Add Your Own Scenery campaign created, "a

domino effect of shared outdoor inspiration,

increased outdoor participation, all in a collective

effort to protect our outdoor playgrounds."

Virtual Reality “Trailscape” 2015- Merrell broke into the emerging virtual reality market with an

app called Trailscape a 4D, motion-tracked, multi-sensory experience that created a hike like no other

for Merrell and the brand's adrenaline-fueled customer base that allows people to take “hikes” from

the comfort of their living rooms. It encouraged users to want to get outdoors and experience the

places in real life.

Do Whats Natural Campaign 2016 - Traditional advertising and consumer activation through social

media, brand ambassadors and partnerships designed to speak to one’s individual outdoor instinct and

inspire would-be adventurers to embrace the great outdoors.

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Merrell Current IMC-- advertising,

promotion strategies and tactics
Merrell is focusing advertising on getting the brand name out into the public and becoming a more

recognizable brand with other advertising specifically focusing on shoes types to different target

audiences. They are focusing on branding themselves as the outdoor attire brand that has dependable,

well-made, comfortable and fashionable shoes, clothing and accessories that will help make every day

an adventure. They are utilizing social media to upload videos and images to showcase their brand and

sell products. They are known to sponsor outdoor events, hold trail running competitions and have an

ambassador program to create connections with customers and encourage others to get out in the world,

adventure and wear Merrell. Alongside these forms of advertising Merrell is also using direct mail, TV

and billboards to advertise the brand.

“Our messaging, content and product will be focused on our belief that nothing should get in the way

of enjoying active outdoor adventures.” - Linda Brunzell (CMO)

“No models or influencers, just real people.” -Linda Brunzell 

Dog Ambassador Program 2019- Showcasing

furry friends and their companions adventuring

outdoors while wearing Merrell and documenting

the adventures. Contestants must apply to enter

and winner will be showcased and receive a grand

prize.

Mindful Movement Tour 2019- Merging

mindfulness and movement together, Merrell

kicked off a sponsored hiking tour in 2015 and

continues today to focus on women getting

outdoors and promoting mindfulness.

Ambassador Program 2019- People were

selected to be brand ambassadors for Merrell to

wear, test and showcase products through social

media, and help create content for Merrell's social

media pages.
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Financial Details
In 1997, Merrell was bought by Wolverine World Wide Inc. which was able to bring its revenue from

$23 million annually to $500 million in 2010. It’s now estimated that Merrell brings in a revenue of

$400 million annually, which implies a decline in sales within the past ten years. Although the

company remains quiet about their current marketing budget, their new Chief Marketing Officer and

flurry of new campaigns and slogans implies they’re ready to take big steps to ensure they stay on top

of the trail-running shoe industry.

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Advertising and Marketing

Effects on Sales
Merrell has experienced a substantial increase in brand awareness over the past 4 years. This is

mostly a result of the success of their campaign, launched in 2016, promoting “experiencing” nature.

Accompanying their new ads, they promoted use of #MyNature on Instagram. They now have more

than 30,000 posts, all relating back to Merrell. One way to quantify their rapid growth is by social

media followers. Their Facebook following grew from 1,128,960 in December of 2015 to 2,209,101

currently. This represents a 95 percent increase within the past 4 years. Their current campaign is

proving to boost sales, as well. Last year, their eCommerce grew over 30% and their stores grew

around 15 percent in sales. Although, there is always room for growth and Merrell has expressed that

they hope to see their stores grow even further in sales in coming years.
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Direct Competitors
Merrell is currently ranked 5th among its competitors, in terms of annual sales.

Top ten competitors for Merrell

Keen $347.6M

$347.6M

Marmot $200M

Stio $2M

Campmor $65M

Salomon $1B

Coumbia $2.9B

Backcountry $500M

Ecco $1.3B

Mountain Warehouse $50M

Geox $97.5M

Keen, despite generating $52.4M less than Merrell in annual sales, represents Merrell’s greatest

competitor. Although they sell many types of apparel, their main focus is shoes. Their brand image

could be described as cleaner, and more aimed towards casual hiking, rather than athletic wear. Their

advertising is lacking, them having only 3k YouTube subscribers, compared to Merrell’s 12k. Their

competition is mainly in presenting a more affordable price and good quality.

 9

Brand Copy
Make the Most of Every Mile

Ace Our Fastest Light Hiker

Today's Most Capable Hiker for Tomorrows

Most Epic Adventure

Adventure Awaits 

Built for Hiking, Drawn to Water

Connect to the Ground

From Trash to Trail

On the Streets, On Repeat

Train Connected 

Big Style, Small Impact 

One Shoe Many Adventures

Move Quickly in the Mountains 

Endless Comfort, Total Performance

A Sky Runner Built for Speed

Do nothing when you are done doing

everything.

Carves Steps Out of Stones

One Day, One World, One Trail

10

Target Audience
Primary Audience

The customer for Merrell trail running shoes is Caucasian women between the ages of 25-44 who hold

full-time positions in the science or environmental field with an income of around $30,000-40,000 a

year. They are married with one to two children, living in urban areas. They drive Subaru’s, light

SUV’s, and eco-friendly vehicles. They own 1 to 2 dogs and are brand loyal to Apple products.

In their free time from work and caring for their children they enjoy trail running, hiking and spending

as much time outdoors as possible. They are adventurous and spontaneous, ready for an adventure at

any possible moment. They like supporting good causes that help make the world a better place. They

like affordable shoes that are high quality, durable, comfortable and that fit well. They like trying shoes

on in store before purchasing and purchasing from retail stores rather than online.

Secondary Audience

The secondary audience for Merrell trail running

shoes is Caucasian men between the ages of 18-44 who hold full-time office positions and make

between $50,000-60,000 a year. They are married with 1-4 children, living in urban and mountainous

areas.

When time-off of work is available they love

getting away from the city and busy streets and

out into the wilderness. They like being

adventurous in the outdoors by running, hiking,

fishing, hunting and even canoeing alone and

with their family or on their own. They are

ready to push themselves to see how fair and

high they can hike or run. They like

convenience and getting the best deal possible

when shopping and prefer to shop online for

trail shoes. They also like to purchase only

when they need a new pair so they prioritize

dependability, durability and comfort in a trail

shoe. They have facial hair. They drive SUV’s

and light trucks such as the Toyota Tacoma.

 11
Creative Brief
Big Idea:

Everyday life is stressful. In order for people to feel happy and balance within their lives, they need

to disconnect and spend time in nature. Merrell’s line of womens’ shoes are made for everyday

women who rely on the benefits of experiencing nature to supplement their daily lives.

Objective:

We want to demonstrate to our audience that many women just like them share the desire or need to

be outdoors, frequently. This connection will create a sense of community in viewers and they will

desire to be part of the family of hardworking, conscious, Merrell women.

Our target:

Jane is 35 years old, she’s an office manager for a small law firm just outside Aurora Colorado, she

just came back to work after taking 5 years off to be a full time mother and now makes $45,000 a

year. She exercises twice to three times a week. She got married 9 years ago and has two children

aged 5 and 3. Her husband is a few years older than her and is also a professional making $75,000 a

year as an IT systems manager. He likes the outdoors as much as her and has done an iron-man race

in the last 12 months. They have a nanny/cleaner that comes by every weekday that helps take care of

the kids and cleans. They have two cars in the household. She drives a 2015 Subaru Outback and her

husband drives a 2012 BMW 4 series. They purchased both of them as the second owner and paid

cash, they have a 15 year Mortgage on a $260,000 house but besides that they are debt fee. 

Strategy: 

We will use print ads as well as video-centered social media ads, highlighting women who use

frequent nature experiences to keep balance in their lives. These mini-stories, supported by narrative

examples of real people coupled with Merrell product, will help the audience feel understood and

more easily see themselves as Merrell users. These down to earth role-model-type women will also

help the target know that they can have meaningful outdoor experiences in their life as well, through

the use of top-quality Merrell trail running/hiking shoes. There will be a dramatic tone accentuated by

a hopeful and bright mood to instill a desire to get outside and get create the meaningful experiences

that they need. The tagline we want to present is “Disconnect; Reconnect”.

 12

Sources
https://www.framestore.com/work/trailscape

https://fstoppers.com/originals/50-photographers-across-50-states-capture-portraits-merrells-one-

trail-campaign-307852

http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2012/02/21/Merrill-Tries-On-New-Sponsorship-Strate

https://www.cmo.com/interviews/articles/2017/2/12/the-cmocom-interview-linda-brunzell-cmo-

merrell.html#gs.buja7xhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrell_(company)

https://www.merrell.com/US/en/about-us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrell_(company)

https://academic-mintel-com.byui.idm.oclc.org/search/?q=merrell+&go=