Merrell: Engaging the Next Generation of Adventurers

For over forty years, Merrell has been a trusted name in outdoor footwear and apparel, equipping adventure seekers with durable, high-performance gear. Committed to modernizing hiking, expanding its running category, and elevating its lifestyle appeal, Merrell continuously innovates to inspire confidence in outdoor exploration.

Some of Merrell’s current marketing focuses include brand awareness and connecting with young, experience-driven consumers. One standout initiative has been its strategic partnership with Strava, designed to engage audiences in an authentic and interactive way.

To uncover the insights behind this collaboration and for an inside look at how the brand successfully merges global strategy with localized innovation, we spoke with Jonny Quint, Merrell’s Product & Marketing Director EMEA.

Merrell’s marketing structure

Merrell's marketing team operates within a matrix organizational structure that balances global direction with local innovation. It is structured in a way that allows for both top-down global messaging and bottom-up local market innovation. While the global headquarters in Michigan, with a marketing team of about 30 people, provides overarching brand direction, the European team, with a marketing presence in key markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Nordic countries has the autonomy to localize and innovate.

“Wolverine World Wide [who own Merrell and other brands] and Merrell use a matrix structure. Our president, our CMO, and the global marketing team are based there [in Michigan]. In Europe, EMEA, we have a marketing team based in London covering the whole of the EMEA – with people in each key market,” Jonny explains.

“We agree the tone of the campaign and the overall direction from HQ in the US, and then how to apply it and what we need asset wise is something that we affect more locally,” he continues.

This flexible structure enables the marketing team to identify and lead in key focus areas. “Trail running, for example,” says Jonny, “is somewhere we've made particular progress on in Europe that other territories can learn from.”

This bottom-up approach played a crucial role in the adoption of Strava as a key marketing tool. “That’s actually what happened with Strava. Local teams pitched the idea to the global team in the US. That local variation can come up with an idea, come up with a proposal, and push to have it globally adopted.”

Their primary goal is brand awareness, ensuring their products are perceived as both functional and stylish for various outdoor and everyday settings. “We want people to wear our products knowing they could do a really heavy, muddy trail run or run through puddles... But also they could wear it to walk the dog or when they’re on their commute to the office on a wet day in February,” Jonny explains.

To achieve this, they utilize media agencies like Havas while ensuring local expertise influences decision-making. “I'm a big believer in getting data, but you then need the expertise within the business to use that data and add your own intuition,” Jonny adds.  

Marketing execution and differentiation

Merrell’s marketing approach is highly data-driven, utilizing insights from global consumer research (carried out by media agencies like Havas) to tailor campaigns for different markets.

For instance, the brand conducted a global study across five key markets, including the US, UK, China, and others to identify at least six consumer segments. From this research, the team looked at where they had opportunity, where the brand fitted currently, and where the brand could adjust itself to go. “We don’t want to change who we are, we want to move with the times and adapt,” Jonny explains their strategy.

Once Merrell’s marketing team carries out its research, either through a media agency or by themselves, and refines it, they then either turn to PR agencies or in-house specialists to work on campaign strategies.

The Merrell team is also currently focused on developing direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies alongside wholesale partnerships. This approach helps maintain control over the customer experience while also allowing them to test new product innovations. “One of our key objectives is to grow our own DTC business. In doing so, it enables us to bring other, sometimes more boundary-pushing products, to market,” Jonny says. “That direct communication with the consumer is important to us.”

Additionally, they focus on collaborations – like Strava – that enhance brand credibility and develop globally appealing content that resonates with international consumers. “For our campaigns, those come from HQ and so are US-led. But part of our responsibility is to ensure that those have a global appeal.”

Why Merrell chose Strava

 Merrell’s decision to partner with Strava was rooted in the platform’s ability to align seamlessly with their brand messaging and audience engagement goals. “I always felt that the best activations [...] are those that link really closely to the story. So whatever the story is, whatever your campaign is, whatever your product is promoting, has a proper tie to the type of activity that you do.”

With that in mind, Merrell decided to run a Sponsored Challenge on Strava in 2024 called 'Find The Love. Run Wild.' The campaign was designed to encourage road runners to switch to trail running by highlighting the benefits of off-road experiences. The goal was for participants to log 180 minutes of trail running in 3 weeks. In doing so, finalists could get the chance to win The Ultimate Trail Running Bundle worth $1,200 / £1,000 / €1,100, as well as get 25% off a pair of Agility Peak 5 trail running shoes.

“We are a trail running brand, so we wanted to get people who run on the road to switch one of their runs to a trail, highlighting the benefits of off-trail running” Jonny says. “Story-wise, it made perfect sense to have a campaign with Strava that reflected that.”

Strava offered the ideal medium for Merrell to reach their target ‘experience seeker’ audience and the partnership was a natural fit. Merrell was able to leverage Strava’s engaged community to increase awareness and participation in trail running, reinforcing the brand’s position in the space.

Ultimately, over 274,000 people joined the Challenge, with 7.7m unique impressions – successfully engaging their target audience. The activation also saw an 80% completion rate and a 25% reward CTR – above the usual benchmarks for Challenges like this. The campaign not only encouraged trial of their products but also strengthened brand perception as a leader in the outdoor performance category.

“Our recent campaign aligned well with Strava’s offerings and our goals. It complemented our current top priority – brand awareness,” Jonny re-iterates. Speaking about the year ahead, he explains that “A big part of our marketing strategy will see us continuing to work closely with media, or with ambassadors or influencers, as well as building more collaborations like the one we have with Strava.”