Experiences For Hikers → Strategy Used by Merrell®
Listen to the customer retention strategy used by Merrell®.
Are you part of a marketing team? You’ve probably heard of Merrell, the outdoor footwear brand founded in the United States in 1981. Listen to host André Brathwaite share the backstory of how founder Randy Merrell turned his passion into a lasting brand that uses a customer retention strategy: hobby-driven experiences, including activities (Merrell Hiking Club, Merrell Urban Hiking Guides, and The Merrell Fund Live).
Listening to this episode is just one of the many ways we at Forms of Recreation provide marketing teams with the strategy to turn one-time buyers into repeat customers.
The opinions expressed are solely those of Forms of Recreation and do not necessarily reflect the views of any brand mentioned. We encourage you to check their corresponding websites for further information.
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Episode 44
Experiences For Hikers → Strategy Used by Merrell®
____
Most outdoor brands compete on performance.
Waterproofing.
Grip.
Durability.Merrell saw an opportunity.
They didn’t just build better boots.
They gave people a reason to use them.
They turned hiking into something accessible.
That decision didn’t just increase customer retention.
It built a routine.
Because if boots are just equipment,
customers upgrade, switch, and move on.But if hiking becomes something you can repeat—
you come back
to keep going.____
Picture a trail.
Not dramatic.
Not remote.
Just a path
you’ve decided to follow.Your pace slows.
Not because you’re tired—
because you’re paying attention.
Foot placement matters.
You notice incline.
You go from loose gravel,
to packed dirt.
You adjust without overthinking.
Step.
Shift.
Balance.
There’s no digital notification telling you to continue.
No finish line demanding speed.
Just movement.
Consistent.
Deliberate.
You start to recognize trails.
Distances.
How your body responds.
What you need.
Better socks?
Better grip?
Better support?
And once you start noticing those things,
you don’t hike randomly anymore.
You prepare.
You improve.
You come back—
to go a little further
than last time.That belief—
that hiking can be part of one’s identity, not a one-time event—is exactly how Merrell was built.
____
Randy Merrell was born in Vernal, Utah, in 1950
As a teenager,
he helped run his family’s 40-acre horse ranch—
Arabian horses, daily labor, real responsibility.And once a month,
he had a specific job.Go into town
to repair his father’s shoes.His father had a clubfoot.
A deformity at birth in which a baby’s foot is turned inward
That detail matters.
Because Randy didn’t learn footwear as fashion.
He learned it as function.
Originally, he planned to become a veterinarian.
But the classroom didn’t suit him.
After a two-year mission in Brazil for the church,
he came back with a different instinct.At 20 years old, knocking on doors daily,
he knocked on a shoemaker’s door—
unannounced—The shoemaker let him in.
That moment changed everything.
He called the shoemaker a “magician”,
amazed by his process and craftsmanship.
When Randy returned to his hometown,
he told his father he wanted to make boots for a living,
the response was blunt:“That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard of in my life.
A man can’t provide for a family with the work of his hands.”Randy did it anyway.
He started making custom cowboy boots.
Exotic leathers.
Detailed stitching.
Handmade precision.One pair at a time.
Then came the shift.
Randy Merrell was already an avid backpacker and hiker,
One day, reading Backpacker magazine,
he noticed something others didn’t.The hiking boot market was dominated
by heavy, stiff European styles.Built for durability—
not for comfort.Randy saw the gap.
So he applied his cowboy boot philosophy
to hiking.Fit first.
Performance second.He began building custom hiking boots
for serious hikers.And they worked.
Word spread.
But there was a problem.
They didn’t scale.
Each pair was handmade.
Expensive.
Limited.That’s when Clark, a marketer, and John, a business operator
saw an opportunity.They partnered with Randy
to bring his craftsmanship to a larger market.In 1981,
Merrell was formed.
The first product
was a high-performance hiking boot
built on Randy’s principles.But here’s what matters.
They didn’t position it as fashion.
Or even as gear.
They positioned it
for people who hike.Randy eventually left the company in 1986
to return to custom cowboy boot making.The brand continued to evolve—
expanding into hiking boots,
multi-sport shoes,
and eventually trail running.____
Here’s where most outdoor brands get stuck:
They wait for demand.
Merrell builds it.
Through the Merrell Hiking Club.
Not a loyalty program.
In-person hiking activities for a female-focused community.
They organize hikes across three categories:
Urban.
Suburban.
Adventure.
Which means something important.
You don’t need a mountain
to start hiking.You start where you are.
City streets.
Local parks.
Weekend trails.
Then you progress.
Each hike is guided.
Structured.
Social.
But Merrell doesn’t stop at participation.
They extend the ecosystem.
Through their Urban Hiking Guide.
There is a number of curated routes
across cities like Paris, London, and Barcelona—
designed to help people rediscover familiar places
as if they were trails.Because here’s the shift:
Hiking isn’t positioned as escape.
It’s positioned as perspective.
Side streets become paths.
Stairs become elevation.
Parks become terrain.
The city becomes usable.
That removes the biggest barrier to entry:
“I don’t have access.”
Now you do.
Everywhere.
Now, to the Merrell Fund.
A grant initiative designed to support organizations
that increase access to the outdoors
and protect natural spaces.They have put together Merrrel Fund Live, a live, annual event
where shortlisted organizations present their work—
and the community votes
on who receives funding.That changes the dynamic.
Customers become contributors
to the outdoor ecosystem.This is where most brands would write a check
and call it purpose.Merrell turns it into participation.
They don’t just hike.
They help decide
what hiking looks like
for others.This creates a loop:
You join a hike.
You experience the activity among like-minded people.
You recognize what good gear enables.
You return to improve.
Most footwear brands rely on replacement cycles.
Merrell continues to build supportive environments.
Because once someone hikes regularly,
they look for a community that supports them.
That’s customer retention.
____
Here’s the decision Merrell made
that most product brands avoid.They didn’t just sell equipment.
They created behavior.
They lowered the barrier to entry.
They made hiking accessible.
Repeatable.
Social.
Because once someone identifies as a hiker,
they don’t leave easily.
They invest.
They upgrade.
They return.
You can sell products for occasional use.
Or you can build habits people rely on.
One creates sporadic sales.
The other creates consistent demand.
____
If loyalty disappears when the product wears out,
it was never loyalty.Give customers a reason to return: hobby-driven experiences that make people feel alive.
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