Merrell’s pitch to non-outdoorsy consumers: Go outside instead

Touching grass is good for you, and it’s actually not that hard. At least, not according to Merrell.

The 45-year-old hiking footwear brand, which is owned by Wolverine Worldwide, recently debuted a spot titled “It Starts Outside” as part of a new brand platform encouraging exploration of the world outside. The 30-second spot is primarily running on digital platforms, and stars athletes like Olympian Alexi Pappas and marathon runner Lisa Thompson alongside regular outside enjoyers, all stepping through a door to enjoy various outdoor activities like running, camping, or simply sitting. It’ll continue through the rest of the year with seasonal updates, including an expanded initiative later this month, Global CMO Richard McLeod told us; at the end of 2026, his team will revisit the “North Star” idea to evaluate where to go next.

Framing the campaign around “outside” rather than something like “the great outdoors” is key to Merrell’s approachable messaging, McLeod said. Outside is everywhere and available, while the outdoors might seem more grandiose—and potentially not be everyone’s cup of tea.

“For some people, the outdoors just conjures up granola, mud,” McLeod said. “Some people don’t love that. But a lot of people like to go to the park. They like to go in their backyard. They like to go to summer festivals. They like to meet up in communities. And I think that broadens the aperture of what ‘the outside’ can mean to different sets of consumers.”

Open the door

“It Starts Outside” is Merrell’s first-ever global brand platform, and it serves to reintroduce the brand to existing customers while hopefully introducing it to new customers, McLeod said. That new set includes younger consumers and women specifically, who are “driving decision-making, which is driving purchases,” he said.

“[This campaign] will set the foundation and our belief system for future,” McLeod said. “If you think about successful brands in our industry or outside of it, building that strong base foundation is critical for brand growth.”

At the end of 2025, Wolverine Worldwide reported that Merrell brought in $173 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, which was up nearly 6% for the brand YoY. Overall revenue was up 36.6% YoY in Q4 at $517.5 million, and Wolverine, which also owns Saucony, projected 2026 Q1 revenue to be between $445 million and $450 million, which would be a reported growth of approximately 8.5% at the midpoint compared to the prior year, per Women’s Wear Daily.

“Listen, not many are in [this position],” McLeod said. “We have to make the most of it.”

To do so, the Merrell team launched a campaign that was built on consumer research that pointed to an insight that Mcleod said could be scaled globally.

“The traditional tropes and the imagery around the outdoors has really been about extreme environments, elite performance,” he said. “Our insight that we came to was simple: The most important moment isn’t necessarily about reaching the summit. It’s more about that decision to step outside in the first place.”

Creatively, the approach manifested as centering on a door’s threshold, imagery that is used repeatedly in the spot. In person, Merrell also hosted a brand event at the New York Botanical Garden’s annual Orchid Show, made this year by artist Mr. Flower Fantastic. McLeod said the activation came about via an existing relationship with Mr. Flower Fantastic and a natural synergy between the brand and the event.

“What it demonstrates is the intentionality of the work that we’re doing,” McLeod said. “[Mr. Flower Fantastic] literally brings nature and urban city environments together in a way that feels really unexpected, expressive, and highly shareable.”

The NYBG event was a precursor for Merrell’s Outside in the City, a global, multiyear initiative officially launching at the end of the month that’s meant to redefine “what it means to live life outside,” especially in urban settings, according to McLeod.

“The outside is not just about remote or traditional outdoor settings; [it can be about] just going to the park or walking uptown,” he said. The effort, he added, “is really about appealing to someone where they don’t necessarily resonate with those environments, but that they can within their city.”

New horizons

Beyond the campaign, Merrell’s brand platform will also include the Merrell Outside: Futures Project, a design development program created in partnership with the Virgil Abloh “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund and administered by the Fashion Scholarship Fund and Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design.

The program was created with education and impact in mind, according to Mcleod. Participants will take part in a curriculum designed by D’Wayne Edwards, the founder of the footwear design academy Pensole, and will focus on using “the outdoors as a source of inspiration for design, culture, and performance,” McLeod said. After designers complete the program, McLeod said the company will look to keep them involved in its ecosystem, whether that’s in design or in other departments.

“The next generation of creators should really be at the center of how we frame what the outside means,” McLeod said. “If you think about the creative unlock of the door, this is like the metaphorical door, with the opening of the door to new, up-and-coming talent.”