The footwear in this video was sent to me by Merrell. You can find the shoe on their site:
https://www.merrell.com/US/en/gridway-mid-canvas/41378M.html?icid=search_suggested_products
I’m currently teaching a course at the University of Texas at Austin. The course is named Problems in Retail. The students are all interning at various businesses in the apparel industry. I’ve assigned a research paper that requires the students to write a about strategies which could improve the companies they are working with. As an example of the type of writing I want the students to work on, I decided to take on a semester long project of my own with Merrell as my case study. This decision was made for two reasons:
- I had a chance to talk with their sustainability department and discovered that some amazing work was being done by the brand.
- After visiting Portland for the #AAFFPDX event I was asked by someone at Columbia why African-Americans were underserved by outdoor brands.
I wrote a post to answer the question above and in the process of answering questions a video was forwarded to me. The brand in the video was Merrell. The name of the video is called Bringing It Home:
The video featured a Black man named Tyrhee Moore. On my site I had never written a word about Merrell. I didn’t own any of their shoes. Honestly, I would have never looked at them because they are a brand built on hiking and outdoors. I’m not their consumer. At least that’s what I thought. In my essay on outdoor brands and Blacks, I realized that hiking has been reduced in scope to trails, mountains, and traversing miles in dense forests.
I began thinking about Urban Hiking and found that people were speaking about it as hiking within cities. I redefined the concept as “discovering your city”. This discovery brings a new segment into the equation because a hike could be walking across the Big River Crossing, which is what I do in this video. By this definition for Urban Hiking, taking a walk to and around various parts of your city becomes “hiking”. This concept now gives brands like Merrell the means to reach a new consumer segment without distancing itself from its core.
I’ve said all of this to explain why I took on the task of creating a case study for Merrell. Merrell was chosen because I met the Product Sustainability Manager at the Footwear Innovation Summit in Los Angeles. The Summit is why I created “the sustainability report”.
The brand was a natural fit for the case study and the class. I’m not being paid for this work and the shoes in this video were sent by their marketing division.
As everyone knows I buy everything that I discuss on this site/station and I was going to purchase footwear so I could speak with more depth about the quality of the brand and this week I get a pair of the Merrell Gridway Mid Canvas in a shipment. It’s perfect timing because the class is moving beyond competitive segmentation and into SWOT Analysis.
It was also perfect timing because I’ve been really diving into the idea of Urban Hiking after being inspired by Tyrhee who is sponsored by Merrell. Merrell is a company that holds very little influence on consumers who aren’t participating in the sport of hiking and outdoor/tactical jobs and lifestyles. This doesn’t mean that the brand should ignore the urban consumer and the amazing thing is while they aren’t really capturing that segment they are still endorsing Black and Brown people who live outdoor, active lifestyles.
I would consider their relationships with Black and Brown people smart marketing, but the problem is no one knows they are doing this. Black and Brown people have no idea the company is providing so much assistance and support in their communities and it’s unfortunate, but I can probably guess why this is. The company probably lacks a diverse make up in its employment practices. This is an issue throughout the sneaker/apparel and footwear industry, but takes away from this video and post.
The Merrell Gridway Mid Canvas is the third iteration of the model. My initial first wear found that the shoe insole creates a slight irritation with the lockdown fit of the shoe. It’s a lifestyle model and doesn’t have the structure for your feet to stay cradled into the heel cup, but I found after about a mile of walking the insole flattened a bit (I weight 235, lol) and that irritation wasn’t as noticeable. On day two I didn’t think about much at all. It is a problem that can be fixed by using a custom insert, but it’s not that big of a deal. Surprisingly the shoe was complemented by a number of random people. It’s actually one of the cleanest pairs in my collection. The biggest problem for Merrell is the way it’s shown on the website. The product photography on the site undercuts the potential of the model. This takes us back into SWOT Analysis for the class.
The Gridway would benefit from more striking imagery on the product page. It is the most sustainable shoe I own and there are over 100 pair in my house (which is terrible for sustainability) but I’ve changed my buying habits since being introduced to sustainability. This shoe fits perfect with my Restitch clothing from Taylor Stitch and my sweats and jackets from Outerknown. I’m making a conscious effort to change how I buy clothes and Merrell has become a part of my educational process.
Whew, this was long. Big shout out to Merrell for shooting me the kicks. They are definitely some of the more comfortable shoes I have and at this point, the most important shoes I own.
Shoe breakdown:
• 100% cotton and leather upper
• Lightweight canvas lining
• Traditional lace closure
• 100% recycled Lace
• 50% recycled removable EVA footbed
• 30% recycled EVA midsole. Recycled content made of 80% recycled EVA + 20% recycled PU
• Vibram® EcoDura™ outsole made with 30% recycled post manufactured waste
• Weight: 1lb 4oz / 572g
