How Merrell Boosted Brand Awareness and Product Knowledge Across Retailers
8%
increase in platform user engagement triggered a 44% increase in sell-through
54%
increase in sales when training content was actively engaged with
140%
increase in sales via an active user audience on the platform
Merrell, an American manufacturing company of footwear products, was looking for new and scalable ways to boost perceptions of its brand in retail stores. This would entail improving the store staff’s awareness and knowledge of Merrell products which would lead to an increase in sales. Merrell sought to target different people at different levels with different media since people learn in different ways and there are some who don’t respond well to classroom instruction. Merrell discovered Myagi by Rallyware’s online learning and development network when a key outdoor retail partner in the U.K., Blacks, invited Merrell to join and provide training to its store associates. Merrell started with a pilot program and soon discovered that Myagi by Rallyware delivered the best universal learning outcomes. It was the perfect complement to Merrell’s own brand ambassador program of in-person, in-store training.
Putting the learner in the driver’s seat for faster and better outcomes
Merrell discovered that the Myagi by Rallyware retailer network could help it target a generally younger generation of staff that it wasn’t able to reach as well before. The platform was also an ideal tool for new staff as it rapidly gave them the requisite baseline knowledge to start working in retail, and this solved an acute problem in outdoor, sports and leisure retail, where staff turnover can be high. With Myagi by Rallyware, it doesn’t matter if a retail associate has worked for 10 days or 10 years, the platform enables instant access to relevant learning instead of waiting months for a brand ambassador to check in with training materials.
Reaching maximum retailers at minimum cost and highest ROI
Merrell’s goal in implementing Myagi by Rallyware was to reach the highest volume of retail staff at the lowest proportional cost.
As a result, Merrell is now promoting the Myagi by Rallyware network to all its retailers as it seeks the highest return on its investment from creating retail training content for distribution on Myagi by Rallyware.
To top things off, since implementing Myagi by Rallyware, Merrell has seen a significant increase in season over season sales for the products that its retailers have trained on.
Creating compelling content for better retail sales and service
Merrell sought to create quality and relevant video content for the target audience of mostly millennial retail staff, which was new for it. Indeed, there are very few brands that make training videos, as resources typically go to consumer marketing materials. Merrell decided to invest in doing it properly as the amount of retail staff using its content on Myagi by Rallyware would make it worthwhile. The strategy paid off as Merrell has received positive feedback on its new learning content which has been compared favorably with other brands on the Myagi by Rallyware retailer network. It helped that Merrell was open to feedback from its retail partners and soon realized that staff like short, sharp and sweet content that’s challenging, but not overly complex.
“We’re quite keen to keep learning and make better content on the back of feedback from our retailers,” noted Wallder.
Channeling content for increasing Merrell staff brand awareness
Once Merrell had created learning content and seen its beneficial impact on retail staff, it realized that it could also be used to develop its own employees. Merrell now uses content created for Myagi with its sales and customer service staff. In addition, all new Merrell staffers will complete Myagi training as part of their on-boarding process and this helps to increase brand awareness.
This also allows them to know what’s already been covered with retail staff so they can focus on other things to discuss when they do call in on a store.
Reporting delivers critical insights and confirms training ROI
Merrell regularly reviews the analytics and insights available through Myagi by Rallyware’s reporting suite. It can now report back on exactly what bang it’s getting for its learning and development buck. While particular attention is paid to the retail reach or number of stores and staff that are covered by Merrell, the analytics also uncover interesting insights about which particular products staff are the most interested in. “It’s essential for us to know what store staff perceptions of products are and what initially grabs people’s attention” observed Wallder. Merrell also investigates actual sales for these favored products to see if more sales occur. Myagi by Rallyware’s reports also aid in deciphering how good or bad Merrell’s training content is and in identifying areas for improvement.
Merrell welcomes having other brand content, even if competitive, on Myagi by Rallyware. It means it’s more likely that all brands will be incentivized to make even better content to attract retail staff engagement. Moreover, by having more brands in the network, it means more retailers are going to use Myagi by Rallyware, which means more retail reach for Merrell.
“If someone goes onto the platform looking for another brand, they’re more likely to discover Merrell content there and that’s a good thing for us,” noted Wallder.
As Myagi by Rallyware increasingly becomes the network for store staff learning in the retail industry, it opens up a powerful communication channel for brands to get their message across. This remains critical for brands even in these times of rapid e-commerce growth.
