The Project:

Merrell’s global headquarters is located in Rockford, MI, not far from what Michiganders call, “The U.P.” a.k.a. The Upper Peninsula. It’s the area at the very top of the Michigan mitten, bordering three Great Lakes. The area is known for some awesome outdoor adventuring, and is celebrated every year on “906 Day,” which takes place on September 6, and touts the area code assigned to this iconic region. 

Merrell wanted to join the conversation in 2019, and tasked Parachute with creating a video featuring all the content they’ve filmed in the U.P. over the past couple of years. They wanted to put a spotlight on the place, how unique it is, and the people who live there known as ‘Yoopers’. We pulled clips from eight different videos featuring everything from the vast, scenic landscapes to the annual Trenary Outhouse Races (it’s a Yooper thing). We crafted engaging copy that only a true Yooper would understand, then ran the video as a targeted ad to people in Michigan and the U.P., as well as Merrell’s fans. 

The Results: 

What were the results of this 1-day event? A Reach of 407k people, 76k video views, 14k post engagements and a 7% Engagement Rate. In addition, 93% of video views were Organic, and 94% of the Reach was Organic. The video was shared to a number of popular FB pages, including the official 906 Day page, as well as picked up by the local Fox news channel in the area, which contributed to the amazing Organic performance- Holy, Wah!