Merrell has been named one of Advertising Age’s 2005 “Marketing 50” winners. Each year, Advertising Age recognizes 50 top brands for their consumer appeal and marketing excellence, which includes elements such as product design and development, research, retail partnerships and media strategy. This year’s winners were announced in the publication’s Nov. 7th issue.

In recognizing Merrell, Advertising Age cited the exceptional and consistent growth of the brand since its acquisition by Wolverine World Wide in 1997. Specifically, the publication noted the success of the Company’s “store-within-a-store” marketing program, which has helped to fuel Merrell sales increases of 80 percent to 300 percent in 156 stores in which the dedicated Merrell shop areas have been implemented.

“The entire Wolverine World Wide team is proud to have Merrell gain this recognition as one of the top consumer brands in the marketplace today,” said Timothy J. O’Donovan, Wolverine World Wide’s Chairman and CEO. “Through a combination of innovative product design and creative marketing strategy, Merrell continues to be a top performer within our Outdoor Group and across our entire portfolio of global brands.”

Merrell is a key component of the Company’s Outdoor Group, which has experienced seven consecutive years of double-digit growth and includes the Sebago brand and recently announced Patagonia footwear initiative. Since joining Wolverine World Wide in 1997, Merrell has grown to become one of the world’s leading designers of technically superior performance outdoor and active lifestyle footwear; 2004 Outdoor Group sales exceeded $286 million, with more than 10 million pairs sold worldwide. The Company is currently focused on accelerating the strong growth of the Merrell brand through the development of a Merrell apparel program, which is scheduled to be introduced for the fall 2007 season.