Hearing protection brand Axil is making a push to grow through licensed products with brand partnerships and expanding into more retail doors. 

Axil’s products, which are mostly ear muffs and in-ear buds, have primarily been used for hunting and outdoor sports. The brand’s largest segment is electronic earbuds that have full hearing protection in them, said Tyler Smith, National Director of Sales at Axil.

To grow sales, the brand is strategically positioning its products into more contexts, such as an over-the-counter solution for audiologists to provide to their patients and for enthusiasts of loud activities, such as racecar driving and woodworking. The brand’s sales are roughly a third online through its own channels, such as its website and marketplaces, a third wholesale to retailers, and third internationally, Smith said.  

Catering to each retailer

The brand is in about 2,000 U.S. retailers, and in about 7,500 total stores. Overall, the transition to sell more in retail stores has gone well, as shoppers will ask for its products by name, Smith said.  

“We’ve had senior buyers from some of the biggest companies in the world show up to us and say, ‘Hey, your competition just sold themselves out of a deal.’ And you say, ‘how so?’ And they go, ‘Well, they kept referring to their products working like the Axils do,’” Smith said. “That’s a pretty big awakening moment for a company that we are not following trends, we’re setting trends.” 

One thing Axil had to learn about expanding into more retailers, was to cater its products for that merchant’s shopper. While Axil’s current product line appeases 80% of merchants, a value mass merchant, for example, is not as interested in carrying its premium $300 earbuds. But the retailer knows it has a market for Axil’s products, and so Axil developed a new product at a “suitable” price point for this value retailer, Smith said.  

 Licensed products drive Axil forward 

One partnership that has been a success for the brand is having the official license to sell Nascar-branded earbuds, earmuffs, hearing devices, ear plugs and outdoor speakers on its website and at Nascar events.  

During a race, Axil has a booth set up with sales representatives selling its products to consumers in Nascar’s live event fan center. It’s the perfect opportunity, Smith said, as consumers show up and are unprepared for how loud the event is and how it can damage their hearing. 

Axil renewed the partnership through 2027, as it is meeting its return on investment goals from a sales and revenue standpoint. But a larger value add of the partnership, Smith says, is the visibility the brand receives from being in front of the wide breadth of Nascar fans, which can reach 150,000 consumers on average per event.  

“We see Nascar as one of those strategic partnerships that will help elevate the brand in the automotive space,” Smith said.  

Axil also has licensing agreements with the U.S.A. Shooting team and Feld Entertainment Monster Jam to sell hearing protection products with their logos. 

Referrals and AI

While these partnerships are helping to grow the business, the largest growth engine for Axil is word-of-mouth and referrals, Smith said.  

Axil is continuing to develop new products and learn about what consumers are interested in by having its marketing team use artificial intelligence-enabled tools for consumer research. 

“How we’re utilizing AI is we’re using it in our new product mix and next generation of technologies,” Smith said. “It’s playing a role in the way that we develop it because we’re able to gather consumer information and things differently than it’s ever done before. That really allows us to hyper focus on what sort of influences we’re wanting to put out in the functionality design and capabilities of our products.”