Introduction
Dr. Martens, a globally recognised brand, is synonymous with rebellious self-expression and high-quality footwear. With roots dating back decades, Dr. Martens has grown from a utilitarian boot to a global icon of individuality and craftsmanship. With a global presence and a commitment to customer focus, the company needed a security awareness solution that aligned with its unique culture and brand identity.
Key Results
When Laura Morgans, Global Security Governance, Risk and Compliance Manager, joined Dr. Martens over four years ago, the company was using traditional e-learning methods for security awareness training. The results were far from satisfactory:
"We generated around 26% initial engagement. Security training was quite compliance heavy. It was outdated, with generic content. It took several hours to complete and it was difficult to retain information."
The search for a new solution led Dr. Martens to ThinkCyber. The selection process was unique, involving a panel of volunteers from various departments and regions. Laura described the approach:
"We wanted our training to be inclusive, to be customisable, to be on brand and after using it, our people voted 9 out of 10 for Redflags from ThinkCyber.”
“With ThinkCyber we could have security awareness that is on-brand, tailored, timely and most importantly, quick and easy to do. The ability to customise the training with Redflags, allowed us to have modern awareness content which was frequently deployed in bite-sized format. Training is delivered in a timely and relevant way. Our training is completely unique, it features information about our people, evolving threats and new security awareness information. The ability to deploy nudges allows us to quickly customise content while providing each member of Dr. Martens with relevant training tailored to their individual behaviours.
Since implementing Redflags in 2022, Dr. Martens has experienced significant improvements
Boosting engagement rates
"We've moved from 26% engagement with traditional e-learning to 94% in our first Redflags story, and our most recent engagement was 99%” Laura reported. This dramatic increase in engagement demonstrates the effectiveness of Redflags' approach in capturing employees' attention and participation.
This level of engagement has generated some impressive results, "After a nudge on digital footprints, we saw a 48% decrease in social media usage," shared Lauren Magee, Global Security GRC Specialist.
Tailored, Inclusive, and Engaging Content
Dr. Martens work closely with ThinkCyber to craft bespoke training stories and nudges that resonate with their diverse workforce. Stories include real-life scenarios, employee photos and company-specific examples, to foster relevance and relatability.
“We’ve customised the training to fit every language. It’s inclusive, relevant, and very quick to do,” explained Laura. "User and board-level feedback has been very positive, with requests for new topics and more training to be deployed, like this.'"
Building a Safe and Empowering Security Culture
Beyond delivering effective training, Redflags was a key part of facilitating the positive security culture within Dr. Martens with campaigns structured to celebrate employee successes rather than focusing on failures.
This safe and encouraging approach empowered employees to proactively report potential threats, fostering a sense of accountability and achievement.
“Our most successful campaigns have focused on deploying a relevant, company specific story, which requires less than 60 seconds to read, followed by a Redflags nudge. Reiterating short, positive behavioural messages, helped decrease our email phishing prone rate from 26% to 2.2%, with a single Redflags campaign."
The partnership between Dr. Martens and ThinkCyber has transformed security awareness training from a compliance-driven activity to an engaging, brand-aligned experience. The dramatic increase in engagement rates, from 26% to 99%, speaks volumes about the effectiveness of this approach. By leveraging Redflags' customisation capabilities and working closely with the ThinkCyber team, Dr. Martens has created a security awareness program that not only educates employees but also complements the company's unique culture and brand identity.