Four thousand feet above sea level in Moab, Utah, where red rock formations rise from the desert and the landscape feels built for adventure, RUPT Summer Camp delivered the kind of setting that tends to stick with people.
Held June 8-11, the inaugural event brought nearly 70 distributors together for education, networking and outdoor experiences, including hiking in Arches National Park, crawling the surrounding rock formations in Humvees or floating through the Colorado River for a private concert.
But the most direct expression of the event’s message may have been found in the merchandise itself.
Across the gathering, live activations were placed front and center: a bar during the day for cross-body bags, and by night different booths for instant customization of sneakers, picture frames and even cacti.
Attendees were not simply handed products. They chose, personalized, assembled and experienced them. In the process, distributors got a first-person look of the potential memories created through the growing opportunity of in-person merch activations.
A Supplier Brand Built Around Elevation
For RUPT (PPAI 826757, Silver), a PPAI 100 supplier now in only its third full year of existence, the event reflected the brand’s larger positioning in the industry. The company has carefully crafted its unique and edgy brand, matching the kind of merch found throughout its line and the camp theme of “Built Different Out Here.”
Summer Camp extended that idea beyond product design and into experience design.
It also came during a milestone year for co-founders Jason Lucash and Mike Szymczak, who are celebrating 20 years of working together. And through RUPT Ventures, the supplier’s venture capital arm, the company has backed brands including Swanky and Desk Plants, both of which helped bring the activation theme to life in Moab.
The result was an event that felt less like a conventional industry gathering and more like a field test for where branded merch is moving, higher in perceived value, more personalization, more participation and more deliberate use of products to create moments.
Those themes are already showing up across the industry. Sock101 won The Pitch at The PPAI Expo in January by selling attendees on its bucket hat bars, another sign that live customization experiences are resonating. The trend also lines up with PPAI data showing that consumers want personalization, customization and quality from branded merchandise.
Why Activations Are Resonating
At Summer Camp, a panel featuring leaders from Sock101, Swanky and Desk Plants explored why those experiences are working and how distributors can bring them to clients.
“I think people are craving these moments, these experiences,” said Rachel Hoskins, vice president of sales for Sock101. “I think Covid changed the way people look at merch. I hear a lot from clients, ‘I cannot get one more tumbler or towel or bag,’ and they want an experience they can talk about. ‘Oh, I got this bag at camp, and I was able to put my own patch on it, design the patch, and now I can keep it, or give it to my husband or make it whatever it might be.
“So, just, wheels are turning on how can this be creative? How can this be part of my experience that I’m going to remember?”
Rachel Hoskins
Vice President, Sales, Sock101
That craving for memory is important for distributors to understand. In a market where clients often worry about waste, sameness and forgettable giveaways, activations give branded merch a stronger reason to exist. They turn the product into the souvenir of a moment.
A product someone helped create is more likely to be kept, used and talked about. It feels less like inventory and more like ownership.
“It’s just really tapping into that human element of creation at the event,” said Lawrence Hanley, founder and CEO of Desk Plants. “It takes you off your phone. It puts you in the moment, and so you’re actually creating that connection to what you’re doing. I think that is probably the most important and valuable thing and why these activations are doing so well.”
Lawrence Hanley
Founder & CEO, Desk Plants
Moving Beyond The Product Conversation
For distributors, activations change the sales conversation. Instead of beginning with the item, they can begin with the client’s objective, whether it’s booth traffic, employee engagement, recruiting, lead generation, brand awareness or a memorable VIP experience. The activation should be designed around the answer.
If event marketing involves a before, a during and an after, the during of an event is ripe for merch to create memories. It’s the part when the audience is actually interacting with the brand.
“It doesn’t just give them an activity, it gives them ownership and participation,” Swanky Founder and CEO Mark Hanratty said. “When I look at activations, I’m looking at either surprise and delight or participation, and if you can do either of those things, it gives so much more value to the takeaway.”
Mark Hanratty
Founder & CEO, Swanky
That participation can take different forms. It may be hands-on creation, such as building a plant or customizing a frame yourself, or a full-service activation run by the supplier, or a distributor-hosted version that gives the client a more accessible way to create the experience.
The key is that the distributor is no longer just sourcing products. Done well, activations allow distributors to act as an extension of the client’s marketing team, shaping how people move through an event and what they remember afterward.
Details That Make Or Break The Moment
The panelists were clear that execution matters. Activations ideally will look effortless to attendees, but behind the scenes they require planning around attendance, time, equipment, staffing, shipping, venue access and throughput.
A 250-person event spread over several hours requires a different plan than the same number of people moving through during a short break. Distributors should ask those questions early, especially if equipment, freight, return shipping, insurance or venue rules are involved.
Staffing is just as important. In a live activation, the person running the experience becomes part of the brand.
“It does take the right staff at an event,” Hoskins said. “You need someone that’s on, that has a bubbly personality that can mix with people. People want to have fun with the experience, so that means you need to give the fun back.”
That human element is part of what separates activations from a table of handouts. So does the flow. A line can create buzz and curiosity, but a poorly managed wait can undermine the experience. Depending on the goal, distributors may need to help clients think through appointment windows, QR-code ordering, text notifications or ways to use the line itself as part of the engagement.
Designing For Follow-Up
Activations can also serve a measurable purpose. A customization form, QR code or giveaway entry can support lead capture, recruiting follow-up or CRM tagging.
“It’s not just about the product, it’s about what happens after the product,” Hoskins said.
That point may be especially useful for clients who still evaluate merch primarily by unit cost. Activations often require a broader value conversation. They can increase dwell time, generate conversation, improve recall and give attendees a stronger connection to the brand.
As Hoskins put it, the measurement is not only return on investment. “It’s really the return on experience that you’re looking for,” she said.
