By Bob Lilly Jr.
A box of crayons. A table at summer camp covered with beads and glue. That slightly crooked thing you made and couldn’t wait to take home.
For many of us, those memories still feel good. Nobody needed a marketing strategy to explain why. We got to make something. We made choices. And when we finished, we wanted somebody else to see it.
I think that helps explain why event activations work so well when they give guests something to create.
Give an adult a hat to personalize or a pair of sneakers to help design, and you give that person a little room to play again. They can try a color they wouldn’t normally choose. Put a patch exactly where they want it. Make something that feels like them.
For a business bringing people together, I think that is an opportunity worth taking seriously. There is also some fascinating research behind the pleasure of creating, the attachment we feel to things we help make, and the enjoyment of doing something alongside other people.
Why event activations feel personal
Picture a custom hat bar. You choose the cap, consider a few patches, and decide how they should go together. A specialist handles the application. You still had a say in what that hat became.
That contribution is what interests me.
Researchers Michael Norton, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely studied a related idea they called the IKEA effect. In one experiment involving 52 participants, people who assembled a simple IKEA storage box bid an average of $0.78 for it. People who received an assembled box bid $0.48. The researchers also found that successfully completing the task mattered to the effect. The IKEA effect research.
Assembling a box and choosing patches are different activities. I see a useful connection, though: having a hand in the finished product can change how you feel about it.
For an event planner, that means the choices should count. Let guests express a preference. Give them enough help to finish with something they feel good about. A hat, tote bag, or pair of sneakers can carry a little of the person who helped create it, along with the brand that made the experience possible.
You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy creating
Somewhere along the way, plenty of adults start saying, “I’m not creative.”
I think a good activation should make it easy to reconsider that.
In a small 2016 Drexel University study, 39 adults spent 45 minutes making art with materials including markers, clay, and collage supplies. Researchers found lower cortisol levels afterward in 75% of participants. Prior art experience wasn’t significantly associated with the change. That is 75% of the people, not a 75% reduction in stress. Drexel’s account of the study.
This was an exploratory art-making study, not a trial of corporate events. It does give us an interesting reason to make space for ordinary creativity.
My takeaway for an activation is practical: make the first step inviting. Show a few finished examples. Have someone nearby who can help a guest choose a patch or a color. Leave room for the person who wants to experiment and the person who wants a little guidance.
Custom choices and shared creativity. Concept imagery from the BLP activation brochure.
You can feel the energy in the room
There is a particular electricity around people being creative and having fun together. You hear laughter. People lean over to see what someone else is making. A coworker who started out saying, “I’m not creative,” starts getting into it.
I love what that can do to the feel of an event. Imagine coworkers comparing their hats. One person goes bold. Another keeps it simple. Someone spots a combination they hadn’t considered and wants to try it. Now they have something easy to talk about, and other people have a reason to wander over and join in.
That joy is contagious. The activity gives people permission to play a little, laugh with one another, and enjoy the moment. You can feel the difference in the room.
Research on shared experiences offers an interesting parallel. In a 2014 Yale experiment, participants liked the same chocolate more when someone beside them was tasting it at the same time, even without conversation. A second experiment found that sharing an unpleasant taste could intensify that experience, too. These were laboratory studies of shared experience, not tests of event marketing. Shared Experiences Are Amplified.
For me, the event-planning lesson is to pay attention to what people are experiencing together. Make the activity comfortable and easy to join. Give guests room to compare their creations without holding up the next person.
At Bob Lilly Promotions (BLP), our Atmos Energy hat bar is a good example of what I care about. The setup was visually simple. The employees loved the experience. That is the part worth building around.
The same idea runs through BLP Brand Camp, where our customers build a pen, personalize a tumbler, and put together their own cap and patch before imagining it with their own people.
A little trophy they can wear
Then comes what I think of as the trophy value.
A guest can put that new hat on immediately. Carry their customized tote into the next session. Wear their sneakers to the evening reception. Throughout the rest of the event, they have something to show people and a story about how they helped create it.
There is a little pride in being able to say, “Look what I made.”
And each item can start another conversation. Someone admires the hat, asks about a patch, or wants to know where they can make their own.
The enjoyment travels with the person wearing or carrying it.
For the brand, that creates opportunities to be seen and talked about beyond the activation space. For the guest, the finished item is a small trophy from a good time they had. I think that is a powerful combination.
A growing market, with a very human appeal
The broader experiential marketing business is growing. Research firm PQ Media estimates that global spending increased 8.3% to $138.94 billion in 2025. Its June 2026 report forecast another 10.3% increase for 2026. Those figures cover a large market that includes sponsorships and trade shows, so they should not be read as growth rates for hat bars or sneaker activations specifically. PQ Media’s 2026 market report announcement.
Within that market, I think creative merchandise experiences have a compelling place. Guests get to participate in something, spend time with other people, and leave with an item they helped shape. The brand has an opportunity to be part of a moment the guest enjoyed.
That opportunity deserves thoughtful planning. Think about how the activity fits alongside your other event giveaways, so everything feels connected.
A successful hat bar needs a good selection of caps and patches. It also needs enough staff, a sensible layout, and a clear pickup process. A sneaker experience needs to fit the time guests actually have. Someone who prefers to choose a design and let a specialist finish it should feel just as welcome as the person eager to get hands-on.
The question I would start with is simple: what would these particular people enjoy doing?
Build from there. Choose custom branded merchandise they will want to wear or use right away and take home afterward. Make the experience easy to understand. Let their preferences show in the finished item.
I believe there is still a little of that kid with the crayons in a lot of us. Give that person something worth making, and a reason to share it with the people nearby.
If you’re planning an event, explore BLP’s event activations and tell us who you’re bringing together. Let’s find something they’ll enjoy making their own.
Bob Lilly Jr. is president and CEO of Bob Lilly Promotions. BLP’s activation work includes an Atmos Energy hat bar and a Globe Life custom sneaker bar.
