How blanket brand Rumpl are creating a category with brand collaborations, community marketing and limited edition drops

Rumpl are a ten year old blanket brand who are creating a category by using smart partnerships, creator collabs and a targeted audience strategy

Who will love this

• People who prefer their sleeping bags to regular blankets

• Designers who dream of turning their side hustle into their main thang, like Rumpl founder Wylie Robinson

• Campers, hikers, bikers and skiers who want to jazz up their setup

Today

G’day!

Today’s letter was written in Salt Lake City at the Brand New conference. It’s been fun to see old and new friends and reflect on the state of branding and design. But that’s a post for a different day!

Today’s brand, Rumpl, is one I’ve had my eye on for a while. I got excited when I saw YETI’s brand strategy lead, Josh Weichhand, had moved over to Rumpl - he’s got an impressive record as a brand operator.

Ten years in, Rumpl have built a brand in a category where very few people can name a blanket brand (can you?), been named the fastest growing camping brand (in 2022), picked up press in everything from Bloomberg to Gear Patrol, and it feels like they’re just getting started.

Let’s get into it ⛺️

How Rumpl are disrupting the blanket category with technical materials and emotive brand building

I really dig Rumpl’s story - it ticks all my boxes.

• Founder led ✅

• Category challenger ✅

• Smart marketing ✅

• Outdoor brand ✅

The origin story

Basically, Rumpl’s story is the story I think every designer aspires to. Wylie, Rumpl’s founder, was a designer at Landor San Francisco. Wyile goes on a camping trip with a pal and winds up talking about how he liked his sleeping bag more than his regular comforter at home. He goes home, whips up a prototype, and puts the thing on Kickstarter (I know, very 2012). It raised $250K, and the business known as Rumpl was off and running.

Business strategy

Rumpl sells blankets. That’s it! So simple. I love analyzing simple businesses because it makes the business and brand fundamentals so clear. The business is omnichannel, with the bulk of sales coming through wholesale and DTC. REI is Rumpl’s biggest retail partner.

• Direct to consumer: 35%

• Wholesale: 45%

• Amazon: 8-10%

• International sales: 3-5%

• Corporate gifting: 1%

Rumpl’s price point places it firmly in a premium position. Brand gives you the ability to command a higher price for goods and services. And Rumpl are building their brand very intentionally.

Brand strategy

Rumpl’s mission is to introduce the world to better blankets. The product attributes are pretty simple: they’re made from technical materials, and they’re marketed emotively.

Rumpl’s brand strategy (in other words, how they plan to own their desired position in people’s minds) boils down to a few simple pillars:

• Be the most talked about blanket brand in the category

• Blanket the outdoor community in support

• Use blankets as a canvas for creativity

Let’s look at what tactics they’re using 👇

Brand marketing moves

• Partnering with premium outdoor brands. Rumpl have been very clever in how they execute partnerships. They target outdoor companies with their own audiences, like Snow Peak, Rivian, and Tacoma, and work to create something that appeals to them. I love this.

• Media trips. Rumpl have put together some really fun looking press trips that look like summer camp for journalists. The result? Content, coverage, great relationships with journalists and a good time outside.

• Product demos, but make them interesting. I really love these product demos showing Rumpl’s durability. Super fun.

• Artist collabs. Rumpl use their blankets as a canvas for expression, collaborating with creatives like Aaron Draper and Chris Burkard, and releasing limited edition drops. Scarcity works.

• Sustainability. Rumpl have done a lot more than most in terms of sustainability: they’re part of 1% for the Planet, Climate Neutral Certified, a B Corp. Plus, they release an impact report. It’s easy to be cynical about corporate social responsibility, but I love the spirit (and the transparency).

• Supporting community. Rumpl do a lot to support the outdoor community, like partnering with the High Five Foundation and donating 100% of the proceeds of their Hawaii Haleakala National Park blanket sales to the Maui Strong Fund following the state’s wildfires. They’ve also got a fun ambassador program through the American Camp Association, giving camp counselors access to gear, pro deals and perks for coverage on social media. Smart.

What can we learn from Rumpl?

• The power of focus. Rumpl have demonstrated restraint by focusing on a very specific product - blankets. That’s it. They have limited time and money to spend on resources and storytelling. While it’s tempting to go broad, they’ve found success by remaining tight and consolidated.

• Growth through community. Rumpl have chosen to pursue a strategy of depth rather than breadth, building a deeper brand through their outdoor audience rather than seeking growth at all costs, by doing things like becoming the official blanket sponsor of outdoor organizations like whitewater outfitter OARS.

• Be your own media outlet. If the press aren’t talking about you, give them a reason to. Rumpl are a great example of giving journalists reasons to talk about their product. Don’t accept your fate as a brand that’s not talked about. Change the story, baby!

• Leveraging creators. Rumpl have done a good job of putting their brand in creator’s hands in order to ship really authentic, fun marketing (example: trying to light a Rumpl blanket on fire). The alternative, a pay-for-play influencer model, is much more boring. I like what Rumpl are doing here.

Do you have a Rumpl? Do you love it? Should I buy one? Does someone want to buy me one? That’s all for now.

Happy Friday.

Amanda ✌️

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