Last week at de Novo, we received a Halloween card from a company that shall remain nameless. At first I thought, “Great idea! We aren’t into the holiday season yet, way to get out there with this now!”
Then I opened it. Apart from the poor font choice on the cover, it also had clip art AND stock photography on the inside, several competing fonts, and a lack of centering, which made the whole thing feel amateur and unpolished. We passed it around the office and made our own comments.
On the other hand, it had a lot more personality than the traditional card with photocopied names. So we thought we’d reach into the archives for a few of our favorite client holiday card projects and share a couple ideas for something memorable that will get passed around the office because it is different and fun—not because it uses Papyrus or Comic Sans fonts.
Holiday gifts & cards your clients/customers can appreciate
Our friends at Crestone Capital Advisors were always one to be open to interesting folds and die cuts. Here are two samples:
The first is a holiday card full of energy, texture and dimension. While the pop-up inside is undoubtedly the centerpiece, the die-cut front is equally intriguing and memorable.
The second is an invite to a holiday party, with the champagne flute “filling” as you pull the insert up. de Novo took home a Gold Addy Award for its design.
(Psst—Want to get really crazy with pop-ups? Check out the pop-up book we created for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in this video documenting our process.)
Let’s talk new ideas for your clients and partners in 2019
1. A folded card that opens to an activity page with a holiday themed image for “adult coloring” or even a puzzle with clever industry terms. If you’ve ever seen our “Marketing Activity Book,” you can take some inspiration from that. (If you haven’t, holler and we’ll send you one! Just fill out the form at the bottom of this page.)
2. Die cut madness: How about a die cut Santa beard that folds into a holiday party invitation? Or a “paper doll” version of your CEO with four ugly sweater choices? Or. . . (We could do this all day, just call us.)
3. A holiday video to end all Holiday videos. Here’s ours from last year:
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4. How about a custom holiday song, sung one stanza at a time from your team?
5. Client gifts: No one wants a plastic tchotchke. Consider commissioning a local artist to create something simple yet unique that you can share with your best clients. One year we partnered with Iowa Ceramics Center to create custom bowls. We still see them in our clients’ offices.
The holidays are right around the corner—time to get rolling
Whatever you do, make it memorable and make it unique to your company. It tells your clients that they are important to you and is much less likely to be mocked around their office.
Need help planning something memorable? Just want a copy of our Marketing Activity Book? This form’s for you!
