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Back in April of this year, we thought it would be fun to do a custom cut die cut in the shape of a bagpiper. It fit well with our Scottish “Highland” brand and it also demonstrated the somewhat unique aspect of custom die cut postcards.

When we looked at the outline of a bagpiper we realized that it might be a little difficult to incorporate text if the entire card used the bagpiper shape. Given this, we decided to combine a simple, vertical rectangle with the outline of the piper himself extending from the left side of the card. This allowed us to use an interesting die cut, showcasing the complete figure and also providing us plenty of room for copy. We were very pleased with the overall design.

The piper in the photograph that we purchased (now nicknamed Angus McTavish) was wearing a red tartan kilt and sash. However, this did not go well with the green and beige colours in our corporate logo. Given this, Matt magically changed the colours in the tartan to green hues, which gave us a much better fit. As the card was to be die cut, he also had to painstakingly extend all of the edges (both shapes and colours) for the full bleed that we needed.

In many ways this campaign seemed to be more a matter of preaching to the converted. Many of our more adventurous clients loved the “piper” card (as it has come to be known) and, although the phones did not ring off the hook with new clients, it did inspire other innovative cards and projects within this group. Of course, we were pleased with this, as we believe that generating incremental sales within an exiting client base is as rewarding as bringing on new clients.

Although the initial concept of the piper card was to showcase both our brand and die cut concepts, we were flattered when our friends at the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games asked if we could design a card for them using the same die cut. It made perfect sense and it was back to the drawing board for some basic revisions.

Knowing that we would be using the same die cut as with previous card helped simplify things. Moreover, to avoid having to re-do the extrusions, when he designed the card for the Fergus Scottish Festival, Matt simply reversed the colour changes on the kilt and sash, restoring the original red tartan. I also want to note that we did do the honorable thing and we purchased the picture twice – once for our card and once for the Fergus Scottish Festival card.

Reports from our friend at the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games indicated that their “piper” card work very well for them. We were at the “Games” for all three days and can attest to excellent crowds (in comparison to other years) so it seems that the piper card did contribute to their success.

So, there you have it. It’s certainly interesting to note that the same basic piper card, with quite different ad copy, worked very well for both Highland Marketing and the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games. From our perspective, this is just further evidence as to the effectiveness of special die cut cards for capturing that valuable attention of your customers and prospects!

I should also note that quite a few of our other clients have adopted die cuts that fit an overall corporate image or campaign theme. Some of the shapes that we have mailed include houses, automobiles, Muskoka chairs, spider webs, ovals and, of course, many of our Roundcards. We have had a lot of fun bringing this concept to clients and working with them as they come up with innovative ideas of their own.