Let’s face it: Life-size cutouts get reactions. Whether it’s a chuckle, a startled double take, or an interaction of some type like a photo op, they leave an impression.
Life-size cutouts, however, aren’t for every business. They can be quirky and playful. If that doesn’t fit your brand or culture, then maybe sit this blog out…OR maybe still read it because The Element of Surprise might just be your secret weapon.
Those in marketing, event planning, human resources – you name it – understand the importance of creating memorable experiences. Whether your focus is on leads and customers or employee recruitment and culture, standing out is huge.
There are a lot of ways to make a memorable experience, however, many of those ways can quickly blow even the best-intended budget. So scratch off the ziplining office tours, radio ads read by Morgan Freeman and free mythical direwolves with every product purchase, and scale it back a bit. Consider instead, a life-size cutout (or two or three).
Life-Size Cutouts for Life-Size Opportunities
Life-size cutouts leave an impression, it’s true, but what occasions merit such an item? Here are a few ways you could incorporate cutouts both for internal and external events.
For our Open House this past spring, we staged life-size cutouts of our sales team at their cubicles. It filled a space that would otherwise be less interesting for guests and helped them connect names with faces.
Internal Facing: Recruitment and Culture
• The Boss’s birthday
• Retirement parties
• Celebrating a milestone
• Holiday parties
• Company events (ex: company picnic, March Madness party, or a semi-annual bowling competition)
External Facing: Leads and Customers
• Trade shows
• Open houses
• Product launches
• Anniversary parties
• Office/Store entrance decor
Cutout Inspiration
Our ultra board (the material that these are printed on) come in 4’x8′ sheets, so you’ve got an accommodating canvas size to work from.
Aside from life-size cutouts of people, you can also create mega-size items like a featured product, or hole-in-the-head cutouts (think State Fair farm animal cutouts that people pose behind) to really boost interaction.
Life-size cutouts also don’t have to be of employees or stock photo customer personas. Pop culture references like celebrities, athletes, and movie/television characters are often well-received and can be fun to just have around the office or keep back in the game room long after the event has passed.
How to Stage Your Cutout
If you’ve got a cell phone, you’re in business to take a photo for your life-size cutout. Here are a few tips to make sure you get the best results:
• Pose in front of a white or solid colored background. This helps create a crisp outline for cropping.
• Avoid dark-colored clothing. The darker the clothing, the less detail will show up in your printed cutout.
• Stand in even lighting. Again, this affects how well your cutout prints. Shadows tend to stand out.
We’ll Handle the Rest
Once you’re satisfied with your photo, send it over to us at Delzer along with the height measurement you need so we can scale it appropriately.
Our design and print team will prep and print the cutout, and our distribution team will make sure you get it when and where you need it.
We’d love to see how you use your life-size cutout – send us a photo of your final product in its intended environment!
