’Tis the season for warp-speed holiday marketing – and brands face mounting pressure to deliver campaigns that scale across every channel, from social media to direct mail to in-store signage. With shopping seasons starting earlier and lasting longer, marketers must produce unprecedented volumes of fresh content while managing multiple photoshoots, last-minute reshoots, endless resizing and creative teams stretched thin.
Quad’s solution? Scan it once. Use it everywhere.
Quad’s 3D Commerce team used its AI-enabled 3D scanner – the only client-facing one of its kind in the United States – to build a complete holiday campaign from a single object. The technology creates photorealistic, relightable “digital twins” of physical objects that can be instantly deployed across marketing channels.
“With one scan, brands suddenly have a single source of truth for every asset they need,” said Jimmy Richardson, Head of Quad Content Studios. “No reshoots, no re-lighting, no reinventing assets for every channel.”
From a single scan, brands generate dynamic social content, high-resolution print imagery, 360-degree e-commerce views, animation files, seasonal variations and channel-optimized formats for TikTok, Meta, Amazon, YouTube, and more.
To prove it, Quad scanned an elf.
Inside the technology – with a bit of holiday fun
The scanner captures detailed geometry, color and texture data, then uses AI-enabled reconstruction to create a relightable 3D model. After styling, it captures the product thousands of times in minutes and stitches images together using proprietary software. The result: a “digital twin” ready to be retouched, relit and digitally placed anywhere.
Designers at Quad’s creative agency, Betty, received the file and created campaign-ready assets placing the elf throughout the consumer journey – in-store, at-home and online.
The real impact: faster, smarter and more sustainable
Beyond the playful elf demo, 3D scanning delivers substantial results. Eighty-five percent of apparel brands and retailers either currently use or plan to implement virtual try-on tools requiring 3D scans to combat the $38 billion in returns U.S. consumers make annually. Brands report that 3D assets lift conversion rates by some 40% and cut returns by 20% because shoppers better understand products before buying.
Reducing holiday – and year-round – marketing complexity
The 3D-scanned elf is more than a festive demo. It demonstrates what brands unlock when they replace outdated processes with modern solutions.
“As budgets tighten and timelines shrink, teams need solutions that let them scale content without adding chaos,” Richardson added. “3D Commerce is a key part of how Quad helps brands do exactly that.”
About Betty
Betty, a Quad agency, offers best-in-class strategy, creative, design and content studios, including end-to-end brand design through its Favorite Child offering. Named after the late Betty Quadracci, the trailblazing co-founder of Quad, Betty is dedicated to building a better way for brands with inclusive, inventive ideas that drive results for clients, backed by broad capabilities that offer scale without sacrifice. Learn more at bettyagency.com and favoritechild.com.
About Quad
Quad (NYSE: QUAD) is a marketing experience, or MX, company that helps brands make direct consumer connections, from household to in-store to online. The company does this through its MX Solutions Suite, a comprehensive range of marketing and print services that seamlessly integrate creative, production and media solutions across online and offline channels. Supported by state-of-the-art technology and data-driven intelligence, Quad simplifies the complexities of marketing by removing friction wherever it occurs along the marketing journey. The company tailors its uniquely flexible, scalable and connected solutions to each clients’ objectives, driving cost efficiencies, improving speed-to-market, strengthening marketing effectiveness and delivering value on client investments.
Quad employs approximately 11,000 people in 11 countries and serves approximately 2,100 clients including industry leading blue-chip companies that serve both businesses and consumers in multiple industry verticals, with a particular focus on commerce, including retail, consumer packaged goods, and direct-to-consumer; financial services; and health. Quad is ranked among the largest agency companies in the U.S. by Ad Age, buoyed by its full-service media agency, Rise, and creative agency, Betty. Quad is also one of the largest commercial printers in North America, according to Printing Impressions.
For more information about Quad, including its commitment to operating responsibly, intentional innovation and values-driven culture, visit quad.com.
Media contact
Hali Sawyer
Communications Manager
hasawyer@quad.com
