January 2007 Archives

What to HTML? As more and more marketers get browser-savvy (like Eddie Bauer) they start to use HTML text within their email creative. (It's not just for legal anymore!) This is because, in general, HTML text is less likely than graphics to be tagged as spam and it's visible in image-disabled environments. Here are a few guidelines to help you grapple with what to HTML.

1) DO HTML product names and prices. This not only makes product names clearer, but also cut-and-pasteable, potentially allowing customers to copy, paste and search your website for specific products more thoroughly. Additionally, it's much easier to update HTML rather than graphical creative in the event of last-minute product name changes or price markdowns.

2) DO HTML longer paragraphs. Full sentences are easier to read as HTML rather than graphical text. Compare the Blue Nile and Macy's examples and notice how much more readable the Blue Nile text is.

3) Maybe DON'T HTML super-big headline text. HTML fonts still look kind of wonky any larger than 15 unless you're on IE7 or a Mac. Blue Nile's "There's Still Time" headline would lose a lot of polish as HTML.

4) DO be consistent. In the Stride Rite example, they use HTML for only three of their four "shop now" call-to-action links. I'd recommend sticking with one or the other to avoid "junking things up" too much.

5) DO understand that HTML text requires far more rigorous email browser testing than purely graphical creative. The locations and colors (blue?) of the "shop now" links in the Stride Rite example indicate more relaxed browser testing. This is IE7 on a PC. I don't even want to know what this looks like in Outlook for Web on a Mac. Ieeee!

From: Blue Nile
Subject Line: Free FedEx 2Day Shipping at Blue Nile
Date: Thursday, December 14, 2006

From: macys.com
Subject Line: Get the best savings on our top-rated products at the Home Sale!
Date: Monday, January 29, 2007

From: Stride Rite
Subject Line: Toddler Tech - Technology for growing feet
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2007

From: giggle
Subject Line: Time for a big bed? Introducing giggle's twin-size collection.
Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I really like this giggle creative for two reasons. The first is that it's bright and happy. The second is that the grid of close-ups is an imaginative, visually-appealing way to feature a broad array of product. While the email may not include product names & pricing, which, according to an EmailLabs study is basically the most important piece when speaking to moms, I feel like the visual excitement generated by the brilliant colors and playful shapes is actually enough to compell click-through, even if it's just to load up on more orange. Yum!

One (huge) recommendation for improvement? I don't care how cute it looks down there: bring that call-to-action up above the fold, folks! Despite how compelling the creative may be, many-a-tired-subscriber will not scroll down in order to locate the click-through opportunity.

From: katespade.com
Subject Line: sale - new items up to 50% off
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007

This is fun and happy, isn't it!? It's little touches like a cute birdie that make the difference between "yer same old sale" and something more compelling.

From: Ann Taylor
Subject Line: February's New Arrivals, and a Special Online Offer
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007

In the past quarter-year or so, I've noticed a definite trend toward larger, more readable font sizes in email campaigns. Ann Taylor is on the extreme end - perhaps because their demographic is slightly older - but it's a good thing all around. We can't expect subscribers to strain to read our messaging. For instance, my mother subscribes to many of the emails I produce, and she socked me with a real eye-opener recently when she said, "I loved that sale campaign you sent last week." It was a pretty standard execution, so I asked what it was that she liked about it, and she replied: "The words were big. It was so easy to read."

OK then, here's the conundrum: how do you do both larger type and HTML text at the same time, tastefully?

From: gap.com
Subject Line: Up to 70% Off: Last Chance to Shop Clearance
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007

I hate to kick a brand while they're down, but how can Gap regain their glow when their logo looks like it's covered in mud? I'm not sure I've ever witnessed a company deface their own logo like this. Polish it off, for Pete's sake!

From: shopbop.com
Subject Line: Wide is Back! Exclusive J Brand Wide Leg Jeans + New Seven, Anlo and William Ras...
Date: Friday, January 19, 2007

Shopbop's campaigns are good to look at because they tend to do a very good job presenting a cohesive visual message, despite the fact that their products come from different designers and manufacturers. They use photography, color and texture to successfully tie the different pieces together; the denim motif in this creative is a great example. I also like how they extended the theme to the submessage here.

On another note, I was sorry to learn recently that after just a few seasons of skinny jeans, I apparently need to restock my closet again with elephant legs. I have to admit - because I spend so much time looking at retail email campaigns, I've become infinitely more attuned to what's fashionable in clothing, accessories, electronics and home furnishings, and have witnessed my expenditures rise infinitely as well. A testament to the power of email marketing, of course ;).

From: Forth & Towne
Subject Line: Now order by phone
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I visited a Forth & Towne store for the first time just before Christmas and - depsite the fact that it makes me feel old - I really liked the product assortment. The merchandise appeared to be of good quality, and there were some pretty interesting, unique-looking pieces in the mix.

In general I've also liked Forth & Towne's email creative, but I want to bring up a detail that's repeatedly caught my attention, and that's the use of the bracket character - } - to indicate a call-to-action. While it's a novel idea, I'm not sure there's a good enough reason to use it in place of an underline or a more standard carrot. While I'm sure most people "get it", the bracket lacks the universal "click here-y-ness" of the carrot or the underline. I'd recommend doing a creative test to see how it affects CTR.

From: Design Within Reach
Subject Line: Final Week to Lounge for Less, plus Shipping and Champagne
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Here, Design Within Reach infuses some fun into a standard design template. Using basic rules and color blocks, it goes from generic to Mondrian-esque. Cute.

I also want to applaud the limited-time offer specificity in both the subject line and the headline.

Finally, I'd like to call attention to the footer navigation. Many multi-channel retailers include their website, telephone number and store locator information in their footer navigation, but I like how Design Within Reach umbrellas it with the phrase "3 WAYS TO SHOP." It's subtle, but it gives the information a sense of context and serviceability.

From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: Shop New For Spring | Spring Outerwear is here.
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007

From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: One Week Only: Extra 30% Off Sale Outerwear.
Date: Monday, January 22, 2007

Eddie Bauer appears to be taking the dual "supressed images/preview pane" threat seriously: these recent campaigns use HTML for almost all text - including nav items. And you know what? I think they look pretty darn good. A lot of us have been skittish to follow the best practice - use as much HTML text as possible - because we lose a degree of creative control over how text renders. But (depending upon your brand and your audience) it might be better to have slightly-less-beautiful text read than no text at all. And with the introduction of IE7, which renders HTML text in a more appealing (read: aliased) way than it's predecessors, combined with the upsurge in Mac use, HTML text is looking better and better. Plus, as more and more B2B and B2C marketers make the switch, our eyes will adjust, and what once looked ugly might look just lovely.

From: Gymboree
Subject Line: Gymbucks Ends This Sunday - Shop Valentine's Day Styles Today!
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007

You have one nav, but many campaigns. Make sure your nav is flexible enough to handle every situation - regardless of any single campaign's content, strucutre or color. In this example, Gymboree's green nav doesn't play nicely with the pink Valentine's day creative, and the orange logo doesn't help much either. In order to avoid this issue, I recommend either using a more neutral nav that works with any palette, or implementing a flexible nav, which retains a consistent structure, but changes color from campaign to campaign to suit the creative. (Williams-Sonoma does this well.)

From: katespade.com
Subject Line: kate's favorites: december
Date: Wednesday, December 5, 2006

From: katespade.com
Subject Line: kate's favorites: january
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2007

I love how elegant and clean the "kate's favorites" series is. This is a beautiful, on-brand way for kate spade to kick off each month.

Dang, Microsoft is really laming out! Click here to read all about it.

From: Built by Wendy
Subject Line: Built by Wendy Shoes
Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Well that's straightforward isn't it? I think someone forgot to put their clever cap on over at Built by Wendy...All the same, it's a cute little brand - check them out if you haven't already.

From: Restoration Hardware
Subject Line: Save 20% and Color Coordinate Your Bath
Date: Monday, January 15, 2007

Folks have been comfortably using the animated GIF to feature multiple colorways for some time now. While I generally see it done with a hero image, I believe this is the first time I've seen it happening with alt shots. It's a pretty effect. Will it sell more towels? Click here to see it.

In order to achieve this, Restoration Hardware has used image mapping, which we all know is an absolute no-no in email marketing due to email program incompatability. (Some email programs strip out image maps.) However, I don't believe RH did this out of laziness or ignorance. The problem is, if you put more than one rotating GIF image in a single campaign, it seems to be next-to-impossible to get them to rotate in unison. So one way of tackling that issue would be to save the separate images as a single rotating GIF, and tack on the image map to get them to link to their respective locations in most email browsers. I'd be curious to see, in this case, whether the trade-off was worth it.

I'm even more curious to know whether anyone has a solution to the multiple-rotating-GIFs-in-unison issue. Major props to anyone who can offer advice on that.

One last totally unrelated note on Restoration Hardware marketing in general: they're promoting "annual" sales way too often. Even if the last was lighting and the next is bath, they all blur into one "annual" category, and feel more like a year-long sale than special events.

Well, the holidays are over. (You have to stop using them as an excuse!) And after having spent a ton of money on others, it's now time to spend a ton more money on ourselves. Cue the post-holiday sale. Let's take a look at how six different retailers did it.

While Brooks Brothers decided to skip creative production entirely, Janie and Jack went the opposite route, executing in their standard, heavy-production style. I'm particularly fond of Paul Smith's humble little Sale EDM, perhaps because, for me, it evokes the sweet illustrations of Shel Silverstein.

Meanwhile, Room & Board uses texture and Forth & Towne uses patterning and color to make their messages pop. Crate & Barrel uses parentheses - the promise of a sofa - to sell their sale.


From: Brooks Brothers
Subject Line: Save an Additional 15% - Online Event Ends December 26
Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2006

From: Janie and Jack
Subject Line: Season Finale Sale Continues and Spring Preview
Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2006

From: Paul Smith
Subject Line: The Paul Smith Sale starts 28th December
Date: Thursday, December 28, 2006



From: Room & Board
Subject Line: Shop Room & Board's annual clearance
Date: Thursday, December 28, 2006

From: Forth & Towne
Subject Line: Now Save an Extra 30% Off Sale Items
Date: Thursday, January 4, 2007

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Save up to 50% (including furniture, too)
Date: Friday, December 29, 2006

From: Piperlime
Subject Line: Wonderful work shoes and sale now up to 50% off.
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Here, Piperlime uses smart, propped silhouette photography. The propping both contextualizes the product and helps prevent the image from looking too austere. At the same time, this type of photography allows us to avoid some of the tricky creative production issues that come with using environmental shots, such as matching type and color blocks to the photo (which would be particularly difficult for a brand heavily drawn in lime), as well as manipulating the image to make overlaid type legible. Smart stuff!

From: RedEnvelope
Subject Line: Save up to 70%. So many deals, so little time.
Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2007

This has got to be the shortest EDM ever. Have any of y'all ever seen anything so short? It's like - submessage size. It looks kind of silly to me; why not make better use of inbox real estate? Is this a strategic attempt to fit the entire creative into the dreaded "preview pane", or just the work of a designer short on time?

From: west elm
Subject Line: Bold Neutrals: slip into a new bedroom for spring
Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2007

This is a nice use of a rotating GIF, even just on a purely visual level. Click here to see the animation.

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: Next Season's Styles Available Now... Abercrombie.com
Date: Thursday, January 4, 2007

Abercrombie!!! What the heck are you doing that makes it impossible to see your emails in the Yahoo! web browser on a Mac? This little snippet is all I see. This has been going on for weeks now, and despite the fact that I think your brand is a bad influence on today's youth, I appreciate your EDM production values and would actually like to see your campaigns in my inbox. So, I'm sure, would your customers. Get with it!

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Prime time to use holiday gift cards
Date: Thursday, January 4, 2007

Crate and Barrel earns double-points for relevancy here: they're leveraging the reported news that apparently everyone bought a flat screen TV this holiday to drive gift card cash-ins. And to tie it all together with a clever "Prime time" subject line? I'd call that an "advanced move."

The design itself leaves a little something to be desired - feels a little junky for CB, no? - but I'm willing to forgive that since this message is actually relevant. High five!

From: anthropologie.com
Subject Line: A window onto a new year
Date: Wednesday, January 3, 2007

I like the use of color and texture here; how refreshing after way too many red holiday EDMs! But I'm wondering what kind of new year this photograph is a "window into". Is it beautiful or bleak? I'm feeling like the gal's chopped, unwashed hair, the hospital-style gown and the black leather couch are more "Girl, Interrupted" or even "The Ring" than they are dreamy or romantic.

On an unrelated note, I'm always excited to see the power of EDMs being leveraged to promote other channels. (In this case, catalog.) This is just another illustration of the obvious fact that online marketing is "the way of the future, the way of the future."

I've appreciated the humor sprinkled throughout Urban Outfitters' email campaigns, but even more I appreciate the LOVE I get each week from fredflare.com. On December 18, they told me "WE LOVE YOU / THX FOR BEING OUR BESTIE:)" which is just about the cutest thing I've ever read in an email. On December 22, they assured me that they're "HERE FOR [ME]!", all smiley with hearts, and on the 29th they thanked me for "an amazing year."

I just think it's so nice and sweet that Fred Flare is mailin' out some love each week. I always open their campaigns - they bring a smile to my face. (I'm sure they must be getting some love back in return from their customers!) This seems like such a nice way to drive sales. Maybe we could all try to inject some love into our campaigns this year. Thanks Fred Flare!


From: fredflare.com
Subject Line: fredflare.com's $9.95 3-DAY ENDS TODAY!!!!!!
Date: Monday, December 18, 2006

From: fredflare.com
Subject Line: fredflare.com is HERE FOR YA!
Date: Friday, December 22, 2006

From: fredflare.com
Subject Line: fredflare.com's FREE SHIPPING ENDS SUN:)
Date: Friday, December 29, 2006

From: J.Crew
Subject Line: Happy new sale
Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Love the polka-dot pattern on this J.Crew campaign. This is a good example of making a subtle change to freshen up a tired template. Remember: you don't have to reinvent the wheel with every design! Just playing with color or adding texture can make old designs feel new.

From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: Fabulous stationery + test your thank-you writing know-how
Date: Monday, January 1, 2007

I really like this message from Neiman Marcus. It's timely: we all have thank-you notes to write, don't we? It's engaging: we all want to know the "right" time to send those notes, don't we? It's brief: I think they featured the right amount of content. This isn't a hugely long email newsletter about thank-you note writing that we don't have time to read. It's an easy-to-digest quiz question that clearly prompts us to click through for satisfaction. (I did!)

One recommendation for improvement: use a clearer headline. "In a word" is cute, but basically meaningless and easy to gloss over. Instead, feature "How soon should you send a thank-you note?" in the large pink type. I guarantee it will improve click-through.