October 2010 Archives

From: UncommonGoods
Subject Line: Enter if you dare...
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I love this email from Uncommon Goods! Each spooky door has its own joke and the answer "behind" it -- revealed on a separate landing page when you click on it. The jokes are pretty terrible but fun, and I found myself clicking on all the doors to see the answers. Best of all, there are different products behind each door that correspond to the theme. Halloween fun for all!

Email	Landing Page

From: Barneys
Subject Line: GUYS! Don't get caught in a leisure suit...
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010

The copy in this Barneys email is spot on. For brands that often target to the ladies, it can be tough to pull off a dude-directed message while staying true to the brand voice. You don't get the sense that this message is coming from a guy, but rather that a fashionable girl is shaming the gents into getting cleaned up (GUYS! Don't get caught in a leisure suit...). The red "Forward to a friend!" link stands out, too, and I wonder how many male subscribers actually got this message second-hand. That said, it would be nice Barneys had crafted a subject line and headline that actually spoke to one another, rather than just using the same line for both.

From: Anthropologie
Subject Line: Outfits, on film.
Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

If you haven't see it yet, check out the homepage on Anthropologie.com. It's simply brilliant. Rather than just put up a slideshow of their fave looks for fall, they created a live-action street scene, complete with pedestrians and a well-placed cab.

There are five vignettes to choose from: Flower Shop, Bookstore, Cafe, Bike Ride or Bakery. And while each is really short, they're stunning to watch again and again. (My only comment is that the model isn't actually riding her bike in the Bike Ride video. Maybe she had a flat?)

As much as I love the site execution, I have to say that the email could have done a better job of enticing me to click by incorporating the five vignette titles. The subject line is great: Outfits, on film. But the body copy is so subtle that the true beauty of the site experience doesn't really come through in the email. I would have loved to see them figure out a way to bring the movement of the homepage to the email. But then again, I clicked. So they're clearly doing something right!

From: Virgin America
Subject Line: Join the Virgin Wines Explorers Club. Save $100.
Date: Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010

Kudos to Virgin for going after a market that one wouldn't automatically associate with the Airline Industry... the wine drinking crowd! I think they have done a lot of things right with this email. The Subject Line and Preheader were well paired, and inspiring enough for me to click through (a rarity for me these days with my out-of-control inbox!). From a distance the copy looks long, but I ended up reading every word of it. Also, it looks like great deal... Very tempting indeed!