Recently in Appropriateness Category

From: Overstock.com
Subject Line: 50% TO 70% OFF
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

This email starts off with an awesome, eye-catching subject line "50% to 70% OFF." I think to myself, "Ok, what?! Really?!" So I open it, and I scan the email for deals...only to be abruptly stopped by a letter from the CEO right as I'm thinking about spending some money. Personally, the inclusion of the letter is awkward. It has nothing to do with Overstock.com's 50% off sale. But, after reading the letter, I was given a code for free shipping, which was a nice addition.

Now, for the letter placement. Awkward? Yes. Effective? Definitely. Here's my quick reasoning:
- Did the crazy subject line get me to open the email? YES.
- Did I read his letter? YES. "Why is there a letter in the middle of this 50% email? It must be important."
- Did I scroll, and look at every square inch of this email? YES. I was curious to see if there was anything else that was in an unpredictable place.
- Did I continue to shop through the email of great deals? OF COURSE!
- As a designer, do I love this concept/idea/layout? *sigh* no...not particularly. But it works. So I'm torn.

I got to thinking that this letter might be better suited for a separate email series from Patrick, but then I thought, "Would I actually read it?" "Would I even open it?" Probably not.

So while this email had an awkward pause, my guess is that it was effective. And for most marketers, that's the point of a great email.

From: n+1

Subject Line: $5 off your n+1 renewal on Cinco de Mayo

Date: Thursday, May 5, 2011

I can't say I woke up on this glorious Cinco de Mayo thinking, "Why, I bet it's time to resubscribe to my favorite thrice-yearly lit and culture journal!" Even so, the clever folks at n+1 took the holiday to throw a little incentive and delight my way.

I was tickled by the plea to resubscribe being tied to the (delicious) unrelated holiday. What a creative way to be relevant. Further kudos for clearly calling out the how to take advantage of the offer--and the short window of time open to do so.

Sure, we usually go for emails with a little more going on visually, but I'm endeared to know I can discuss this with them over a Corona at their office after resubscribing.

From: Bath & Body Works
Subject Line: Celebrate! Free Royal Collection Item + $1 Shipping - Today Only!
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011

From: CB2
Subject Line: a toast to the modern royal couple.
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011

From: Banana Republic.com
Subject Line: Be King for a Day with 30% off + FREE Shipping Every Day
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011

Being relevant in emails isn't just about holidays and the most recent weather crisis, this morning my inbox was filled with "Royal" deals galore that would make His Majesty proud. In honor of The Royal Wedding, retailers like CB2, Bath & Body Works, and Banana Republic have given today's email messaging a regal twist. So what if we're thousands of miles away (and 9-something hours behind)? We can join those 2.6 billion people around the world that got to view and celebrate the wedding of the century because the party came straight to our inbox.

Everyone loves a good bit of punnery, but there comes a point in every writer's life when her attempts to be clever fall to the ground with a wet thud. It takes a little skill to pull a funny idea all the way through your copy and make it work. This copy for Piperlime is a great example. Whoever wrote this email deserves a cookie! This little blurb about shoes is carefully written without being overworked, and totally funny to boot. (Um, no pun intended?)

In the spirit of keeping everyone at the top of their game, here are just a couple of helpful tips next time you're hoping to share your comic genius with the world:

1. Context Is Everything: Are you writing something that's supposed to be light and fun, or do you just feel like being funny? Knowing is half the battle.

2. Test the Waters: Go ahead and lob some one-liners at your officemates. If it gets an instant smirk, you've got a winner. If you have to explain it, it probably won't come across well in an email.

3. Don't Force It: If you suspect your joke might be awkward, then that's exactly what it is. There are plenty of ways to write great, fresh-sounding copy without jokes. Just let it go and do something else until another good one comes along.

From: Ancestry.com Monthly Update
Subject Line: Reconstructed Census Records, New City Directories, and a Free Class for Finding Iris Ancestors
Date: Thursday, Mar 10, 2011

From: Ancestry.com Weekly Discovery
Subject Line: Finding Your Irish Ancestors, plus Newspaper Tips
Date: Sunday, March 13, 2011

From: Ancestry.com
Subject Line: Explore new Irish records & enter to win a trip to Ireland
Date: Monday, March 14, 2011

As part of the subscription to Ancestry.com, one receives several bonus emails including Weekly Discovery and Monthly Update newsletters, which generally include information related to current events - for example these ones below that pertain to Irish ancestry for St. Patrick's Day. They are great examples of  "best practices" in action for HTML and templates - the emails have nice color and are on-brand even with the images disabled. My particular "likes" for the the Weekly Discovery email: the TOC & SWYN functionality. The Monthly Update has a personalized dynamic section letting me know that there are new "hints" for somebody in my tree! I also like the variety of different CTAs that are all very clickable. I get seriously sucked into these emails and can easily follow through on a 1/2 dozen different links or more. Ancestry.com provides a very solid Email Program for their members to enjoy, which ensures their customers continued subscriptions! Sláinte!

From: Dropbox
Subject Line: Start using Dropbox!
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2011

While I appreciate a cute illustration as much as the next aspiringartist, and while I respect an automated message as much as the next digital marketer, I felt slightly violated when I received Dropbox's "Start using Dropbox!" email message. While I did download the software, I wasn't aware that I gave the company explicit permission to look inside my machine to see whether or not I'd actually installed it. 

I believe they could have done right here by changing up the messaging. This message would have been better positioned as implicit rather than explicit. Less "we noticed you don't have the software installed," more "check out our installation tutorials!"

Tone is super-critical to data-informed automated messaging. Don't overlook the importance of your copy when it comes to these types of delicate messages.

From: west elm
Subject Line: Wherever you go, WE are with you
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

In addition to redesigning their website to feel friendlier with the introduction of both paper texture and handwritten font, west elm has also launched city guides in Philadelphia, Portland and Chicago. I'm curious about how y'all think about this. Does it make sense for west elm? How does it help the brand? The customer?

Also, I am interested in your reaction to the WE element. Please comment!

From: Moosejaw.com
Subject Line: Hottie Poster for Gentlemen who might be Dads
Date: Thursday, June 17, 2010

This Father's Day, I got my dad a special tea mug. It had a steeping basket and a lid built in. I thought it was pretty cool. But apparently I am kind of a square--the real cool kids get their dads...posters of "hotties." Their own dads (or husbands or brothers). Ew.

I know Moosejaw is well known (and celebrated) for their snarky, rambling, copy-heavy emails, and I usually enjoy them a lot. It's important to push limits once in a while so you keep your content fun and distinctive, especially for a brand like Moosejaw.

But this email crosses a line for me. It's a little too sleazy to be funny (who calls another human being a "random"?), and a little too gross to be good-humored. There's nothing wrong with speaking to particular segments of your readership, of course--but at the same time, you don't want to alienate a large portion of your list, which I would argue has been done here. I think this copy could have been spun in a more respectful, but still funny and edgy, way.

From: Puma
Subject Line: 25% Off - Lucky You!
Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Sports-style brand Puma made a bold statement with its recent St. Patty's Day email. Often tame with its holiday creative--this heart-adorned Valentine's Day message comes to mind--Puma opted to forgo the predictable shamrock graphics in favor of something far more striking.

The creative features an image of a dozing leprechaun and his anonymous, stocking-clad guest, sprawled over one another in the remains of the evening's merriment, with the headline "You Don't Have to be Irish to Get Lucky." In the center of all this is a single sneaker, dangling on the woman's foot. I suppose this technically makes it an on-body product shot, and therefore one of the more provocative of its kind in recent memory.

Now, some may argue that this in poor taste (or even just stupid). There's probably a case to be made there. It's got the same kind of tongue-in-cheek, not-so-subversive fratty humor that you see everywhere from faux-thrift store t-shirts to men's body wash ads which, even if you find them funny, can be tiresome in their ubiquity.

Whether the creative appeals to you or not, however, it's undeniable that Puma takes a smart risk by shifting toward this type of edgier messaging. The brand speaks in a more relevant way to a coveted demographic, namely dudes with disposable income in their twenties and early thirties.

Puma has also created content that's interesting enough (or at least startling enough) to be shared and commented on by the same demographic. In our office, it was forwarded around and definitely became the topic of conversation--not because of the discount, but because of the imagery. This kind of conversation can both increase brand awareness and act as a vehicle to spread the sale message.

Additionally, Puma manages to differentiate itself in the inbox from similar brands and similar sale messaging. A significant fact to note is that this message was sent two weeks before St. Patty's Day, when the only evidence of the holiday seemed to be the Guiness display at the grocery store. By sending earlier, Puma got a jump on other retailers competing for attention around a similar type of message.

Ultimately, this type of messaging wont work for all brands and certainly wont resonate with all subscribers. You have to give credit to Puma for recognizing and speaking to a part of its audience, even with the inherent risk involved in moving away from safer options. No matter what your brand, it never hurts to examine new ways to make your messaging stand out and appeal to your followers. Who knows? You might just get lucky in a way you never expected.

From: Amazon.com & Netflix Subject Lines: Various Date: Friday, November 6, 2009 - Friday, March 12, 2010 If you're looking to increase user engagement & loyalty, personalization is sure to help. My advice: 1) Get creative. Think about what your subscriber would like to receive rather than what you want to send them. The more you know about your subscriber and use that information to target relevant messages, the more likely you are to hook that customer for the long haul. 2) Start a dialogue. Surveys are a great and easy way to find out what your subscribers are experiencing. If they report problems, work to correct them. 3) Seize the opportunity to add ratings and reviews to your website. They're sure to drive more traffic to your website. A good way to collect reviews: after a subscriber purchases a product, wait a few weeks (to give them time to test the product) and send them a friendly reminder to rate the product. Many people will be happy to share their good or bad experience. Two companies that I've noticed do an awesome job at personalization are Amazon.com and Netflix. Here are just a few examples of great personalization emails that they send: Amazon.com: Lets you to create a gift list for friends/family and sends you reminders when their birthdays are approaching. Allows you to be notified via email when a movie is available for order or pre-order, by request. Suggests product suggestions based on your browsing and order history. Netflix: Sends emails asking you to rate your movies. By rating your movie, Netflix can recommend other movies you might enjoy, based on what other users enjoyed who also liked that movie. And what's really awesome, is that they allow you to rate the movie with one-click in the email itself, simple & time-saving. Notifies you which movie has shipped and when you can expect it. Asks you when you mailed your movie to determine if they are sending/receiving movies in a timely manner according to their policy.

From: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Magazine
Subject Line: AMY, welcome to our EXCLUSIVE subscriber program!!
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009

This email failed on many levels. Overlooking the lack of design, the first thing I noticed was the single graphic: a Rush Hour 3 movie poster. Immediately I was confused why I was being emailed about a movie that was released over two years ago. When I read the copy it went on to mention even more movies that were long passed. The idea was to get me to register for an Advance Screening Program and was using these, out of date movies, as examples of the types of movies I could be seeing with this program.

Relevancy is VERY important in email to pull in subscribers. Would it really take that much time to update one image and one line of copy to make this offer more current? Sadly, this wasn't the end of my disappointment... as a fan of movies, this is an offer I potentially might be interested in, however, they failed to provide any type of link to actually register which was the entire point of the email.

If I had to think of something nice to say about this email, at least they took the time to include my name in the subject line and email. Although their subject line does "welcome" me to the program which sounds more like I'm already enrolled rather than an offer to sign up.

From: Hotel Max
Subject Line: Your Stay with Us
Date: September 1, 2009

From: Hotel Max
Subject Line: Thank You for Visiting!
Date: September 2, 2009

Last week, I was up in Seattle for a meeting and stayed at the Hotel Max. After checking in at the front desk, I went up to my room and got online to catch up on my email. Amidst the regular cast of characters in my inbox was an unexpected surprise. Apparently, the minute I checked in, scratch that, the SECOND I checked in, Hotel Max sent me a welcome email. Talk about timely. Signed by the hotel manager, the email was personal and helpful, plus I have to give them kudos for taking the opportunity to plug the restaurant that's attached to the hotel.

To round out the customer service experience, they also sent me a follow-up email asking for feedback about my stay. I won't go into the details, but I did have some feedback and decided to send it in. I got a prompt personal email from the hotel manager letting me know what they were doing to fix the snafu. The only puzzle in all of this is that the first email I received welcoming me to the hotel lists one guy as the hotel manager, but the personal email I received was from a completely different guy who also held the hotel manager title. My guess is that there was a personnel switch and no one updated the emails. Oops. Now that's the perfect example of why it's so important to make sure the content in your triggered messages is up to date.

From: Twitter
Subject Line: "Fake Name" is now following you on Twitter!
Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I'm sorry... I know it's not a very nice thing to say, and I'll probably catch flak for it, but I am simply just not feeling the love for Twitter. I have an account for purely professional purposes, but I'm having a hard time getting over the lack of "real" connection, and it seems like every time I get a new "follower", it's some creep or weirdo that I don't know. It makes me wonder what it is about my profile that is attracting these people! Even though I have the option to block them, it's still annoying to have to take the step to do so, plus there is the time in between when they start following you, and when you block them that they can be checking out your profile. In addition to my privacy "issues", I just can't get over the hump with feeling comfortable about Tweeting - like it's too self-important.

I will say one nice thing about Twitter: in comparison to the ho-hum Friend Request emails from Facebook and Yelp (which was my last blogpost), Twitter at least has has a pretty looking one with a picture of your new "follower" (about which fellow Smith-Harmon blogger Darah MacLean commented here). I guess it just bothers me though that one gets "followed" on Twitter as opposed to "friend requested" like other social net working sites. In my mind "follow" has a sort of a stalker-esque connotation.

I'm very curious to know how others are adjusting to the Twitter world, and welcome any comments here!  :)

From: CompUSA.com
Subject Line: Just In: Acer 3gb Laptop $299...15.4" Screen, DVD Burner,
160gb HD...Hurry
Date:Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I understand that a tech store probably views men as their target audience, and we all know that photos of women tend to "sell" better than photos of men. Still, this (quite lovely!) girl on the laptop steals the show in this email. It's hard to look at anything else, including the screaming deal. The bold and the busy copy end up looking like a frame for this girl's face, or like a wild haircut.

From: DailyCandy Seattle Dedicated E-mail - Take It to the Bank
Subject Line: DailyCandy
Date: Monday June 22, 2009

I thought I subscribed to Daily Candy, not Daily Medicine! Ugh! While I'm fine with a beauty, retail or pop culture sponsored promotion from DC every now and again, I did not sign up with the expectation of getting ads from Chase. How did this happen!? Daily Candy built it's reputation by telling us about the opening of Spinasse and alerting us to discounts on Kate Somerville. Bank accounts? We spent all our money eating pasta and applying products to our faces. Is this "new economy" or just sponsored promo inappropriateness!?!?

From: PayPal
Subject Line: RE: FW: Account Validation Required
Date: June 10, 2009

For over a week I received an email a day supposedly from PayPal with the subject line Account Validation Required. They all landed in my Junk folder, which was good, but when I started receiving two a day, I decided enough with the phishing.

Of course, I knew that the fact it was from a .uk address was phishy, and I knew enough not to click on anything or give them any info. But I couldn't help but think about all the thousands of people who probably don't know it's a scam. Scary.  I forwarded the email to the address that the REAL PayPal site provides in the event that you think an email is a phishing scam: spoof@paypal.com.

Within an hour, I received this email back (check it out to the left). I really applaud PayPal for their follow-through, and I really like the tone of the copy. The good news: No more emails from the phony-baloney PayPal site with the .uk address. Now if we can just get rid of phishing scams all together, we'll be golden.

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: New for Summer.
Date: Thursday, March 26, 2009

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: Post-Grad by Abercrombie & Fitch
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: The Cheeky Cousin of Abercrombie & Fitch
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Each Abercrombie & Fitch email I receive violates my comfort more than the last. I'm at the point of considering unsubscribing due to the graphic content. I would be curious to find out how successful these campaigns are. I can't even tell what they're advertising - 2 of the 3 don't even have a call-to-action.

Share your thoughts: Are they going too far, or does sex sell???

From: Please add our new mailing address to your contact list
Subject Line: JetBlue Airways
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009

I received this email from JetBlue a few Thursdays ago. My initial reaction: "What a gratuitous use of the channel. Overmailers! Why would JetBlue use a valuable send opportunity, asking me to (1) open and read their email, then (2) do some other boring administrative task after that, without giving me anything in return?

But maybe I am unreasonable. I'd really like to hear your opinion. Is this a wasted mail? Should it have been incorporated as a well-pronounced submessage rather than sent on it's own? Or maybe (my opinion) JetBlue should have just pumped up the "add to address book" messaging in their preheader for about a month, adding some language about the address change. Tell me what you think!

Only partially related: If you haven't seen it yet, the new JFK JetBlue terminal is finally done, and it doesn't totaly suck. It's actually quite nice. It's actually so nice compared to the frightening excuse for a temporary teriminal they had going on for a few years there. That was seriously a third-world nation experience. Anyway, if you've been avoiding flying them because of that very scary temporary terminal, avoid no more! Perhaps they should have messaged the new terminal as their primary ;).

Happy travels!

From: South Seas Island Resort
Subject Line: Experience South Seas
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Unfortunately, I received this email immediately after booking my South Seas travel (and simultaneously signing up for their email program) for roughly double the featured "spring rate." Ouch! Where's my "thank you"? Where's my "welcome to our email program"? As much as I love an offer, and as much as I love a resort, and as much as I am a total customer service snob, seriously, what's the likelihood that I'm going to book again in the same season? This message just made me feel silly for paying more :).

But alas, which of you will I see at the fabulous South Seas Resort for the Email Insider Summit next week!? And if you haven't yet booked your travel, perhaps you can take advantage of H2WHOA!

From: JCPenny
Subject Line: A Special Message to You from the CEO of JCPenney
Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009

From: The Limited
Subject Line: Affordably Chic. Get The Fashion You Love For Less!
Date: Monday, March 23, 2009









Relevancy is an important part of email. Relate to your audience, anticipate their needs, and you will find astonishing results. In tough economic times such as these, why not emphasize what you can do to help your subscribers? Like JC Penny & The Limited: sending out a friendly reminder that you can still get quality products without emptying your wallet.

There are many more emails out there similar to these examples. This type of messaging could also be a good opportunity to provide a discount.

From: Sephora
Subject Line: Do It Yourself - and save!
Date: March 3, 2009

Just like a lot of folks out there, I'm making calculated choices about where I spend my cash these days. So how can marketers reach a gal like me who's holding tight to her credit card? Give me a reason to spend money so that I save money. Case in point, this super fun email from Sephora. I scrolled the whole way down and purchased a couple of things off this DIY list. They even highlight the salon price for each service and compare it to the Sephora DIY price. Very clever, very timely, very creative. IMHO, this is the perfect example of how marketing to the masses via recession-minded tactics can come off smart, not sneaky.

From: Staples
Subject Line: Will Office Depot closings affect you?
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Talk about taking advantage of the situation! Staples released this email roughly stating - Office Depot is closing a lot of stores, so you should shop with us instead. I hope they don't get bad Karma!!

From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: So, you need a gift? Look no further + Free gift wrap & free online shipping
Date: December 10, 2008

From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: FINAL HOURS! FREE $100 NM GIFT CARD with online purchase + Free gift wrap & free online shipping
Date: December 9, 2008

From: NM Store
Subject Line: Take an extra 30% off at Neiman Marcus stores
Date: December 10, 2008

As a follow-up to my December 8th posting, I thought I would share the latest NM news. I received three emails from Neiman Marcus in ONE DAY. Yes, that's right. 1-2-3 in 1 day. While I understand that good things come in threes, I'm not so sure it applies here. And while I also understand that two were from Neiman Marcus proper and one was from NM Store, they all look like Neiman Marcus to me. And check out the subject line lengths! The only word that comes to mind is: Unsubscribe. Otherwise, I'm speechless.

From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: Free $100 NM GIFT CARD with ONLINE purchase + Free gift wrap & Free online shipping
Date: December 8, 2008

I'd been putting off my inbox cleaning for too long, so I spent some time this weekend filing over a thousand emails away into my archive library. After first sorting all my emails by the "from" field, I noticed something very interesting. Without realizing it, I've been receiving an email a day from Neiman Marcus since at least October and maybe even longer! I was shocked. At first I thought that maybe I'd missed checking a preference box or something when I signed up for emails originally, but when I tested my theory with a different email address, I was never given a frequency option. So, this leads me to believe that Neiman's default is to send an email a day to subscribers. Interesting. Then, lo and behold, when I clicked unsubscribe, I was given the option of getting a weekly email vs. a daily email. I did choose the weekly option rather than unsubscribe from all, but I have to wonder how many other people unsubscribe all together out of sheer frustration at receiving so many messages. I'd love to know if this everyday delivery strategy is working for Neiman's. I would think that the unsubscribe rate would be HUGE, but then again, I'm not exactly Neiman's target customer. Let's open up the discussion: What are your thoughts on email frequency?

From: Apple
Subject Line: The new iPod touch. Game on.
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008

Normally, I love just about everything Apple sends me, but this email left me speechless and a little disappointed. What did it to me? The headline: iPod Touch. The funnest iPod ever. Really? With all the creative genius coming out of Apple, that's the only word they could come up with? Funnest!?! I get that language evolves and that non-words become words over time simply because we use them in our everyday conversations. I also totally get that in today's TXT world, it's cool to ditch the grammar we learned in school and go straight for the slang. But, funnest? IMHO, the writer could have at least tried to make it relevant by using the word fun as a comparison. So maybe other iPods are fun, but iPod Touch is the funnest. I could have played along with that, but this just missed the mark for me. On another note, the subject line totally reeled me in with The new iPod touch. Game on., and the body copy did its job by supporting the SL with The new, ultrathin iPod touch was born to play. Tilt, tap, shake, and swipe your way through stunning 3D games and applications. It's just that headline. Sorry, Apple. I still love you, though. Write soon.

From: Forth & Towne
Subject Line: Important News about Forth & Towne - Please Read
Date: Monday, March 19, 2007

From: holdeverything
Subject Line: save 20% on your first west elm purchase
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2006

Some of you may have already heard that Gap Inc. is already shutting down it's fairly-new Forth & Towne brand. Their email notification brings up a good question: how do you handle bad news, like a store (or brand) closing, via email?

First things first: it is important to break the news to customers. You don't want them making pointless trips to your retail locations, only to find them shuttered. But how you break the news is everything. Here, Forth & Towne erred on the side of being a little too, well, sad. This email just feels depressing. It's important, even with negative news, to keep upbeat and highlight a customer's opportunities. For instance, Forth & Towne could have focused more on sale opportunities at local stores, or could have plugged some of their other brands in an attempt to convert shoppers to Banana Republic or Piperlime, like HoldEverything did with west elm in this example from last year. I realize Forth & Towne will probably cover these things over the course of the next couple of months, but at least touching on them in this initial message would have helped soften the blow.

I am all for innovation, but this is ridiculous. To start, Neiman Marcus appears to be exceedingly proud of the "unfolding magic" which is possibly the crappiest video ever made. Come on! What the heck is that!?

And then there's Crate & Barrel. They're so excited about their first TV commercial that they sent an ad about an ad. Wow! A TV ad? Amazing!

Finally, we've got Bergdorf Goodman selling CDs. Maybe I just don't grasp their greater "live-in-our-brand-bubble" vision, but how does a Bergdorf Goodman CD collection make any sense? And who buys CDs anymore anyway?


From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: The Christmas Book is here!
Date: Tuesday, October 3, 2006

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Preview our new TV ad
Date: Thursday, October 5, 2006

From: Bergdorf Goodman
Subject Line: Volume: Preview & own the music of Bergdorf Goodman
Date: Friday, October 27, 2006

From: Hollister
Subject Line: Take a Trip with Hollister - Downtown to Surftown
Date: Thursday, July 20 2006

Regardless of my feelings about Hollister and parent brand Abercrombie & Fitch - namely that they use sex inappropropriately to market to children - I have to applaud their brilliant branding efforts. I do not frequent their website much less their stores, but even through my limited contact with the brand - via email - I have developed a very strong sense of the Hollister "imaginaire." Hollister is not just a clothing retailer. It's a place, a texture, a way of life, a state of mind - an imaginary west coast refuge of laid-back beauty. It's in the words, the font faces, the imagery. It's an incredibly well-constructed illusion that promises teen paradise is as close as slipping on a "Mountain Road Beach Henley".

As the subject line reads: "Take a Trip with Hollister - Downtown to Surftown". Click here to see a technically impressive execution of this seductive imaginary world.

From: Hollister
Subject Line: Just Cool. Hollister Back to School 2006
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2006

Gee, they didn't teach threesomes in the sand back when I was in school.

From: Starbucks.com
Subject Line: Coming soon – a must-see movie from Starbucks Entertainment
Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2006

From: Diesel
Subject Line: Calling all unsigned musicians!
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2006

From: Starbucks.com
Subject Line: Catch the new Dan Zanes CD at Starbucks
Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2006

You can't go a single day without seeing a Wall Street Journal article about new media channels, TV online, and advertainment, etc. Since media is "so hot right now," I guess we shouldn't be surprised to see coffee and clothing retailers expanding their brands into movies and music. I actually saw "Akeelah and the Bee" (I also drink about four cups of coffee a day) - it was cute - but somehow seeing the "Starbucks Entertainment" logo at the film's start just felt wrong. We'll see...

From: Old Navy
Subject Line: Summer in the City - Dresses for Baby Start at $16.50
Date: Monday, April 24, 2006

It's one thing to watch Sex and the City with your baby, but it's quite another to start modeling your infant on Carrie and Charlotte. What's next, baby stilettos? An apple martini in the bottle?

From: Nike Women
Subject Line: Make a Splash with the Nike Swim Collection
Date: Monday, April 10, 2006

Who is this email addressing? It comes from "Nike Women", but the racy Sports Illustrated closeups were clearly photographed for men. And what is this email selling? I don't see any swimwear. I only see Maria Sharapova, who happens to be a tennis player, not a swimmer. The "playful polka dots" and "quick-drying fabric" referred to in the body copy aren't even visible in the blacked-out imagery.

This email is addressing no one about nothing. So much for women's athletics. Thanks Nike!

From: FreePeople.com
Subject Line: Go with the flow in Free People dresses
Date: Tuesday, February 14, 2006

From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Fresh Cannabis
Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2006

There's a Pot Party in my inbox! Today Barney's surprised me with a crazy "WE LOVE CANNABIS" message! Seems a little off-brand for Barney's, despite their attempt to cloak the idea in an elegant, minimalist black box. And maybe it's only because I read it in tandem with the Barney's message, but Free People's dress campaign looks more like it's recommending we let body odor and Marijuana smoke "flow around and through" us. But heck, at least it's on-brand. 4:20, dude!

From: Bliss Beaut-e-mail
Subject Line: winning news from bliss
Date: Friday, February 10, 2006

While I love Bliss products, I sometimes don't love their brand tone. "I-can-have-it-all" sassiness can look too much like "I-can-have-it-all" bitchiness, as is the case with this smirky gal "who's been two-timing." To send something like this so close to Valentine's Day comes off as, well, bitchy.

From: RedEnvelope
Subject Line: Save up to 50% at our Winter Sale.
Date: Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Both the psychological angle and the creative execution of this email are just plain weird. Are we performing an Anti-Santa ritual with those candles? All the same, I'd be curious to know how it performed. A lot of us return to our email on December 27th feeling tired, bloated and disappointed. Perhaps this campaign was a profitable exploitation of the post-holiday blues.

From: Abercrombie & Fitc
Subject Line: Abercrombie & Fitch: Christmas 2005 Casual Luxury
Date: Thrusday, October 27, 2005

This is a HOLIDAY SEASON intro message for an APPAREL company for TEENs and PRE-TEENs. Isn't this boy cold with no shirt on at Christmastime? Isn't it illegal to send porn to kids? This is more of a brand question than an EDM question, but it should be addressed.

From: BananaRepublic.com
Subject Line: Announcing the Queens Center Banana Republic store grand opening...
Date: Monday, November 1, 2004

What are they selling? Clothing or call girls?