From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: FREE GIFT WRAP ON THE BIG 100 & A chance to win one + FREE SHIPPING AT ANY PRICE
Date: Tuesday, November 13 2007

Here's an interesting way to compel recipients to click quick: Neiman Marcus offers subscribers the opportunity to win a handbag - but only if they respond by 11AM CT!

Posted by lfharmon at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: katespade.com
Subject Line: shop pop & color
Date: Tuesday, November 20 2007

I agree with Shannon Milar, who loves this message for it's "unique vision for holiday." Like kate spade's fall imagery, their holiday photography feels fresh and fun. It's so easy for us to fall into blahliday mode, slavishly aping last year's creative (only redder!), but this campaign illustrates the opportunity to consider how we can mix our unique brand elements with traditional holiday visual cues to bake up something new.

Posted by lfharmon at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those of you who are curious to see how the Crate & Barrel and Chefs Thanksgiving Series panned out, I collected the creatives here. Although apparently posting the Crate & Barrel Newsletters was unnecessary as they now archive their ads - including email - on their website. Interesting...check it out. They've even gone so far as to make "view all Thanksgiving newsletters" the primary call-to-action in campaigns 2-4 in this series.

Crate & Barrel Thanksgiving Series




From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Thanksgiving Countdown Ideas. Free Shipping, too.
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2007

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Time-saving Thanksgiving menu. Plus Free Shipping.
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Serving the Thanksgiving Feast. Free Shipping, too.
Date: Monday, November 5, 2007

From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Last minute turkey essentials. Plus Free Shipping.
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2007

Chefs Thanksgiving Series




From: chefs
Subject Line: Day 1: Countdown to Thanksgiving Free Shipping Any Size Order
Date: Monday, October 29, 2007

From: chefs
Subject Line: Day 2: Thanksgiving Tools and Gadgets with Free Shipping Any Size Order
Date: Tuesday October 30, 2007

From: chefs
Subject Line: Day 3: Main Course plus Free Shipping on Any Size Order
Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007

From: chefs
Subject Line: Day 4: Dessert plus Free Shipping on Any Size Order
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007

From: chefs
Subject Line: Final Day: Free Shipping on Any Size Order
Date: Friday, November 2, 2007

Posted by lfharmon at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Cole Haan
Subject Line: As seen on Oprah: Boots with Nike Air
Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007

From: Borders Rewards
Subject Line: 30% Coupon & Oprah's New Pick
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

These are just two examples of the many "Oprah's Pick"-themed emails I've seen over the past few weeks. Chad White also highlighted a Target example back in October. I'm assuming that Oprah's product picks - like her book club selections - fly off the shelves, and that her name alone opens emails. After all, Oprah is awesome. Maybe Oprah should run for president.

On a totally unrelated note, Borders emails are so tall and so heavy! They must be an absolute bear to produce. I'm wondering if numerous graphics equal numerous sales for Borders, or whether they've tested simpler creative options. They've obviously considered the scroll-factor, as they include what they're calling a "Shortlist index" at the very top of the email, similar to a table of contents. Problem is, if a recipient with disabled images clicks one of these anchor-tagged links, they'll be directed to a big empty white box.

Posted by lfharmon at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From: Dean & DeLuca
Subject Line: Thanksgiving Meals at Dean & DeLuca
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2007

My definition of meal preparation is basically turning on a rice cooker, so the idea of ordering an entire Thanksgiving feast from Dean & DeLuca sounds incredibly compelling. The copy points are right on in this campaign, however I don't think the visual execution supports them as well as it could. Three thoughts:
(1) The body copy should be broken up into two more-digestible paragraphs beginning with "We even..." I'd also recommend bringing the text into a black unbolded mixed-case for better legibility. This also gives us the opportunity to link "DeanDeluca.com" and the product names, making them POP with color, bolding and underline.
(2) The call-to-action button should live immediately under the body copy rather than hiding out way below the fold in the lower right-hand corner of the design.
(3) Get focused and tell two strong, distinct stories: (a) the Thanksgiving feast and (b) the wine pairing. Cut down on the number of boxes by bringing the Roulade and Pie into the primary message space and concatenate the Pinot Noir label image with the wines note below for a stronger, tighter submessage.

Do we love or hate the hero image? It's very modern art, but is it appetizing?

Posted by lfharmon at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From: giggle
Subject Line: FREE SHIPPING on giggle Better Basics
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I L.O.V.E. giggle's rainbow! Their creative is always mui cute. Here though, I would say three things:
(1) Use HTML text instead of graphical type for those super-long bodies of copy. From a design perspective, I used to think that graphical text looked better for everything, but I guess after designing around disabled images for a while my perception of HTML text has changed. HTML's the new black.
(2) Punch up the gifting factor now that it's November. Only, how do you mix rainbow, red and green!? (Speaking of which, check out my new email creative holiday navigation post on the EEC blog!)
(3) Yesterday, Betsey's strange illustrations compelled me to click...but these ones are a little bit boring. I'd like to see some product silo shots in there instead. Show me some organic cotton quality, baby!

Posted by lfharmon at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: BananaRepublic.com
Subject Line: The holiday gift guide has arrived
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

It was refreshing to see this email from Banana Republic today. Their creative had been feeling somewhat stale these past few seasons, but here the combination of color, ornaments, ribbon and model movement makes for a happy change. I particularly like this gal's Dr. Seuss-illustration-like facial expression and enormous hair. I want that hair. It's rad.

Posted by lfharmon at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Betsey Johnson
Subject Line: Shake A Legging!
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Betsey Johnson's creative is generally both graphic and novel! The amusing illustrations actually arouse my curiosity enough to make me want to see what the actual product looks like...I wish I knew where to click though, as there's no obvious point of clickthrough. Add a call-to-action!

Posted by lfharmon at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's getting darker...earlier... Home furnishings retailers Pottery Barn, CB2 and Room & Board all picked up easy wins in the relevancy race by promoting lighting shortly after daylight savings. I also absolutely adore this easy win: the subject line "Daylight Savings!"

PB and CB2 pick up points for delivering just 2 and 3 days after the clock reset respectively, but Room & Board might have been smarter in taking the time to select a more practical product mix. That chandelier looks crazy! Although perhaps it's curiosity-factor inspired some clickthrough action.




From: Pottery Barn
Subject Line: Daylight Savings! Save on select lighting + Sale
Date: Monday, November 5, 2007

From: CB2
Subject Line: the beauty of daylight savings
Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2007

From: Room & Board
Subject Line: Lighting: Design that Illuminates
Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007

Posted by lfharmon at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Bergdorf Goodman
Subject Line: Open a BG Credit Card and receive a free BG Gift Card & more
Date: Friday, November 9, 2007

I was a bit disappointed to receive this communication from Bergdorf Goodman one week after having already signed up for their InCircle Rewards program and credit card. It didn't stop me from buying the Louboutins, but it did inspire me to at least crinkle my nose on opening.

Posted by lfharmon at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: J.Crew
Subject Line: New sale arrivals...
Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007

More than once I've mentioned that J.Crew does a great job writing direct, conversational copy. I guess they'd better, since so many of their emails rely solely on graphical text, like this one. It's your standard sale message, but I like that they say "now's a perfect time to take a five minute break..." They're not saying "shop now for your best selection, quantities are limited", which, after so many years of hearing it, is a phrase I practically find myself repeating in my sleep. Instead, they're directly addressing us as we are: in front of our computers, most likely working, weeding through our email. There's a freshness to thinking about and addressing recipients as they are that I really appreciate.

Posted by lfharmon at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Bluefly
Subject Line: Exclusive Access to the Blue Room - Extra 20% off Today Only
Date: Tuesday, November 6 2007

We often talk about emails as doorways into websites; I enjoy this creative illustration of that concept. The idea of "Exclusive Access to the Blue Room" intrigues me; I feel compelled to take hold of those gold handles and throw the blue doors open!

Posted by lfharmon at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Lands' End
Subject Line: $10 off Outerwear: do you know where your coat is?
Date: Friday, November 2, 2007

Happy Friday! Woo hoo!

This definitely isn't my favorite creative ever - it's kind of a flat sea of blah muted blue - but I'm interested in how animation is employed to walk recipients through how to use a website feature. Check it out here. I do believe this is the first time I've seen an image rotate in tandem with words highlighted within a paragraph, effectively pairing copy points with associated visuals. Neat idea.

Posted by lfharmon at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)