An Emulated Hand and Yellow Jellies
April 10, 2008: Mistake or Miracle?
I'd originally planned to use this post to scold Burberry for designing their emails again and again in a way such that the preview pane view is woefully unhelpful. (I've animated through five examples at left to give you the gist of it; please click the thumbnail to experience it at full size.) It's impossible to tell what the messages are about - and just as tough to find a point of click-through - without scrolling down. Now, a question arises in my mind: is Burberry repeating this not-best practice because it's actually working for them!? Perhaps their data shows that, despite popular belief, the mystery actually encourages scolls and clicks. Burberry - reveal your secret to the email creative community!!!
All - please share your thoughts. Have you done any testing to support either my initial instinct or my new re-think?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Arrive in Style with Accessories from Burberry.com
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2008
View the email >
BTW: This shoe is frickin' awesome.
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop our New Handbags & Accessories Online
Date: Friday, March 14, 2008
View the email >
BTW: Crazy/Beautiful?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: The Latest Selection of Outerwear plus Complimentary Shipping!
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
View the email >
BTW: Am I interrupting something?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop Women's & Men's Spring Styles at Burberry
Date: Friday, April 4, 2008
View the email >
BTW: How nice of those British boys to keep her standing.
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop Online - The NEW Burberry Spring/Summer 2008 Brochure
Date: Tuesday, April 10 2008
View the email >
BTW: How many iterations of two guys and a girl can we actually tolerate?
P.S. This blog is dedicated to Nicole Cobble :)!!!
Comments
Hi Lisa,
I'm quite happy I've just found your blog - chocker-block full of top-end retail email campaigns for inspiration, what-to-dos, and most importantly what NOT to dos...
Having looked at most of the campaigns you're showing from major retailers, it's crazy how many of them are still doing image-only campaigns, for which Apple have long been notorious for. I guess I'm really just digging at their media departments as they should have caught on by now that image-only campaigns are really a detriment, not a benefit for online sales. Sure they look great and the branding can be perfectly conveyed, but if sales are the ultimate goal, then shouldn't flexibility and rendering be priority #1?
Thanks,
Jon
Posted by: Jon Aizlewood | June 17, 2008 01:32 AM
Jon, thanks for your note! I totally agree...but sometimes old habits die hard! It's also a brand-by-brand decision: image-to-text ratio best practices are a wavy line in the sand. The more a brand relies on inspiration or emotion to drive sales (as opposed to price or need), the more they tend to rely on rich imagery as opposed to optimal rendering. It's an interesting conversation...
Posted by: Lisa Harmon | June 19, 2008 09:27 AM