Since so many of us are creating Valentine's Day messages this week, I thought I'd share my 2007 Valentine's Day archive with y'all. Hope you find it useful :)! Heck, you may even discover a love letter you sent last year! Enjoy.
From: American Apparel
Subject Line: American Apparel: Valentine's Day Pantytime
Date: Friday, February 2, 2007
View creative >
From: Aveda
Subject Line: free shipping for valentine's day
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
View creative >
From: Bag Borrow or Steal
Subject Line: Fashion makes the heart grow fonder...
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Feb 14th LOVE IT! Jennifer Meyer Wishbone Necklaces
Date: Friday, February 2, 2007
View creative >
From: Blue Nile
Subject Line: Reminder: Save 10% + $10 Off with Google Checkout
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: CB2
Subject Line: Modern love
Date: Monday, February 5, 2007
View creative >
From: CHEFS
Subject Line: CHEFS Red Hot Buys + Free Shipping
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: FreePeople.com
Subject Line: The Best Things in Life are Free: Love and Shipping
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
View creative >
From: gap.com
Subject Line: New PRODUCT (RED)(TM) Styles are Here
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
View creative >
From: Harry & David
Subject Line: Last day to order for Valentine’s Day by standard shipping!
Date: Monday, February 5, 2007
View creative >
From: Janie and Jack
Subject Line: Indulge in the Sweetest Gifts for Valentine's Day
Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
View creative >
From: The Museum of Modern Art
Subject Line: Modern Gifts For Your Valentine at MoMAstore
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: Pottery Barn
Subject Line: 2 days left to order the perfect Valentine's gift
Date: Monday, February 5, 2007
View creative >
From: Polo.com
Subject Line: Our Valentine's Day Gift Collections
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: RedEnvelope
Subject Line: Score one for Valentine's Day - Save up to 50%.
Date: Sunday, February 4, 2007
View creative >
From: Sony Electronics
Subject Line: This Valentine's Day, fall in love with Sony.
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: UrbanOutfitters.com
Subject Line: Be Mine, Valentine.
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007
View creative >
From: Williams-Sonoma
Subject Line: Blissful Brownies: A Perfect Valentine's Gift
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
View creative >
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
From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Thanksgiving Countdown Ideas. Free Shipping, too.
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2007
From: chefs
Subject Line: Day 1: Countdown to Thanksgiving Free Shipping Any Size Order
Date: Monday, October 29, 2007
Thanksgiving is a super-prep-heavy, gear-intensive holiday - one I personally plan to never ever host. The crazy-complicated big-budget Hollywood movie production nature of the feast gives retailers a number of angles from which to approach it. Enter the email series! Both Crate and Barrel and chefs kicked off a Thanksgiving series this week, which makes for an interesting comparison.
Let's start with subject lines. They both boiled down to the same thing - "Thanksgiving Countdown" and "Free Shipping" - only chefs' SL unfortunately had a relatively "Me Talk Pretty One Day" ring to it: "Day 1: Countdown to Thanksgiving Free Shipping Any Size Order". Is that grammatical!?
Moving into the creative, I was charmed by chefs' tip about how to set the table. It's embarrassingly true that I'm always uncertain as to where to put the fork, and I appreciate that they were willing to get so basic. But I was disappointed that the content tidbit was totally unrelated to the imagery featured below it. Why not show place settings!? And while chefs' clearly read Chad White's "All I Want for Christmas Are Daily Deal Emails" Reportlet, I would have loved to have seen the deal relate to the story as well. (A pastry blender couldn't be more random!)
Conversely, Crate and Barrel did a beautiful job weaving together content with relevant imagery; their message has a very editorial feel. I love the "N weeks" graphical header, which I assume we'll see as a visual tie between each email in the series. I also enjoyed the lead-in to next week's topic, "talking turkey." Still, call me a "marketer's designer" all you want, but I don't think it would hurt too much to add a few obvious points of click-through to encourage sales? C'mon, kids! Think of it as a form of customer service...
Last point: while I've been constructively critical, I do want to hand it to both chefs and Crate and Barrel for two signs of email program maturity:
(1) Planning far enough in advance to even conceive of an email series and
(2) Having planned it, executing it, despite an email or two that may not generate as much short-term revenue as - say - a sale message might. Hooray for saying no to email crack cocaine!
Last point less: I personally do not enjoy turkey. However, that leaves more room for multiple servings of dessert. My Thanksgiving prep tip: don't forget the punch n' pie!
From: J.Crew
Subject Line: Style tip: add a monogram
Date: Thursday, April 26, 2007
Speaking of relevancy, this photo is brilliant. It hits all the Mother's Day cues - pink, roses... How much more effective is this than awkwardly-forcing a random monogrammed tote bag to be an MDay-appropriate gift?
I also think there's something to be said for the way J.Crew owns the inbox by filling all empty space with a background color. It draws our attention to their message and envelopes us in their brandworld. I'd like to see an A/B test comparing this design - cloaked in green - with a white background version.
From: CB2
Subject Line: wait til you see this chair
Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2007
This campaign from CB2 is a breath of fresh air. It's simple, bright, seasonally-appropriate, and just plain happy. And the subtle butterfly animation makes the whole thing that much more "just so." There's a tangible sense of creative and marketing teams getting excited behind this one, and subscribers can feel that. You guys win the spring spirit award this week for sure.
From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Dad Deserves - Vintage Cufflinks
Date: Friday, June 9, 2006
From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Dad Deserves - a Barneys Gift Card
Date: Monday, June 12, 2006
In the mess of busy last-minute Father's Day messages, these two very simple, very stylish campaigns from Barney's really stand out. Dollars-wise, they'll probably lose out to free ship upgrades and other offers, but Barneys is resisting the temptation to comprimise their brand for a few quick bucks. Today, Barney's deserves an aesthetic slap-on-the-back.
From: stride rite
Subject Line: Stride Rite® In-Store Memorial Day Sale: $19.99 and up!
Date: Monday, May 22, 2006
From: Janie and Jack
Subject Line: Celebrate the Season and Summer Savings
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2006
From: J.Crew
Subject Line: 30% off swim, just in time for summer
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2006
From: Burberry
Subject Line: The Burberry Sale on burberry.com
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2006
Perennially, Memorial Day is a time for red, white and blue sale messaging. Let's take a look at how a handful of retailers spun it this season.
Stride Rite followed the classic Memorial Day formula with a star-centered graphical campaign. They list a date range and a big, fat under $20 price point, all with the intention of driving traffic to retail store locations rather than generating web sales (another tactic common to three-day weekends.) Two thumbs up; this campaign is clean and clear. One recommendation for improvement (which applies to all Stride Rite campaigns): take better advantage of your horizontal space. You've got about 300 extra pixels hanging out alongside your current creative, just waiting to be leveraged.
Janie and Jack do a tasteful Memorial Day message, subtly integrating the holiday spirit with their classic brand. Predictably, Janie and Jack's summer savings take a secondary position as a submessage rather than an all-out red, white and blue blast.
J.Crew is crafty with their swimwear savings; they take a lackluster product and give it iconic, flag-waving status, probably offloading a lot of overstock in the process. This is an excellent example of using what you've got to your advantage. Love it.
As a British brand, an American national holiday puts Burberry in a funny position. Rather than capitalizing on red, white and blue, the British flag goes yellow for Memorial Day savings. Is Burberry showing a little anti-American sentiment?
So, we've had a few hot dogs and bought a couple swimsuits on the cheap. Happy Memorial Day. Ah, America...
From: VespaMagazine@VespaUsa.com
Subject Line: A Vespa Mother's Day
Date: Friday, May 12, 2006
This is a classic example of a forced seasonal spin. How many folks are going to buy Mom a Vespa two days before Mother's Day? This doesn't work from classic gifting or logical timing perspectives.
If you want to take advantage of a holiday or seasonal opportunity, only do so if it actually makes sense. Otherwise, as in this example, you'll not only fail to sell Vespas as Mother's Day gifts - you'll also alienate the customer considering a Vespa not for mom. Additionally, make sure you get the timing right: two days before the holiday doesn't work unless it's a "Last-Minute Free Shipping Upgrade" message. Generally, it works to start promoting holidays (other than Christmas) about one month in advance.
From: Janie and Jack
Subject Line: Celebrating Motherhood...
Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2006
While we do need to maximize campaign profitability, I am all for taking a break every now and then and sending out a sweet greeting like Janie and Jack did this Mother's Day. As their primary shopper is mom, it doesn't make much sense to promote gifts for mom, and I just think it's nice that rather than ignoring the occasion completely they took the opportunity to send good wishes.
I would love to see more greetings like this one. Wouldn't it be a laugh to get a message from Gap or whoever that just says "Hi, how are you? I hope your day is going well."? I seriously dare someone to do that. And when you do it, make sure I'm on the distro list!
From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Love it!
Date: Friday, February 3, 2006
Barney's put together a fun, simple suite of EDMs for Valentine's Day; they've used this same format for a series of messages featuring this season's gift picks. The creative is pretty cute, although it doesn't include a single call-to-action... but I just love the concept of "Love it!" as a Subject Line and Headline because we're always saying "Love it!" around here, about everything. It's sunny out. "Love it!" It's lunchtime. "Love it!" It's a $1,200 Mini Croisiere handbag. "Love it!"
From: Apple
Subject Line: Great gift ideas to surprise your valentine.
Date: Friday, January 27, 2006
This EDM came to my attention via a colleague - thanks! The heart-shaped ear buds, the affectionate shot within the iPod Photo, and the "Love is in the ear" copy are all spot-on, coming together to form a really strong seasonal message. Nice work, Apple!
From: Old Navy
Subject Line: Spring It On! The Season's New Arrivals Are Here
Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The collage look is cute, but so similar to what Urban Outfitters was doing last season. UO has transitioned to a slightly more controlled "rubber stamp" look for spring, making this feel a little behind.
From: Pottery Barn
Subject Line: Trend Report 2006: Small touches with big impact
Date: Monday, January 9, 2006
PB Introduces the season as a trend authority. I like this. It offers a few style tips without going into newsletter-style detail that no one will read anyway.
From: Anthropologie.com
Subject Line: START FRESH!
Date: Wednesday, January 4, 2006
I wish the creative were as strong as the subject line. I was inspired to click through by the strong simplicity of "START FRESH!", and wanted to see something special and new.
From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Summer's officially in session
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Beautiful!
From: PBteen
Subject Line: Get free shipping on Spring Break greats... at PBteen
Date: Monday, March 21, 2005
Fun and refreshing, just like Spring Break should be! Love the silly little "FREE SHIPPING" crab in the corner.
From: Ann Taylor
Subject Line: Spring is in the details...
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Here, Ann Taylor does a nice job of introducing new spring product. The close-ups show us what makes these items different from last year's. The sweet pink treatment suits the merchandise, and the "Click and see" button is a nice, strong call to action.
One suggestion: add product names and prices to the product imagery.
|
 |
|
