I know, I know: sales go down and the emails go out. But how many is too many? Thanks to two of my favorite marketers – the online marketing dynamic duo Amy Norton and Alexis Howe at Costco.com – for bringing this series of Restoration Hardware emails to my attention. The folks at RH went so far as to send seven semi-identical emails over the course of just five days promoting their friends and family event. I believe in reinforcement through repetition, but this particular execution has me ... seeing lots of red ;)! I'm curious about your thoughts:

(1) How many is too many? What's your cutoff for the number of mails you'd send to promote a limited-time promotion or event?

(2) What are you feelings on re-using creative for message reinforcement? Is there a certain percentage that should change and/or stay the same in order to achieve the perfect balance of "consistent but different"?

See the series below to see what I mean...

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:25 PM
Subject Line: Can You Keep A Secret?
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008 8:15 AM
Subject Line: Friends Don't Keep Secrets.
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008 3:25 AM
Subject Line: It’s Good To Have Friends.
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008 4:51 AM
Subject Line: 2 Days Left to Save 20% at Our Friends & Family Event
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Sunday, November 16, 2008 5:27 AM
Subject Line: Just Hours Left to Save 20% on EVERYTHING At Our Friends & Family Event
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008 12:49 AM
Subject Line: Friends With Benefits. 20% Off Extended One Day Only.
See the email >

From: Restoration Hardware
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:50 PM
Subject Line: Hurry! Final Hours of Our Friends & Family Event.
See the email >