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: Southwest Airlines
Subject Line: 50% off a Mystery City Each Day
Date: April 24, 2009
 

I love the way Southwest took a 50% off sale and made it a game. Sticking out in the inbox these days is a challenge, and this is the perfect example of how simple clever can be. Best of all, I love how they do not include the city in the subject line. It forces me to open the email. Very smart. While I'm not in the market to fly to Philly today, I can tell you this: I'm hooked. I'm already guessing about what tomorrow's city will be. 

From: Johnnie Boden
Subject Line: New Mini Boden is in with 15% off plus FREE shipping
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009

This Mini Boden email is a creative delight!
(1) Love the polka-dot background; great playful backdrop.
(2) The postcard treatment and travel illustrations add texture and depth, making this more than just another "buy this summer stuff" message.
(3) I am especially a fan of the fish and finger-point animations; what a novel way to add movement. The little fish really caught my attention in the preview pane :)!
See the animation here >

From: Perry Ellis
Subject Line: Realtime Style and Updates
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Perry Ellis goes all out in dedicating this email exclusively to social media. In order to receive any information on the special offer, you need to click through to Perry Ellis's facebook or twitter pages. Once there, you are able to view a variety of special offers, including promo codes, new arrival information and more. While the social media pages are interesting and include some great offers, I'm curious how this email performed since there was no direct consumer offer in the email itself. Whether you've added Perry Ellis to your network or not, this is a great example of using email to gather social media connections.

Social Marketing is the hot topic. But how are different companies incorporating it into their designs? Below are a few different examples of what people are doing.

From: Sur La Table Subject Line: Become One Of Our Biggest Fans Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009 Sur La Table dedicates an email to introducing their Facebook page, pictured above.

Yankee Candle Company, 4/08 Betty Crocker, 4/02 Petco, 4/05 REI, 4/10 Ann Taylor LOFT, 3/26 Anothropologie, 3/29 Gymboree, 4/05 Buckle, 4/10 Express, 4/10

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: Coach
Subject Line: have you seen it? the new coach.com
Date: Monday, April 4, 2009

Coach.com announced their website revamp via email this morning. In contrast to the very focused approach taken by Williams-Sonoma in 2008, Coach's message is an explosion of screenshots and pink. While I could go on about the lack of standard logo and navigation, the unfortunate, not-so-easy-to-read tiny graphical text and the endless scrolling, that would just be boring. By now, we've all taken a trip on the best practices train to 516 W34th Street and back. (Check out our Email Insider "Break the Rules" article for more on this topic.) What I like about this email is that while it's absolutely overflowing with content and screengrabs, it's also overflowing with enthusiasm and excitement. I get the sense that Coach is excited about the new coach.com, and therefore, so am I. As an email viewer, do I have the patience to actually squint through the fine print and all the little screenshots? Not so much. But I am inspired to click through and check out the new website (and I'm not really even a Coach shopper), so in essence, this email has more than done it's job.

I like to make this analogy: a promotional retail email should act like a retail store window. It needs to be compelling enough to bring passers-by inside.

From: shopbop.com
Subject Line: You've Got It, Flaunt It! Styles that Showcase Your Best Feature, How to Wear the Harem Pant + Our Top 5 Handbags in the New Style File
Date: Friday, March 27, 2009

Shopbop's "got it" with their monthly newsletter, Style File. Three reasons why shopbop has beauty and brains:
(1) They find a happy balance between beautiful, aspirational product imagery and disabled-images friendly HTML text.
(2) Their copy has attitude, just like their subscribers. It's actually worth reading! "As more than one Wall Street mogul can attest, now is not the time to be hiding your assets. You’ve clearly got it. Flaunt it." Question: have you ever seen a longer subject line than this one?: "You've Got It, Flaunt It! Styles that Showcase Your Best Feature, How to Wear the Harem Pant + Our Top 5 Handbags in the New Style File" OMG! What do we think!?
(3) They seamlessly integrate product and editorial copy. I have to admit that I actually tried on a pair of black Helmut Lang harem pants at Barneys last week. I couldn't tell if I looked fabulous or like MC Hammer. I wavered between thinking "these are so now" and "these are so me at 13 in Z. Cavariccis." Hot or not? Got it? Flaunt it?

From: Sur La Table
Subject Line: No Foolin: 3 Cutting Boards Only $9.99
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009

It's always good to provide your audience with options. Sur La Table does a good job at providing many category options (above the fold) without taking up too much space. My only suggestion to them would be to try it with HTML text, it could improve the click-through for people viewing the email with images disabled.

APRIL FOOLS! It seems like almost every "holiday" is an occasion for a sale this year. Here's a handful or retailers I've noticed offering exclusive deals today, even Matha Stewart is joining the fun... No Joke!


From: Overstock.com
Subject: CLOSEOUTS + FREE SHIPPING
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009













From: The Body Shop
Subject: Free Shipping on April Fool's Day
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009













From: Road Runner Sports
Subject: Runner! New INVISIBLE Running Shoes Are Outta Sight!
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009













From: Oli.co.uk
Subject: 20% off for April Fool's Day! This is no joke - 1 day only.
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009













From: BlueFly
Subject: Today Only - EXTRA 10% OFF EVERYTHING - no foolin'
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009













From: Martha Stewart Craft of the Day
Subject: April Fools' Trick: Blue Water
Sent: Wednesday April 1, 2009