From: J.Crew
Subject Line: Jenna's Picks (summer edition)
Date: June 30, 2009

The big question here is: Do you know who Jenna is? And then the second biggest question is: Do you care? J.Crew is banking "yes" on both. That's why they've poured a lot of energy into turning J.Crew's fashion visionary and Creative Director, Jenna Lyons, into a full-on marketing vehicle in her own right.

Their latest "campaign" is the perfect example of J.Crew marketing at its best. They're consistent across the board, from email to landing page to in-store experience.

Here's how it all went down: I was in the store last week and noticed that the entire wall behind the register was dedicated to Jenna's Picks. The photos were big and gorgeous, and the copy was easy to read. As I waited in line, I read them all. Then I got this email today, which is the perfect interpretation of the in-store experience. Clicking on the landing page, I plunged into a consistent, clean, classy experience. Their brand is reinforced on every front and it's beautiful. Now if they could just bring down some of their prices....

From: Victoria's Secret
Subject Line: Thank you for your recent purchase
Date: June 20, 2009

Isn't it fun when you rediscover a brand? Take Victoria's Secret, for instance. Lately, my gal pals and I can't get enough of this iconic brand. And it has nothing to do with sexy little underthings, either. (Sorry guys.) We're all about the dresses, tanks, tshirts and swimsuits featured in the summer catalog. One of my girlfriends went so far as to say that the only promotional emails she opens anymore are the ones from Victoria's Secret!

I'm not sure if they revamped their email marketing and merchandise, or what. But, whatever they're doing, it's working. What sealed the deal for me was this simple "thank you for your purchase" email. Instead of combining it with my order confirmation, they sent a separate email to just say...thanks. I loved it. Plus they gave me free shipping on my next order of $100 or more. I already have three dresses picked out.

From: CompUSA.com
Subject Line: Just In: Acer 3gb Laptop $299...15.4" Screen, DVD Burner,
160gb HD...Hurry
Date:Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I understand that a tech store probably views men as their target audience, and we all know that photos of women tend to "sell" better than photos of men. Still, this (quite lovely!) girl on the laptop steals the show in this email. It's hard to look at anything else, including the screaming deal. The bold and the busy copy end up looking like a frame for this girl's face, or like a wild haircut.

From: DailyCandy Seattle Dedicated E-mail - Take It to the Bank
Subject Line: DailyCandy
Date: Monday June 22, 2009

I thought I subscribed to Daily Candy, not Daily Medicine! Ugh! While I'm fine with a beauty, retail or pop culture sponsored promotion from DC every now and again, I did not sign up with the expectation of getting ads from Chase. How did this happen!? Daily Candy built it's reputation by telling us about the opening of Spinasse and alerting us to discounts on Kate Somerville. Bank accounts? We spent all our money eating pasta and applying products to our faces. Is this "new economy" or just sponsored promo inappropriateness!?!?

From: Get the newsletter people describe as "highly unannoying"!
Subject Line: someecards
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009

I got a hilarious card from a co-worker from someecards.com recently. I then used the service to send one myself, and received an email prompting me to sign up for their newsletter shortly thereafter. This is no doubt the most entertaining - and compelling - acquisition email copy I've ever read.

From: Veer
Subject Line: Special Offer: Ask for a deal in June, you'll get one
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The subject line in this email from Veer does a great job of sticking out amongst the clutter of my inbox. How can you not open an email that says "ask for a deal" and "you'll get one" - if only out of curiousity!?

It's the subject line and primary message working in tandem that make this message stand out. At at time when most subject lines offer a combination of free shipping and a discount to try and get you to open the email, Veer uses a more compelling hook to tap into the relevancy of the current economic climate.

The email itself is a best practice example of simplicity and creative. While the hero image could have been a little shorter to allow the HTML text below it to show up above the fold, it looks great and is clearly on-brand with Veer who have established a great reputation for beautiful imagery.

From: Chris Michaels
Subject Line: Summer update from Chris Michelson & NFH
Date: June 11, 2009

I have numerous friends that are Small Business Owners that do Email newsletters/promotions/etc. related to their businesses. On the whole, I am fairly impressed how far the Email Marketing industry has come for Independent/Small Businesses, but this is the first Email from said category that has compelled me to blog...

This one is from my Fabulous hairdresser, Christopher Michaels* of Notorious for Hair in San Francisco. I just love the way it looks with its adorable "airmail" format. I did a little investigating as to how it was created and the kicker is that it was actually done by selecting a template from Apple's Mail application! (No wonder it looks pretty)

In the past, it has seemed like most Emails for SBOs were generated by Constant Contact and other companies of the like, but I feel compelled to give Apple props for offering a great-looking set of templates that anybody can use (well, anybody with a Mac and OS Leopard). Kudos also to Christopher, for discovering how to maximize it! (Chris - maybe just let me offer to check your spelling & grammar next time...).  :)

While I personally plan to stick with Gmail for most of my everyday email transactions (for its overall usability), I think my friends can start to expect seeing some cute Special Occasion emails from me!
 
*If anyone reading this happens to live the Bay Area and is in the market for someone new to do their hair, Chris also happens to be an excellent hairdresser with very reasonable rates. (Not that I am not angling for a free haircut or anything...)  :)

From: PayPal
Subject Line: RE: FW: Account Validation Required
Date: June 10, 2009

For over a week I received an email a day supposedly from PayPal with the subject line Account Validation Required. They all landed in my Junk folder, which was good, but when I started receiving two a day, I decided enough with the phishing.

Of course, I knew that the fact it was from a .uk address was phishy, and I knew enough not to click on anything or give them any info. But I couldn't help but think about all the thousands of people who probably don't know it's a scam. Scary.  I forwarded the email to the address that the REAL PayPal site provides in the event that you think an email is a phishing scam: spoof@paypal.com.

Within an hour, I received this email back (check it out to the left). I really applaud PayPal for their follow-through, and I really like the tone of the copy. The good news: No more emails from the phony-baloney PayPal site with the .uk address. Now if we can just get rid of phishing scams all together, we'll be golden.

From: Pumpkin Patch USA
Subject Line: up to 50% off summer must haves, in store & online
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

From: Gymboree
Subject Line: New For You This Summer! Fresh Styles & Further Savings
Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

From: Sur La Table
Subject Line: Top Tools for the Grill - Shipped Free
Date: Friday, May 22, 2009

From: Shutterfly
Subject Line: Knock Dad's socks off and save 25%.
Date:Thursday, May 21, 2009

From: Endless.com
Subject Line: Last Minute Weekend Plans? We've Got Free Overnight Shipping
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009

From: Naturalizer
Subject Line: Summer Sandals Starting at Only $39.99
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009

Conforming to a grid template has its advantages: availability for dynamic product images, speedy production time, brand consistency, etc. But try to throw in a wild card once in a while to keep subscribers from getting bored and to grab their attention. Here are a few ideas: spice up your emails with overlapping & angled images.