From: UrbanDaddy (and J.Crew)
Subject Line(s): Read below to see the good ones... :)
Date(s): Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - Soon to be Discontinued

What is UrbanDaddy? Is it a "Who's your Daddy" kind of a Daddy and got my copy of Maxim magazine ready for toilet reading material kind of a Daddy... or a stroller pushing, farmers' market shopping, diaper changing, father of my children kind of a Daddy? Methinks J.Crew is betting on the former which is a bummer... because the latter type is more my kind of man.

I'm just not getting it... What exactly is the relationship between J. Crew and UrbanDaddy anyways? Is it a cross-promotion email campaign or full-on corporate sponsorship (like Johnson & Johnson being to BabyCenter what J. Crew maybe is to UrbanDaddy?) or something else entirely? And whatever it is, why is J. Crew pushing it so hard?

Fellow Smith-Harmon blogger Darrah MacLean wrote in an earlier blogpost about her annoyance with the difficulty she had trying to enter the contest for an NYC trip for two that J.Crew was promoting (said prize being J.Crew's enticement to get people to sign up for the UrbanDaddy emails). While I didn't experience the same troubles Darrah mentioned, I do think J. Crew could/should have done a better job of trying to figure out who the target demographic would be for UrbanDaddy before they sent out the contest email (clearly, they missed the mark with me!). My guess is that J.Crew sent the NYC trip promo email to their entire subscriber list without taking into consideration any segmentation. I'm know that I'm not that difficult to track - my cookies are always on - and I've only browsed/clicked/purchased in the women's and kid's departments... and now I am seeing these subject lines in my inbox:
*Rattlesnake Sausage, Belgian Beers and Satan's Whiskers
*Re: Meeting Up Tonight
*Your 7am Beer Is Here
*Late Night Booze and DJs in the Mission
*Endless Happy Hour, Bacon Biscuits and Gin for Days
(IMHO, some of these bear a strong resemblance to SPAM Subject Lines!)

To say that I find the whole "UrbanDaddy experience" offensive might be overstating it a tad, but something about their emails make me feel a smidgen uncomfortable and/or irritated. I know I have the option to simply unsubscribe (and I plan to - just as soon as I finish writing my little rant here), but I'm annoyed that I have to take the steps to do so. While I realize it's up to me to read the fine print, and that there's no real harm done, I kinda feel like a sucker for getting roped into signing up in the first place.

Ultimately, whatever the relationship is between the two, I'm having a hard time figuring out why J.Crew is associating itself with UrbanDaddy. The J. Crew man I picture is handsome, rugged and dresses with mad style (like my 'BabyDaddy') - UrbanDaddy is just its loser wannabe hangin' in Las Vegas Lothario friend.

This is just my 2¢... thoughts/comments anyone? :)

*Addendum - I am adding a little edit to this piece (strike-through on the last sentence). I did unsubscribe from UrbanDaddy and when prompted for my reason for leaving, I put the link for this blog in the comments section. Shortly after, I was contacted by Urban Daddy's Business Development Manager who wanted to know if I would be open to having a conversation about this piece. Uh-oh! No, actually, I called her and we had a lovely conversation, after which I realized that my words in this post came across a little bit meaner than I had intended. I guess publicly breaking up with somebody is never nice to do, and for that I can be "man enough" to apologize.

I've always believed that email is an art form. The whole industry's in on it with the genius eec Email Haiku Slam. Below are just a handful of the awesome examples. Check out all the email poetry entries - and offer your own - at emailexperience.org!

Email done quite well
Is loved by ISPs
And subscribers too

blasts are from the past
and relevance they will kill
ROI, think not

Loren McDonald
Silverpop

Email leaves the leaves
on the trees; it connects and
saves our world at oncet

Sarah Hatch
ExactTarget

Timely arrows sent
From my marketing quiver
Win the valued prey

Kimberly Canedo
Responsys

From: Williams-Sonoma
Subject Line: Order Confirmation #092857855452
Date: Monday, October 12, 2009

If you're looking for the right way to do transactional messaging, this Williams-Sonoma Order Confirmation message is a bastion of best practices:
(1) The smarts start with the subject line, including the order number for folks who quickly need to reference it, perhaps while on the phone with a customer service rep.
(2) The ease of use continues just beneath the navigation area, with a order number stacked above the customer service telephone number.
(3) I love that the "You May Also Consider:" items (and what classy language!) are actually related to the item I purchased, which isn't always the case on these "enhanced transactional" message types. A bread box buyer might just like a Classic Bread Knife. Wüsthof knives really are awesome, although I'm now partial to Global knives, since those are the kind the contestants draw on "Top Chef" ;).
(4) The WS team observes the 80/20 rule of thumb: no more than 20% promotion in a transactional message. They also adhere to the guideline that promotional items be kept to the right and to the bottom of the primary transactional message.
(5) It just plain looks good. Neat and sleek. Not designed by a database system output script or something. You can have beauty and brains after all.

From: Anthropologie
Subject Line: It must be October.
Date: October 1

It must be October. What a clever subject line. It's so simple, so relevant, and so unique. I've been meaning to blog about this email for a week now!  I know I sing Anthropologie's praises on a regular basis, but I just can't help myself. I'm addicted and I'm not the only one. Just this week I got a text from a friend that said: "Someone needs to do an intervention. At Anthropologie!! Help!"

The simplicity of this email's design and copy draws me in. Starting with the image, it supports the catalog creative brilliantly (check out above). And the copy: "Thirty-one days of craving, the cozy, the rugged, the refined" supports the subject line perfectly and creates a true story. Their call-to-actions are equally as beautiful, and the addition of the "Browse our October catalog" CTA presents a fantastic opportunity to engage their subscribers in an interactive way. Many online catalogs are clunky experiences, but their landing page is seamless.

What I was REALLY surprised to discover is that when I typed "boots" into the search box at the bottom, I was taken to a landing page with... boots! Instead of landing me on the homepage where I could retype my search word, they actually delivered on the promise. How novel.

From: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Magazine
Subject Line: AMY, welcome to our EXCLUSIVE subscriber program!!
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009

This email failed on many levels. Overlooking the lack of design, the first thing I noticed was the single graphic: a Rush Hour 3 movie poster. Immediately I was confused why I was being emailed about a movie that was released over two years ago. When I read the copy it went on to mention even more movies that were long passed. The idea was to get me to register for an Advance Screening Program and was using these, out of date movies, as examples of the types of movies I could be seeing with this program.

Relevancy is VERY important in email to pull in subscribers. Would it really take that much time to update one image and one line of copy to make this offer more current? Sadly, this wasn't the end of my disappointment... as a fan of movies, this is an offer I potentially might be interested in, however, they failed to provide any type of link to actually register which was the entire point of the email.

If I had to think of something nice to say about this email, at least they took the time to include my name in the subject line and email. Although their subject line does "welcome" me to the program which sounds more like I'm already enrolled rather than an offer to sign up.

From: Restoration Hardware
Subject Line: Introducing the Mayfair Secretary Trunk
Date: Wenedsday, September 16, 2009

From: Restoration Hardware
Subject Line: Introducing the Oviedo Chaise
Date: Wenedsday, September 30, 2009




I found out from reading the apartment therapy blog that Restoration Hardware has recently gone through a major "overhaul" and according to the blog, RH has "Roared Back". I'm sure that the marketing dept for RH must be happy to be receiving such praise from well-respected design blogs, however IMHO, I must say that I think internally, they are missing a giant opportunity here! This is the perfect time to be unrestrained in terms of your email campaigns, and go ahead and toot your own horn! Tell us why you are new and exciting! Create a little fanfare! Even their website shows no indication that there's anything special happening - not even on the "Letter From Our CEO" link (another wasted opportunity - instead of telling us anything about the changes, it's some boring musings about a Thomas Edison quote).

Restoration Hardware has some very compelling new products that they have been featuring in their emails lately, such as the Mayfair Secretary Trunk and Oviedo Chaise. To me, the new products are very unique, but the emails are still kinda blah.

In short, I never would have known about the RH transformation, had I not been found out about it independently. To see how I have have done things differently, check out my blog post from yesterday about Ann Taylor's most excellent email campaign introducing "The New Ann"... See, it is possible to appear classy, yet give yourself a little pat on the back at the same time.  ;)

From: Modcloth.com
Subject Line: Take a look, at our new Fall Coverings!
Date: Wenedsday, September 30, 2009

I totally fell in love with this email. First of all, I feel like I must have nearly each individual item featured here! Next, I love the way the email is organized in sections with each outfit featured in those adorable frames, as well as the individual products needed to support the ensemble. Finally, I love the overall style of this email with it's dainty girlishness. Irresistible!

From: The Container Store
Subject Line: Could the store you love get any better?
Date: September 28, 2009

The Container Store recently sent out this email giving some insight into their company's "Foundation Principles" and inviting subscribers to learn more on a new special section of their website. The copy may be a tad bit on the long side, but it's sincere and inviting, and I love that there's nothing directly promotional in the hero. It really focuses on making subscribers feel good about the values they support when shopping at The Container Store. The design is clean and simple, and the images bring employees into the email to further put a face (well, faces) on the company. My only complaint is that nothing on the bottom half of the hero is clickable, which is a missed opportunity (I may be one of few subscribers who read through the whole thing, but there was nowhere for me to go without returning to the top of the message).

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: Young and Sexy, Vintage Hoodies
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2009

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: Young and Sexy, Vintage Hoodies
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009

From: Abercrombie & Fitch
Subject Line: Young and Sexy, Vintage Hoodies
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009

What? Just in case I missed it the first and second times?

I know A&F's Emails seem to be the favorite "whipping boy" of the Smith-Harmon bloggers, and I'm loathe to just jump on the pile, but c'mon already!! I guess Abercrombie's marketing style is to beat you over the head with it... For this "Vintage Hoody", I've received 3 emails (so far... who knows? Maybe I'll get more!). For their "Destroyed Jeans" 5, and "Preppy Plaid Shirts" 9(!?!). And, furthermore... they were too lazy to even mix it up a little with the Subject Line!

Just so I say one nice thing though, as previously commented by fellow Smith-Harmon blogger, Alex Madison, I do like that they being creative and doing the horizontal format.

From: Bliss
Subject Line: a gift from the 'youth' fairy
Date: September 30

In recent months, I hadn't been in love with Bliss marketing stuff like I used to be. Until, I got this email. My love affair is rekindled. Eternally on-brand with their messaging and imagery, the subject line pulled me in and the creative delivered. It's a little too cutesy for some people, but I do love the copy: Feeling cynical? Check out the clinicals! Including customer survey results when they're as impressive as these numbers are is a smart way to backup your story. The secondary messages also fit nicely into the overall design package, making this email one of my top five faves for the month of September. Now, if they would only tap into their preheader potential.