From: JCrew
Subject Line: Jenna's picks...holiday gifts + FREE SHIPPING
Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Lately, I've noticed a lot of retailers showing "celebrity" picks. Sometimes, I'm dying to know what these celebrities picked, but there are other times where I find myself scratching my head - who picked this? Am I supposed to know them? Why should I care? Case in point: Jenna's Picks

When I first saw this email I had to stop and ask myself who the heck Jenna is. Why isn't she using her last name? Is she like Madonna? Piperlime, a sister brand of Banana Republic, has picks from Rachel Zoe, a celebrity stylist who has her own TV show and her own line. Most people know who Rachel Zoe is and many of the fashionably conscious care about what she likes and dislikes.

For the past 12 months, I've received Jenna's picks from JCrew. Like most email subscribers, I don't open every single one of them. I missed the email that told me who Jenna is, but once I found out why she's important (she's the Creative Director of JCrew), it made more sense - she is a credible source for style. However, I still have some problems with this email campaign, especially since she works for JCrew. If I didn't go back and search through my emails that included Jenna's picks, I wouldn't have known who she is or why I should be interested in her picks.

Using an individual as a source of authority, or as a motivator of interest, requires that person to be identifiable and somewhat unbiased. Rachel Zoe has been successful at this because not only has she become a celebrity, she's a stylist with thousands of brands and styles at her fingertips and selects based on style, not brand affiliation.