Smith-Harmon - Make It Pop!

Category Archive: Real Estate

November 25, 2009

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 9:21 AM
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From: Gilt Groupe
Subject Line: Valentino Pret-a-Porter, Jonathan Kelsey, Jewelry by Isharya Starts Today at Noon ET
Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2009

If you like beautiful things and you don't already get emails from Gilt Groupe, you should. Shouldn't. Should. Shouldn't. Should...

As an industry person, I like the mails for two primary reasons:
(1) They are able to both maintain a glossy image and promote relevant content within a templatized vehicle format. I don't know how many hours marketing and brand folks argue about the impossibility of brand value retention and templatization peacefully co-existing. Here they do.
(2) They've developed a super superfooter. The "ALSO FROM GILT GROUP" zone wraps up viral and cross-channel drivers, while the "UPCOMING SALES CALENDAR" keeps designer druggies anticipating their next score.

As a person person, I am totally obsessed with the photo of the kitten with the bracelets. It makes me want to put chandelier earrings on my cats.

November 5, 2008

Prize Pie

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 2:19 PM
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From: Williams-Sonoma
Subject Line: Holiday Pie Baking: Favorite Tools
Date: November 5, 2008
BTW: See the animation here >

I love apple pie, and I love this Williams-Sonoma top nav Shipping/Countdown animation. Way to add visual interest while simultaneously messaging two timely promotions, all within the first few pixels of prime preview pane real estate. Well done! See the animation here >

April 5, 2007

Go Wide

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 6:18 PM
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From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Patent It!
Date: Thursday, April 5, 2007

I'd like to note that Barneys went to an 800 pixel width for this campaign. While a lot of folks are claiming that 600 pixels is still the best practice, I'd like to see some proof as to why. We test all the campaigns we produce - most of which are at 700 pixels - in a huge number of web browsers and email programs and haven't come across any problems.

BTW, this is a cute Subject Line.

January 9, 2007

The Shortest EDM Ever

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 9:43 PM
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From: RedEnvelope
Subject Line: Save up to 70%. So many deals, so little time.
Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2007

This has got to be the shortest EDM ever. Have any of y'all ever seen anything so short? It's like - submessage size. It looks kind of silly to me; why not make better use of inbox real estate? Is this a strategic attempt to fit the entire creative into the dreaded "preview pane", or just the work of a designer short on time?

November 2, 2005

Get Priorities in Order

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 4:59 PM
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From: Aveda Online
Subject Line: aveda gifts to stir up the senses
Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Gift sets are great for the holidays, but the thumbnails pictured here are too tiny for anyone with a standard screen size and resolution to get much of a look at them. Instead, the prime real estate is occupied by a graphical text treatment which is cute, but would work better as a purely graphical sale message. Here, it exclipses the featured product, and doesn't even include a call-to-action.

May 24, 2005

Bags Packed

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 1:02 PM
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From: J. Crew
Subject Line: Planning a quick getaway?
Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Brilliant! Pack his suitcase (and thereby his shopping cart) for him! This is a great way to sell mix and match items as a set.
A general note about J. Crew EDMs: They're about 200 pixels wider than best practices recommend, requiring us to scroll to the right in order to see the entire design. Recommendation: cut the width down to 600 pixels. 640 max.

March 24, 2005

Show, Don't Tell

Posted by Lisa Harmon at 6:59 PM
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From: babygap.com
Subject Line: New Summer Outfits & Free Shipping
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2005

While I love the textured treatment and the old-fashioned photo corners, this comes down to a case of "show, don't tell." Rather than wasting precious real estate on descriptive copy no one will read, show images of the tropical-print tops and sporty shorts. Even though I think the photo corners are cute, if I don't see a product I like (and I don't like the bathing suit), I'm not gonna click through.