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Category Archive: Technology
December 22, 2009
From: Barnes & Noble
Subject Line: Nook: The World's Most Advanced eBook Reader
Date: Friday, December 11, 2009
The real secret to a successful product is having people use it. Barnes & Noble truly understand this and use an automated message after purchase to make it easy for first time users to learn the ins and outs of their top selling holiday product, the "nook". After the receipt, this secondary transactional response focuses on how easy it is to use the product you just purchased.
Notice how this message starts with a thank you but immediately re-enforces the benefits of the product. Then, it moves right into a simple three step guide on how to get the most from your new nook (complete with a link to a short video tutorial). Rounding out the perfect activation message, Barnes & Noble include a simple yet subtle CTA to their eBookstore. I can quickly add the newest Alex Cross eBook by James Patterson to read while I sit at the airport during my Christmas break. Now, I won't mind so much if my flight is delayed for the third time cause I can just sit back and lose myself in my new nook.
July 21, 2009
From: Hollister Subject Line: Have you heard our new tracks? Date: July 21, 2009 Super-cool idea. Not-so-super-cool execution. The concept of creating a "lounge" on the Hollister site where Dudes and Bettys can listen to tunes is fantastic. Unfortunately, there are some glitches in the experience. Glitch #1: When I clicked from the email, it took me to the homepage, rather than landing me in the lounge. Glitch #2: A streaming video with sound that has absolutely nothing to do with the music automatically starts playing and continues to play even when I click on one of the bands. It's chaotic. Glitch #3: I wish the album cover would pop up in the HUGE video space available on the page, rather than this dinky little pop-up window. It'd also be cool if they had a bunch of info about the band and their music influences. On the plus side, I got to hear the entire song vs. just a snippet and they do have links to the band sites. All in all, I wish they'd dialed this experience in like they did for www.hcoridethewave.com.
November 21, 2008
From: Sephora
Subject Line: 1 box, 10 gifts.
Date: November 16, 2008
I L-O-V-E Sephora's version of last year's Elf Yourself. Talk about creative. From start to finish, it's a seamless experience that even the most tech-challenged girl can navigate with ease. Here's the skinny: After you've uploaded a pic of yourself, you go through a series of steps where you outline your eyes, mouth and face shape. Sounds complicated, but trust me, they've made it blonde-proof. (It's okay, I can say that because I'm a blonde.) Once you've finished with the outlining, the real magic begins. Within seconds, you have four fun and fabulous looks to choose from: Smokey Sugar Plum, Merry Berry, Santa's Little Temptress and O, Tannen-Babe. It's your face all glammed up in four festive ways, complete with eye shadow, mascara, gloss and more. All that's left is for you to add a personal message and send it on to your fellow glamour gals. You'll get a sweet little email that lets you know your Mistletoe Message has been sent, and best of all, the savvy team at Sephora includes a promotion code in the confirmation email for a free set of lashes or a sample size of Sephora Lip Attitude with any purchase. Simply brilliant.
Want to see my Mistletoe Makeover e-Card?
Check it out here.
February 1, 2008
From: FreePeople.com
Subject Line: Short Pants Romance
Date: Friday, February 1, 2008
Email + Social Networking = so hot right now! Yet despite all the talk, I haven't seen many retailers integrate email messaging with MySpace sites. Enter the notably-early-adapting Free People! (They've been blogging and RSSing for ever.) Check out the hotlink to add them as a MySpace friend at the upper-right of this email. Kudos to Free People for sticking their toe into the Email + Social Networking pool! Although I'm not sure I'd recommend becoming an early adapter on the "Short Pants" trend. With construction boots? Yikes! Not hot.
January 22, 2007
From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: Shop New For Spring | Spring Outerwear is here.
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007
From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: One Week Only: Extra 30% Off Sale Outerwear.
Date: Monday, January 22, 2007
Eddie Bauer appears to be taking the dual "supressed images/preview pane" threat seriously: these recent campaigns use HTML for almost all text - including nav items. And you know what? I think they look pretty darn good. A lot of us have been skittish to follow the best practice - use as much HTML text as possible - because we lose a degree of creative control over how text renders. But (depending upon your brand and your audience) it might be better to have slightly-less-beautiful text read than no text at all. And with the introduction of IE7, which renders HTML text in a more appealing (read: aliased) way than it's predecessors, combined with the upsurge in Mac use, HTML text is looking better and better. Plus, as more and more B2B and B2C marketers make the switch, our eyes will adjust, and what once looked ugly might look just lovely.
December 9, 2006
I am all for innovation, but this is ridiculous. To start, Neiman Marcus appears to be exceedingly proud of the "unfolding magic" which is possibly the crappiest video ever made. Come on! What the heck is that!?
And then there's Crate & Barrel. They're so excited about their first TV commercial that they sent an ad about an ad. Wow! A TV ad? Amazing!
Finally, we've got Bergdorf Goodman selling CDs. Maybe I just don't grasp their greater "live-in-our-brand-bubble" vision, but how does a Bergdorf Goodman CD collection make any sense? And who buys CDs anymore anyway?
From: Neiman Marcus
Subject Line: The Christmas Book is here!
Date: Tuesday, October 3, 2006
From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Preview our new TV ad
Date: Thursday, October 5, 2006
From: Bergdorf Goodman
Subject Line: Volume: Preview & own the music of Bergdorf Goodman
Date: Friday, October 27, 2006
August 7, 2006
From: FreePeople.com
Subject Line: Free People Picture Show
Date: Friday, August 4, 2006
After testing the RSS waters, I applaud Free People for jumping into yet another "hot" technology: video. While the Free People Picture Show video itself is basically totally boring, featuring some video footage from what appears to be their catalog shoot, as well as still photographs made to look like video by applying noise and shaky movement, I appreciate the effort and bravery involved in trying something new.
July 24, 2006
From: Hollister
Subject Line: Take a Trip with Hollister - Downtown to Surftown
Date: Thursday, July 20 2006
Regardless of my feelings about Hollister and parent brand Abercrombie & Fitch - namely that they use sex inappropropriately to market to children - I have to applaud their brilliant branding efforts. I do not frequent their website much less their stores, but even through my limited contact with the brand - via email - I have developed a very strong sense of the Hollister "imaginaire." Hollister is not just a clothing retailer. It's a place, a texture, a way of life, a state of mind - an imaginary west coast refuge of laid-back beauty. It's in the words, the font faces, the imagery. It's an incredibly well-constructed illusion that promises teen paradise is as close as slipping on a "Mountain Road Beach Henley".
As the subject line reads: "Take a Trip with Hollister - Downtown to Surftown". Click here to see a technically impressive execution of this seductive imaginary world.
July 11, 2006
From: The Land of Nod
Subject Line: Free Justin Roberts Music!
Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
There is much ado in the marketing world as advertisers navigate the dizzying maze of new media channels. Here, The Land of Nod experiments with Podcasting, which, like Free People's RSS Feed, is a novel foray into these unchartered lands. While I fail to draw a clear connection between furniture and music, I applaud Land of Nod's effort and bravery. Keep innovating!
June 23, 2006
From: FreePeople.com
Subject Line: Get the RSS on What's New with Free People
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2006
Free People is the first specialty retailer I've seen leverage RSS. While I know approximately nothing about the efficacy of this technology, I'm interested in how it may or may not change online retailing. The traditional website has totally changed the way we shop, delivering product into our homes and sparing us a trip to an actual retail location. With the RSS Feed, we don't even have to visit a website anymore! Product is offered at a personal virtual location even more convenient to us.
I'm a sort of creeped out by the "Minority Report-ness" of it all, but am curious to see if it catches on, and what that means for traditional websites and email marketing. RSS experts, please, offer us your wisdom and post a comment!
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