The Email Wars

As I am always opting in for more email programs as I work with new clients in industries I get to see ALOT of email ideas and creative. But I am constantly floored by the Abercrombie emails. Now don’t get me wrong I love them and they always get opened, but what exactly do they sell again? Is it young people, youth or sex. Now I can tell you that I do not spend a lot of time shopping with them and that their stores, sites and creative is compelling, but I just never have a clear idea of what I am buying or what they want me to buy.

I assume that they want me to buy into the brand and along the way maybe jeans, a sweatshirt, a hat, and from this email it turns out cologne. Or is it something that makes people shove their hands down your pants? Actually another female co-worker I asked for an opinion told me that a nice young girl was being “helpful” and helping this young man that smelled so good tuck in his shirt. Yep, silly me as I must just be an “old married” now and had a hard time seeing that.

Where this example leads me to is the presentation of your images in your emails. Sex does sell, but what does it sell? What are you selling? With this brand it makes sense to some extent, but would it with yours? I know we use it in our “getting to know you” customer life cycle emails that some of you might have seen but it is in humor on brand with the honesty and transparency of our brand.

Images can tell a story that you might not have complete control over the perception your images generate. Think about your image selection carefully and show your choices to a few others outside of your company in order to gauge the impact.

What do you think?