Promotion – Phyllis Fang

Bonobos knows its customer

Who: Bonobos, the menswear brand born in 2007 during the e-commerce boom and then democratized to the masses with their Walmart sale in 2017.
What’s Working: Their subject line “Too busy to read this email?” is a perfect click-bait (you are… but don’t you also want to know what’s inside now?), followed up a headline that captures your “always be hustlin'” mentality and featuring stretch-friendly, office-stylish pants line up for an engaging, consistent story for their customer
What’s Not: None for me! I’m not a fan of brands that pack half a dozen products into a retail email, so I love the singular focus here.

Engage to Save with Postmates

Promotion

Who: Postmates, the food delivery service that has managed to stay curated, extra tasty and millennial friendly, with their focus on showcasing local foodie favorites.
What’s Working: Reels you in to engage right away – with the subject line, “Give thanks to unlock”. The end to end experience is well thought out: an animated fall leaves grid pulls you in >> prompts you to >> open the app >> click to unlock a promo code. Some e-commerce sites host similar experiences in their email sign-up window, but this is a fun way to extend it to all existing users.
What’s Not: I understand trying to join the existing cultural conversation (this was sent before Thanksgiving) but beyond “give thanks” is the creative vision relevant? The fall leaves feels lazy, and skipping over food imagery on this food holiday feels like a miss.

Hyper-targeting with Target

Promotion, Retargeting

Who: Target is super sharp on their retargeting. Within a day of my viewing these office desks, I received this follow-up email. Savvy online shoppers now are quite familiar with retargeting ads, but this paired with a promotion, would be just the push consumers need to purchase.
What’s Working: A lot of dynamic product fit into this email. Straightfoward and effective subject line.
What’s Not: I actually already knew of this promotion when I was initially browsing. Having a “your promotion is ending soon” angle would have been more valuable information.

A collage of cool facts at the Ace Hotel

Promotion

Who: The Ace Hotel spices up what otherwise would be an ordinary weekend sale with a visually engaging and random facts. Everything about the content–the copy, look & feel, is in line with their brand and speaks undeniably to their audience.
What’s Working: Straightforward, on brand email.
What’s Not: Takes a second to realize what their sale offer actually is… could have possibly done this play on “25” instead of “72”.

Loft is a Tease

Promotion

Who: LOFT, a women’s contemporary brand and mall staple.
What’s Working: This is the ultimate tease. I am not even a LOFT shopper but I am definitely clicking this email.
What’s Not: Borders on the line of click bait… and definitely takes a risk in cannibalizing sales from Subject Line skimmers, aka people who don’t even make it to the email open.