Old Navy, 11/19 — Party-Perfect Looks, Plus a Chance to Win $10,000
Sweepstakes have been criticized for attracting less engaged subscribers who often end up unsubscribing quickly or marking you as spam—after all, many people just want to win the sweepstakes, not receive your emails. So having pre-checked boxes to opt in to your newsletter already carries risks. Old Navy has decide to boost that risk fourfold—really more than that because they not only have a pre-checked box to opt in to Old Navy’s emails, they also have pre-checked boxes to opt into Banana Republic, Gap and Piperlime emails. What are the chances that an Old Navy customer is going to want email from all the other Gap brands? I’m afraid Gap Inc. is sacrificing some sender reputation in exchange for a short-term boost to its lists. That’s a dangerous exchange.
That's the email and here’s the landing page:
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 11/19 — Shop for the champs on your list
On Thanksgiving Day stores will be closed, but websites will be open. Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the first retailers to try to take advantage of this fact by promoting a Thanksgiving Day sale. While not a hugely popular strategy, it’s one worth considering.
Crutchfield, 11/19 — Customer Appreciation Week: Over 750 items on special
Crutchfield is thankful for customers—and who wouldn’t be. Turning a Thanksgiving sale into a customer appreciation event makes sense, although I wonder if consumers are more tuned in to “Thanksgiving sale” than “Customer Appreciation Week.” Perhaps customers would react more strongly to subject lines with those words instead. Does anyone have any insights into that?
Petco, 11/19 — We're Sorry!
Petco joins the ranks of SmartBargains (see Oct. 31 AM Inbox), Road Runner Sports (see Oct. 19 AM Inbox), Chadwick’s (see Oct. 1 AM Inbox) and Norm Thompson (see Sept. 5 AM Inbox), all of whom have had site difficulties sever enough in recent months that they felt the need to apologize about it.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Circuit City, 11/19 — Early Black Friday deals now--ends Wednesday
Finish Line, 11/19 — A Sneak Peek At Our Friday Doorbusters!
Sam’s Club, 11/19 — Shop Early November 23 at Sam's Club
RedEnvelope, 11/19 — Pass the Gravy: Free Shipping Thanksgiving Week
Cooking.com, 11/19 — Food For Thought: Thanksgiving Timesaving Sides, Desserts & More
JCPenney, 11/19 — Give Thanks for FREE Shipping [this is actually a Christmas-themed email]
OfficeMax, 11/19 — Deck Your Desk with Style and Savings
DisneyShopping, 11/19 — Wrap Up the Magic! Free Gift Wrap on Over 300 Toys
Saks Fifth Avenue, 11/19 — DECK THE HALLS...
PetSmart, 11/19 — Perfect presents plus a Visa with your pet's photo
AbeBooks, 11/19 — AbeBooks: Read, Eat and Be Merry!
NFLshop, 11/19 — NFL Gift Center - Something For Every Fan On Your List
Spiegel, 11/19 — Visit our Holiday Shop + Pay Nothing Until March!
Norm Thompson, 11/19 — Email bonus: 20% OFF + special holiday preview!
Coach, 11/19 — New arrival: Holiday Patchwork
Chadwick’s, 11/19 — Pre-Holiday Mega Sale + Take an extra 50% OFF
Dell, 11/19 — Hassle-Free Holidays - Easy Shopping and Free Shipping with Dell
HSN, 11/19 — The Holiday Game Is Here! Melt, Match & Win $5,000
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2 comments:
I would dare to disagree with you on the Old Navy Sweeps email. I have a little experience with email marketing and was actually very impressed with Old Navy's gimmick. Because...in order to take part you needed to interact with the site. You need to interact with their products at an intimate level - by creating your own "wish list". It was very creative and engaging. Furthermore - each time you update your wish list you are re entered to win. How brilliant. I am encouraged to return each day to interact further.
I don't shop at Old Navy so they weren't preaching to the converted here, but by signing up I saw a few items that I would actually wear, and certainly would wear them if I won them. Would I go out and buy them? Probably not - but for that 10 minutes I was engaged in and educated by Old Navy.
I would, in my humblest opinion, recommend this tactic for other retailers.
I actually really like the idea of a sweeps around wishlist creation because, as you said, it encourages deep interaction. What I'm taking issue with is the pre-checked boxes signing sweeps entrants up for emails from all four Gap Inc. brands. Uncheck those boxes and I think this is a brilliant tactic. The sweeps will almost assuredly lead to higher sales for Old Navy; pushing the email acquisition angle on this will likely lead to trouble.
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