Season Finale: Halloween 2007
A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:
Start to finish: The first reference to Halloween was on July 13 (Friday the 13th) by DisneyShopping. The final reference was on Nov. 4 by Walgreens.
The distribution curve: Retailers sent the majority of Halloween-themed emails after Oct. 8. The biggest day for Halloween emails was Wednesday, Oct. 31, followed by Tuesday, Oct. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Most interesting email: Petco had one of the best with an Aug. 26 email. The newsletter-style email featured solid product promotions up top…
…but also included a number of quick and helpful Halloween tips further down.
It may seem simple, but I also really liked an Oct. 12 email from Overstock because it paired up Halloween costumes and scary movies. That’s a great combo that no one else pitched.
Best use of animation: Williams-Sonoma had the biggest, slickest use of animation in an Oct. 3 email (see Oct. 4 AM Inbox), but Petco used animation much more subtly to great effect as well. During their Halloween campaign, they regularly promoted Visiglo collars as a featured item in their emails. It’s a small item, but the animation helps draw the eye to it and to the surrounding content toward the bottom of the email.
Here’s the animated portion of that email:
Surprises: At the bottom of an Oct. 31 email, Sears mentions their “There’s a Craftsman in all of us” campaign for the first time. The centerpiece of this campaign is a skeleton constructed of Craftsman tools. It’s really impressive and cool-looking. So my question is: Where was this earlier in the Halloween season? And why on Halloween day is it being buried as a secondary item at the bottom of the email? It doesn’t seem like a good maximization of marketing materials.
Standout call-to-action: Walgreens had a little fun with the main call-to-action in this Oct. 6 email.
Standout subject lines:
Oriental Trading, 10/16 — Get free shipping before Halloween creeps any closer...
Harry & David, 10/23 — Scared? Don't worry – there's still time for Halloween gifts! Save 10% now!
DisneyShopping, 10/31 — It's No Trick. Take 20% Off 'til Midnight
Read previous Halloween Season Finales: 2006
Read previous posts about Halloween emails.
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SEARCH... By Post Category / By Retailer / By Topic / By Selling Season / Recent Posts
Start to finish: The first reference to Halloween was on July 13 (Friday the 13th) by DisneyShopping. The final reference was on Nov. 4 by Walgreens.
The distribution curve: Retailers sent the majority of Halloween-themed emails after Oct. 8. The biggest day for Halloween emails was Wednesday, Oct. 31, followed by Tuesday, Oct. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Most interesting email: Petco had one of the best with an Aug. 26 email. The newsletter-style email featured solid product promotions up top…
…but also included a number of quick and helpful Halloween tips further down.
It may seem simple, but I also really liked an Oct. 12 email from Overstock because it paired up Halloween costumes and scary movies. That’s a great combo that no one else pitched.
Best use of animation: Williams-Sonoma had the biggest, slickest use of animation in an Oct. 3 email (see Oct. 4 AM Inbox), but Petco used animation much more subtly to great effect as well. During their Halloween campaign, they regularly promoted Visiglo collars as a featured item in their emails. It’s a small item, but the animation helps draw the eye to it and to the surrounding content toward the bottom of the email.
Here’s the animated portion of that email:
Surprises: At the bottom of an Oct. 31 email, Sears mentions their “There’s a Craftsman in all of us” campaign for the first time. The centerpiece of this campaign is a skeleton constructed of Craftsman tools. It’s really impressive and cool-looking. So my question is: Where was this earlier in the Halloween season? And why on Halloween day is it being buried as a secondary item at the bottom of the email? It doesn’t seem like a good maximization of marketing materials.
Standout call-to-action: Walgreens had a little fun with the main call-to-action in this Oct. 6 email.
Standout subject lines:
Oriental Trading, 10/16 — Get free shipping before Halloween creeps any closer...
Harry & David, 10/23 — Scared? Don't worry – there's still time for Halloween gifts! Save 10% now!
DisneyShopping, 10/31 — It's No Trick. Take 20% Off 'til Midnight
Read previous Halloween Season Finales: 2006
Read previous posts about Halloween emails.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Retailer / By Topic / By Selling Season / Recent Posts
Labels: Animation, Halloween, Overstock, Petco, Sears, Season Finale, Walgreens, Williams-Sonoma
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posted at 1:25 PM by Chad White
I love Smith-Harmon's enthusiasm. It's so great to have a connection with people who really "get" and get excited by email marketing. (Truly, there are not that many of us out there!) I count myself very lucky to have found such accomplished enthusiasts to collaborate with on the REI program. They are helping to bring amazing opportunities to fruition with panache.
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