The sender was Borders, the mega-massive media retailer. I got on their list sometime in the past 12 months and have been getting regular mailings from them. They are pretty marketing-laden pieces that look great (we'll get to this in a second) and the general amount of communication is light and not harrassing. So what's the matter? Two things...

1) Regularity. I get hundreds of emails a week and yet, I was able to predict what email was in my inbox before looking. Doesn't that seem odd to you? One of Borders' issues is that they send the same piece at the same time on the same day every week or so. There's no variance in the way they present things, either with messaging or delivery time/date. As a result, I usually take zero action when this email arrives, most times deleting it when I recieve it. I buy a lot of media: dvd's, cd's, books, etc., so I'm in the right audience. However, it's the fact that I know what I'm recieving and what to expect before getting it that turns me off.

Suggestion: Simple: change it up. If I was sitting in a Borders Cafe with their execs, I'd simply ask what are you looking to accomplish? My guess is the answer would be traffic to the stores and increased sales; no big surprise there. I would then ask how much demographic information they have and ask if they have enough information based on buying habits that would allow them to target more effectively. As someone who buys certain books or certain movies, I'm probably pretty linked to a certain string of products. If they were to expand their newsletters to a few certain familiar strings while also featuring an out-of-context product, I think it might be more effective. Even though this could seem like a daunting task, I'd focus on their main audiences and then establish the branding of the newsletters based on that.

In addition, I'd change the days up. Don't send out every second Thursday of the month. Throw some curves in with the fastballs so people are looking for the newsletter rather than expecting it. There are fresh additions to their stores every week, so you know people are going to go. I'd recommend a less-is-more philosophy and capitalize on targeted messaging rather than the Pick-Your-Own Adventure marketing that is happening here.

2) Too many books in the book bag. Look at this email, garner some thoughts and read on. (Ed. note: graphic is from March of 2008 and not November of 2007 due us losing the image in transferring our blog. All the thoughts still apply months later, though.)

I am a guy who needs constant stuff happening around me (the tv on with music running while watching YouTube videos and listening to police sirens outside my window is my bag, baby) and even I'm overwhelmed by this. There are coupons, mutiple highlighted offers, a Coming Soon box, a Borders Funnies box and a suggestion push area. How many different forms of messaging can be in one email? Yarrrgh! Talk about overload. Imagine if you're not like me. What do you do? What do you look for? I picture my mom reading this and not understanding anything and she's most likely Borders' ideal target.

Suggestion: I think the newsletter approach I discussed above would work. Let's simplify it down and make things a bit more relaxed. Decide what you're looking to accomplish and what the easiest way to do this is. We deal with a client that has a lot of different liquor products to push, but they use intrigue to draw people in rather than throw everything at them. People know they can get rum, wine and vodka at their stores so they use that and build campaigns based on new products while also acknowledging they offer everything else. It has worked as we've grown their list 250% in two years with less than a 1% unsubscribe rate.

And of course, Borders should do all of these campaigns with best practices in mind design-wise. Since this email is so graphic-heavy, there's probably a good chance this is appearing as an assortment of gray boxes in their inbox anyway. 70% text, 30% images, guys!

Sigh. I think I'm going to go read a book now and relax.