Happy (almost) Birthday! –Yes we got you a gift…

Checking my inbox I see an email from online retailer Misguided! Being familiar with the brand, I opened the email  especially because it said happy (almost) birthday. Personalisation such as my first name Rachel was used in this email. The email was also sent a exactly a week til my birthday (figure 1).

The design of the email follows the Missguided house style of the logo situated in the middle of the page followed by the menu bar straight beneath it. The shades of pink resonate with me as a female since pink is commonly associated with girls. The texts in bold highlight important information i.e amount of discount: 10%, discount code: BDAY_UK298S (figure 1).

The use of the of the GIF makes the email more interesting as you find yourself watching the GIF play out a couple of times. The email arguably lacks images however like previously mentioned the email contains one GIF of a pink cake shaped in a heart with Say What scribbled on it (figure 2). The GIF can also be saved for your viewing pleasure (direct link to GIF: http://static.cdn.responsys.net/i5/responsysimages/missguided/contentlibrary/0-automatedcampaigns/2015/birthday/birthday1/uk/Category_1_UK/images/say-what.gif# ).

The email looks somewhat the same on both desktop and phone. Although on a desktop the email has a lot of blank space on the left and right as the email itself is in the centre third. The GIF works perfectly fine on both mediums (figure 3 and 4). Overall the email is good because it’s a great use of direct email marketing. The timing of the email works well as it was sent exactly a week before my birthday. The text within the email is the call to action in the email is to use the birthday discount code and spend on the site.

What was not so good about the email was the lack of text. The email was incredibly brief in comparison to other birthday emails from other brands i.e ASOS. The email includes more text about the offer and includes more personalisation about my current A List standing. It further explains the point system and how many points I currently have (figure 5).

(Hernandez + Resnick, 2013) argued how the call to action button can persuade the consumers to perform the desired action (figure 6). The emails call to action tempts me to shop despite the fact I had no intention to do so. Get preppin’ nicely ties into the idea of prepping for a big occasion i.e “Nails done? Hair did?” a popular phrase in the youth culture meaning the art of getting ready.

Upon entering the landing page you’re directed to the Missguided home page. Immediately you’re greeted with a slide show of offers from 20% knitwear, 10% off all boots to next day delivery for only £1.99. Multiple calls to action can be found on the landing page as each slide show warrants me the user to take up an offer and shop either one presented. The landing page lacks personalisation.

Arguably the call to action doesn’t look very glamorous as it’s pretty plain. It could be less subtle and more noticeable however it does follow the Missguided house style using the Consolas typography in reverse text.

Overall in my opinion, the email does its job! I followed the call to action and purchased from the site using the discount code provided. Arguably the email could be improved by adding more images, to brighten the email itself. The adding of more images would fill up the empty white spaces in the email.