Top 14 Animated Emails of 09

Here are my 14 picks in no order from 2009, out of 149 animated emails:

1. Amazon Kindle Launch View

03/06/09 /Amazon Kindle 2 Has Arrived
If its good enough for Amazon, multiple product shots of the Kindle

2. Fredericks Color Switch View

04/17/09 / 2 reversible bras + 4 panties = unbelievable savings
Reversible bra in action.

3. Urban Outfitters Get Manic View

06/08/09 / New Right Now
I'm not sure if this belongs in the best or worst category.

"Warning: blinking rainbow colors ahead!" @kristenbyers
"Horrific visual display" @jaycrimes.

4. Express Christmas Greeting View

12/24/09 /Our Gift To You! Get $30 Off + Free Shipping! Ready, Set, Glow!
Like Urban Outfitters, this psychedelic email was on brand for Express.

5. Clinique Make us Happy View

04/18/09 Get it in time for Mother's Day! Clinique Happy Custom Bottle.
The photos add a personal touch to the perfume and this Mothers Day email.

6. Hugo Boss iPhone App View

11/20/09 /Out now: HUGO BOSS iPhone App
Hugo Boss cycle through their apps features.

7. American Apparel Video Gif View

08/28/09 /American Apparel: Thermochromatic T

The 1st major retailer that used animated Gifs to simulate video. We tried it ourselves and saw a 26% lift in click through rates. Other retailers such as Bumble&Bumble followed suit. What Counts announced they would be using, "animated GIF images to indicate the availability of video content" in Dec 09.

8. Boden - King of Cute View

08/06/09 /Back to school wear at Mini Boden
My newsletter readers voted this the cutest animated Gif, in a showdown with Hermes. Fun=sales.

9. Bumble & Bumble View

12/22/09 /Late-December shopper? Get it there by Christmas with free overnight shipping.
Nice and whimsical for the holiday's. Each pop-up links to the product page.

10. Neiman Marcus View

06/10/09 /Invitation-Only Two-Hour EVENT STARTS 11:30 AM CT! + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE

Neiman Marcus sent 9 of these emails in different colors, over a two month period (Apr-Jun). I'm guessing they performed well. Other retailers to use animation to highlight short term sales are Horchow and more recently Banana Republic.

11. REI Subtle Touch View

05/22/09 /Introducing REI's New Kingdom Tent + Memorial Day Savings on Now
Overall animated Gifs were more subtle and fun in 09. I loved the detail in this email, like the glowing lamp.

12. Evans 360 product shot View

06/16/09 /Leggings - Buy 2 Save £5! Plus, This Week's Top 5 Styles!
The first 360 degree product shot in an email, inspired me to make my own.

13. Hermes hearts Whimsy View

07/28/09 /Fishing for compliments.
Hermes started using animation in Apr 09, complimenting their playful subject lines and illustrations.

14. Barnes & Noble 07 Fix View

12/17/09 / 15% Online Coupon, plus 4 Days Left for Free Christmas Delivery

The 1st frame displays the message, '4 Days...' for only 0.1 sec, so quick you miss it unless you're an Outlook 2007 user. Second frame is blank, then the text slides in from the right. Clever workaround for Outlook 2007, which only displays the first frame.

BE CAREFUL OF

Not paying attention to the first frame is the top mistake people make when sending animated GIFs. Also be careful of file-sizes, try to minimize the number of frames you use.

1. Tory Burch View

12/25/09 /Happy Holidays!
Not a great reveal for people using Outlook 2007, they can only view the first frame.

2. Neiman Marcus View

11/18/09 /STYLE RADAR tracks fashion as it happens
Outlook 07 users only saw, "ARE YOU".

3. Pottery Barn View

12/12/09 /Dining Chairs to Suit Your Style

The animated Gif alone in this email is 1.34MB. Part of the problem is that it's a 7 frame sequence, that only needs to be 3. I saved it out at 3 frames and it reduced to 600K. Pottery Barn sent a series of animated Gifs, Oct-Dec, all with large file sizes.

November - most popular month:

Here's my not-so-scientific graph :) I'm subscribed to over 100 retail emails, from both the US and UK. 52 of whom, sent me 149 animated emails last year.