Uk email trend - Festival Fever
In comparison, US retailers ignore festival season altogether. It starts in May at Coachella and ends at the Montery Jazz Festival in September.
This is a missed opportunity, not only to increase sales of apparel and camping goods but to boost brand credibility.
Below are 7 examples:
1. Next: {view email}
Subject line: Got Festival Fever? Why not stand out from the crowd with our Bold Prints.
I love how Next feature camping gear along with apparel. Don't forget the wellies!
2. Oasis: {view email}
Subject line: Festival Chic - 20% Off Selected Items
It's not just edgy brands associating with music festivals. Oasis, like all the brands in this post are mainstream, similar to Banana Republic.
3. Miss Selfridges: {view email}
Subject line: Get Fearne Cotton's festival look, the best vest dresses and sunshine-perfect embroidered dresses and tops...
Glastonbury is the most popular festival, Miss Selfridges asks, "Got your Glasto tickets yet?"
4. TopShop: {view email}
Subject line: Get the festival look with fringing and denim
Topshop highlight fringe accents as a festival trend.
Some UK retailers like Topshop and Evans use HTML lite. The first paragraph of text is HTML, but everything below is an image.
This is a practical compromise. Above the fold is visible with images disabled, but time is not wasted converting all the text.
5. Ted Baker: {view email}
Subject line: Best of the Fest - Fashion for the festival season
One reason I like these festival emails, is they're a break from the onslaught of Father's day emails. Ted Baker still add it as a secondary item.
6. Warehouse: {view email}
Subject line: Objects of desire
Warehouse mentions the Isle of White festival, linking to their Festival Shop landing page.
7. Urban Outfitters: {view email}
Subject line: LSTN Up
Urban Outfitters often align themselves with the indie scene. So it's no surprise to see, "The 30 Hottest Music Festivals" in last Friday's email. I love the landing page, which breaks down international festivals by month.
This is the only US email reference I've seen.
US retailers view the music festival scene as indie and niche. In the UK it's mainstream, safe enough for high street brands to benefit by association.
If you're as tired designing Father's Day emails as I am receiving them, you should give festival season a try. Here's a link to some upcoming events in the US.