Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns to keep in mind(2)

The best thing about these important dates is that you can learn a lot about how to promote Black Friday just by seeing what others do.

It is a lesson that will also generate many ideas that go beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They are resources and insights that you can adapt to your business and different seasonal periods. When strategy and tactics are good, they can always be projected one way or another.

What Patagonia does with Black Friday is as disruptive as it is consistent. It is a company with a very strong ethical position, and I suppose that the fact of joining the consumerist current of Black Friday did not quite fit them.

Over the years, they have carried out multiple actions, even donating all benefits of those dates to charity . But the campaign called: "Do not buy this jacket" was at the time really shocking. 

In it, they explained in detail why we should not let ourselves be carried away by commercial inertia, and reinforced their values and philosophy of sustainable branding. That is: reduce, repair, reuse and recycle, putting all their means ahead.

The campaign was launched both digitally and in prestigious New York Times print media.

In the previous post of this series we commented on the importance of transactional emails during Black Friday and Cyber Monday with the example of Rudy's. On this occasion, we are going to take a look at another one, specifically from Net a porter. 

What do we like best? Basically that, as well as having a design that lives up to what is expected from a fashion brand, they have done something very intelligent from a marketing point of view.

Look at the foot of the email: they have chosen to develop a small list with the advantages of buying in this store. It is not done by chance. In fact, they are attacking the main obstacles on online shopping (those that have led to abandon that cart).

One of the problems of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday is saturation. As consumers, we end up abhorring the word "offer" or "promotion" and somehow feel part of a mass that brands attack mercilessly for days. 

That is why this approach by the fashion brand Forever 21 is interesting. They use their email marketing to simulate a physical and interactive medium: scratch cards. They manage to simply present you with an offer and encourage you to find out more. It is almost gamification, but without investing so much in development.

In fact, this campaign was a progressive sequence that was sending emails to their customers in a pre-established flow increasing the discount.

Although many brands choose to lengthen their black week, others choose to change that strategy by making it more interesting.

In the case of JC Crew, we see how they create an early access for some clients in an exclusive way. This is a very good policy, because it directly attacks the buyer's weak point with two different concepts: FOMO or fear of missing something, and exclusivity. We all like to feel special.

This email is a great exercise in copywriting, while relying on some very simple, but really effective, stylistic resources. It highlights, with only two strokes, the basic what and when of any promo.

We are going to close these 10 Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns that we chosen with a little corporate social responsibility. 

The clothing and accessories brand Fat Face is committed to recovering the Christmas spirit and donating 10% of its income to local charities. In this email, they appeal to Thanksgiving Day and turn it around with a Thanks For Giving.

Very intelligent, minimalist and supportive campaign... Little more can be asked.