Christmas early birds

One of our friends told us she’s already completed her Christmas shopping for 2012. We don’t know for sure, but we like to think it’s because canny email marketers are already sending their Christmas offers. Here are some of the early birds we’ve spotted nesting in our inbox:

Firebox
You never know quite what you’ll get in a Firebox email, but we can all imagine the monstrosity that is a collection of “The World’s Best Christmas Jumpers, Ever”, which also happens to be the email’s subject line. The copy reads: “The festive season is fast approaching, and we’ve got the World’s Best Christmas Jumpers, Ever. Plus, some nice new additions to the Big Face T-Shirt range, customised coasters and cufflinks and some really Cynical Tea Bags.” Firebox knows novelty—and wears it so very well.

Notonthehighstreet
We want to get all “handmade” this Christmas, but we’ll probably end up getting all our presents gift-wrapped at checkout. Still, Notonthehighstreet does a stellar job in inspiring us to try a little bit harder this year.

Donald Russell
If, like us, you’re already thinking about your Christmas Day dinner, you’ll appreciate this email from Donald Russell. Pure carnivore heaven. But the best bit is clicking through to savour Donald Russell’s full Christmas menu. Yum.--MT

Catalogue creative we love: Donald Russell

A picture is worth a thousand words. So I will keep this post brief to focus on the excellent photography in the spring 2010 Donald Russell catalogue. Having landed on my doormat just this week, this is already a serious contender for catalogue cover of the year.

Donald Russell, a purveyor of top-quality meats and poultry “gets it”. The photography is positively mouth-watering, with almost every cut of meat getting at least a quarter of a page worth of space. But the company also knows that consumers may need more persuading in order to part with £26 for just 16 sausages. So alongside appetite-whetting photos there are customer testimonials, logos of awards won, recipes, cooking instructions, tips on creating the perfect bar-be-que, and lots more. In one word: yum.--MT