One of my favorite examples of bad email marketing (for which many of my coworkers will vouch) is Banana Republic’s practice of sending me lots and lots of emails promoting women’s clothing. Let me make one think perfectly clear: I do not buy women’s clothing from Banana Republic. I do buy a lot of my clothes from them (like, nearly everything – it’s Garanimals for grown-ups), but never have I bought a skirt, pumps, or a handbag. Trust me on this. I even use their Luxe card because I’m a points whore and like to get free stuff, so you’d think they’d have a really good idea of not only what I’ve bought, but also my favorite colors, waist size, and whether or not I buy on sale. But no, they’ve never seemed inclined to do anything with that.

Until today. This morning, I see that not only does my latest BR email have the word “pants” in the subject line (without the word “suit” immediately following it), but it also contains men’s clothing and actual personalized content. It recognizes me as a Luxe card holder and tells me how many points I have and how many more I need before they send me $25. Nice. This is a step in the right direction. Now, if only the info wasn’t a month out of date…