BMW sends the widest e-mails
Posted by Dominic Yeadon 17 Jul 2010
This week's Masterclass is all about breaking the rules when it comes to sending out the next issue of your own e-newsletter. Breaking the rules to stand out from the crowd. E-mail marketing often ends up with a list of dos and don'ts that we feel are sacred. Why?
 This week BMW launched their much-anticipated new BMW X3 by e-mail. (For petrol-heads: the X3 will be launched in the UK on 20 November 2010). I was sent this (albeit a bit wide) launch e-mail preview.
See the full size e-mail here.
Q. So how come BMW's email was 50% wider than a normal e-mail?
At a massive 915 pixels, this is over 50% wider than the 'conventional' 600 pixel width. And at this width I had to scroll right to see the whole width, something I rarely have to do. I didn't like having to scroll, how lazy I have become - but it got me thinking.
Yes it is more like a traditional web page width. Not quite 1024 but bigger than 600.
So did the creative need to be this wide? Not really. The full-width header image could well have been cropped/scaled to 600 pixels in the hands of a good e-mail designer, losing none of its panoramic qualities.
Q. Will the 915 pixel width impact the promotion?
Will anyone else be murmuring 'why do I have to scroll to see this email from BMW?' under their breath? And then possibly: 'hmmm... maybe when I drive a new X3 that might 'ask me to scroll' too?' Does the average BMW driver think that deeply? Scary if they all did...
I guess the BMW X3 launch team will find out.
 Summary: Actually BMW does not send out the widest e-mails - they should see the 2,000 pixel e-mails that Selfridges send out!  But then again not All Marketers Are Liars however Seth Godin's 2005 marketing classic sold more from this clever title than it would have otherwise. Yes, break the rules. Know them and then break them. Measure successes and learn from failures. Think about your own e-newsletter - how many rules will you dare to break over the next year? And then how much better will you have made it?
 Update: I seem to have started something here on wide emails as this great 1,100 pixel wide example from Chik-fil-A demonstrates. But at least this Chik-fil-A design does say 'scroll right for a sneak peek' so they are totally acknowledging (and leveraging) that 'rules' are being bent. Thanks to Simms Jenkins from Atlanta for sending me this.
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