I just got back from a short (but lovely and very much needed) trip to Indianapolis to visit a friend, and my Promotions tab has about 200 marketing emails to go through and categorize for blog posts. Meanwhile, I already had a bunch of them I had been meaning to write about. Soooo…I’m going to try to get to as many as I can the next few weeks before I go on vacation again in two weeks. (I feel like I should clarify that last year I took about 5 days off total, and I worked through most of them. I have a team now, so I have to make up for a lot of lost beach time.)

Anyway.

Here’s an email I got from Banana Republic Factory Store a few weeks ago. I don’t think they even have any of those stores near me (which is a crying shame, because I would shop there all the time). They’ve sent a few emails like this recently, and they start out normal enough:

Subject: 50% off your purchase starts today!

But then the bottom section has this little module on the left:

Soooo…. they want customers to buy a snack or drink somewhere – anywhere – else, and then come in and get an extra $5 off their purchase? This is so crazy it just might work. Or, maybe it’s just a little bit crazy. I can’t get past the logistics of this. They’re basically encouraging customers to bring food and drinks inside the store, which I’m sure their associates just love. Are there limitations on what counts as a snack? Could I get a value meal at a fast food place, bring it into the store, and then get a discount? Can I “expense” my breakfast but shop later in the afternoon? So many questions.

I’m curious about how this campaign went. I know some BR Factory stores are in large outdoor outlet malls that have food options, so it actually may have been brilliant.