Lazy Email Marketing

The message I received from Levi's® Jeans this morning seemed a little lazy.
The subject line: "Reminder: 20% off ends tomorrow" had me interested. Had they told me before they were having a 20% off sale? I reviewed the fine print and saw the 20% off sale had begun on April 27th.

I went back and looked at the recent messages I received from Levi's. I had gotten the identical creative on April 28th. The only difference was the subject line: "Treat Yourself to Levi's(R) This Mother's Day". The 20% off sale was mentioned in the body of the message, but without opening it, I would not have known there was a sale. A missed opportunity for bargain shoppers.

So, I'm reminded today about a sale I might or might not have known about with the exact same message. From an email marketing perspective, it frustrates me to see the an identical message twice with no other changes than the subject line, especially when it involves date related copy. The copy at the bottom of the image says "Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13th. Order by May 3rd to Ensure Delivery" That's fine for the original message sent on April 28th. However, a Mother's Day themed message telling me on the 8th that I should order before May 3rd is too little too late.

There definitely could have been some better planning. Perhaps sending this message on May 2nd, or timing the sale to coincide with Mother's Day shipping this campaign could have gotten better results.