I bought a Christmas gift for someone in my family from http://llbean.com last year, and I’ve been on their mailing list since. I’m continually impressed at how smart and well-crafted their advertising is. There is a reason they’ve been able to stay relevant for 95 years. They know how to treat customers.

Here’s an example from today’s emailer:

While every other company is trying to spam me, sell my email address, and cross-sell the hell out of me, they politely ask if I even want to keep receiving their emails. While everyone else buries an “unsubscribe” link in 6pt type in the footer, they flat-out ask me. Remember this isn’t a catalog that costs $2.50 to print and mail- it’s an email that is essentially free to send. It’s not about benefitting them. They’re asking because they would like to be asked if our roles were switched. Brand equity attained.