• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 11, 2008

As the MediaPost Email Insider Summit wound down Wednesday, three executives handed out what were tabbed as Lifecycle Creative Awards for innovative email marketing programs.

The panel included the principals of Seattle-based email marketing agency, Smith-Harmon, and Jessica Morris, email marketing manager at Pottery Barn Brands and Williams-Sonoma.

Awards were handed out in five categories. As a humorous alternative, each category had a celebrity nominated in addition to two retailers. Of course, many celebrities are quasi-retailers these days.

Categories, Nominees and Winners follow:

ACQUISITION (includes preference centers, email sign-up marketing)

Nominees:

Tommy Bahama

Anthopologie

Brad Pitt

Winner: Tommy Bahama

CONVERSION (includes welcome series and shopping cart abandon functionality)

Nominees:

REI

Amazon

Angelina Jolie

Winner: REI

GROWTH (includes newsletters and enhanced transactional messaging)

Nominees:

Verizon

Pottery Barn Kids

Johnny Depp

Winner: Verizon

RETENTION (includes loyalty and surveys)

Nominees:

Sephora

Macy's

Reese Witherspoon

Winner: Sephora

REACTIVATION (what to do when a customer is no longer interested in the emails and how to win them back)

Nominees:

Williams-Sonoma

American Eagle

Will Smith

The winner here was interesting: Will Smith.