To stand out in the inbox there are a few things you need going your way. The first is a strong brand, that will get you noticed on sender name alone. Then it’s engaging content, ideally something for your readers to look forward to. And then it’s stand-out design that suits your brand and the audience.
When Red Bull launched a newsletter to their customer base it would not suit the brand to do it quietly or conventionally. So on top of the amazing and unique content that Red Bull is famous for, the newsletter broke the mold of traditional vertically scrolling emails by having the user scroll left to right, then drop down a level, then scroll back right to left! This added adventure to what can be a fairly homogenous medium.
Helpful hints in the design guide the user on this unusual experience that was an engineering marvel to build and, as far as we know, the only newsletter of its kind.