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INDUSTRY Target

Outlook Email Broken Layout Fix: Resolve Outlook Background Image Collapse for Retail & Consumer Brand Campaigns

Retail campaigns rely on high-fidelity visual assets, coupon borders, and clear promotional layouts. Default image blocking or button collapses disrupt the visual journey. Below is the targeted integration guide to fix Outlook Background Image Collapse inside Outlook 2013 templates when using Brevo (Sendinblue).

Technical Breakdown

Outlook 2013 uses the Microsoft Word (MSO) which lacks support for standard rendering rules. This causes Outlook Background Image Collapse elements to break or collapse when rendering templates.

Brevo (Sendinblue) Behaviors

Brevo's rendering system injects inline spacing helpers to support their responsive editor, which can cause column overlaps in Outlook. Using explicit table alignments is required. Always define ALT descriptions for retail product shots, and base64-encode your brand logo so the email headers render cleanly even when images are blocked.

Remediation Code Block

To resolve this in Outlook desktop, you must wrap your element or cell inside a Microsoft VML (Vector Markup Language) shapes structure that declares the background image explicitly using the 'v:background' or 'v:fill' vector properties. In your Brevo (Sendinblue) campaign manager, make sure you configure your links to run via {{ unsubscribe }}.

<td background="https://example.com/bg.jpg" bgcolor="#222222" valign="top" style="background-image: url('https://example.com/bg.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover;">
  <!--[if mso]>
  <v:rect xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:600px;height:300px;">
    <v:fill type="tile" src="https://example.com/bg.jpg" color="#222222" />
    <v:textbox inset="0,0,0,0">
  <![endif]-->
  <div>Overlay Content</div>
  <!--[if mso]>
    </v:textbox>
  </v:rect>
  <![endif]-->
</td>

Live Code Sandbox Test

Interactive Brevo (Sendinblue) Custom Sandbox

Target Environment: Outlook 2013

How to Deploy inside Brevo (Sendinblue)

1

Copy the fixed VML or table wrapper code block from the remediation box above.

2

Open Brevo's template canvas, select the element you wish to configure, click 'Edit HTML' or insert a standalone 'HTML' content block, and paste the code.

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