Marketo Start Templates' Header Background Image Not Rendering Correctly in Outlook

Issue

When creating an email from one of the Marketo Starter Templates. the header module with a background image does not render correctly in Outlook.
 

Solution

Make the following changes in the template to resolve this issue.
 
  1. Create an email from the Starter Template
  2. Navigate to "Email Actions > Save as Template"
  3. Once the email is saved as a Template, you can find it in Design Studio > Templates
  4. Open up the new Template in the editor
  5. Replace: <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  6. with: <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
  7. In the <head> tag, right before the first <style> tag, add:
<!--[if gte mso 9]>

      <xml>

            <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>

                  <o:AllowPNG/>

                  <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>

           </o:OfficeDocumentSettings>

     </xml>

<![endif]-->

 

Save/Approve Template and create new, functional email.