Brand Image Changing - Victoria's Secret

The triumph and failure in the path of changing image- Victoria’s Secret

DAI, Zhuo 1155082025

Victoria’s Secret owns the biggest share of the lingerie industry with no close competitors in sight. However, the success may not be last since its parent company, L Brand’s third quarter profit fell 25.8% over last year. The triumph and failure are all related to brand image changing.

1.     Beginning

Today, Victoria’s Secret has created a self-image showing the sex appeal. Feather wings, crystals, lace and super models with fantastic bras… These things come to our mind when we think of VS. However, VS’s brand image hasn’t always been that.

At first, Victoria is an undergarment store with Victorian design and decoration. After the unpleasant and negative experiences of shopping underwear at department stores, the entrepreneur, Roy Raymond wanted to make this store “were very detailed and were quite inviting when a gentleman came to purchase lingerie.” The brand image used to target to male customers since men held the financial power at that time.

2.     Changing the image

In the 1980s, women were having more buying power with the rising of their financial ability. The original men-targeted market had declined and the old business philosophy had affected the brand’s development. VS had to rebuild their image to stay on top. Their new brand was appeal to the women who want to feel independent and gorgeous and the newer branding and advertisements were designed to exude luxury, allure, and envy.

·         Targeting market segments

Victoria’s Secret is constantly coming out with new collection of bras and introducing them at different times. Since then VS uses more colors and adds luxury style and sex elements to their products. VS expand its business scope to other products such as shoes, perfume, accessories and so on. The wide range of products are targeting different ages and occasions. For example, VS introduced Pink brand in 2004 to target teenager girls. Victoria’s Secret is no longer a lingerie store but a one-stop shop for all a woman’s needs.

·         Build own media channel

Since 2005, Victoria’s Secret is not only a brand but become a content producer. Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has become an annual event for young women all over the world. In 2016, the show was broadcast on TV or spread online in 190 countries and attracted over one billion audience in the world. The brand spends nearly $12 million to produce this show excluding the cost of the luxury “fantastic bra” inlaid with valuable jewels. VS uses the power of media to promote this show, whether it is the list of chosen models, or “fantastic bra” and large wings, can lead to discussion and draw attention.

·         Captivating female customers.

“Everyone wants to be a Victoria's Secret girl!” The brand’s advertising team carefully chooses those models they believe female customers will relate to or dream to be. To maintain the balance between sexy and approachable, Victoria’s Secret prefers charming and healthy models rather than sexy models. For instance, longtime Angel Alessandra Ambrosio's image as a wife and mother helps the brand. Victoria's Secret successfully achieved mass appeal credited by the highly refined marketing strategy. 

The company controls a 35% of the lingerie market. Victoria's Secret has become the only name that matters in lingerie.

3.     Failure

It started in 2014, a Victoria’s Secret ad campaign in the UK faced a widespread backlash in social media. This ad featured a row of skinny Angels dressed in lingerie and the slogan is “the perfect body.” This slogan was meant for the new collection of bras which are perfect. But it was criticized for promoting false stereotypes of beauty as the models are all skinny and it may be interpreting as the perfect body is that.

A Change.org petition requesting that Victoria’s Secret apologize and change the campaign had over 27,000 signatures at the time of writing. The company eventually apologized for the ad and featured a new slogan – “a body for every body.”

Victoria’s Secret seems outdated when consumers’ opinions have changed. VS’s bra sizes are inconsistent. Some styles are only offered up to a D, while others go up to a DDD. Many consumers feel they don’t have a good selection at VS and they don’t have a body like Angles.

Women today are independent and have more power. Instead of appealing to men, they care more about the healthy and comfortable experience. For a long time, VS’s brand image is about a skinny beautiful sexy girl. However, smart is the new sexy now. Sexy has more definitions and every woman deserves to feel sexy, confident and beautiful whatever their body shape is. Victoria’s Secret is clearly out of date and is left behind by other brands. VS needs a new marketing strategy to keep its customers. 

Now, VS introduced a new brand: VS Sport. The Facebook account are posting the training video, and their models are post photos and videos while they are exercising. In VS’s YouTube channel, they upload a series of training class – “train like an Angle.” Victoria’s Secret clearly want to target the sports underwear market. However, these approaches haven’t worked out. It still conveys the importance of “perfect body” and you need to work out to get that body shape.

Women’s attitude towards sex and power is changing. Victoria’s Secret needs a new marketing strategy to keep its customers and maintain the market share.

Reference

Trefis Team, DEC 9, 2015, <How Victoria's Secret's Stagnant Brand Image Might Dampen L Brands' Valuation>, http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/12/09/how-victorias-secrets-stagnant-brand-image-might-dampen-l-brands-valuation/#6db243ffeb39   

Ashley Lutz, Sep 8, 2014, < How Victoria's Secret Will Continue to Crush The Competition>, http://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-business-strategy-2014-9

Nina Bahadur, Jun 11, 2014, < Victoria’s Secret ‘Perfect Body’ Campaign Changes Slogan After Backlash> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/victorias-secret-perfect-body-campaign_n_6115728.html