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How does Victoria’s Secret attract and engage audiences through it’s shopping journey?

Victoria’s Secret is a specialty retailer of women’s lingerie, fragrance, body care, accessories and athletic wear. It’s well constructed ‘Angel’ model image gives the brand a globally identifiable sense of sophistication and sex appeal. Victoria’s Secret products are mid range in terms of price and quality but the brand has an elevated reputation as a more luxurious brand than it actually is, as a result of it’s branding strategy.

Roy Raymond founded the store after feeling uncomfortable shopping for lingerie for his wife in department stores. With a loan of $80,000 he opened Victoria’s Secret to give men a place to shop for lingerie. By 1982 Victoria’s Secret had six stores and mail order catalogue which was grossing $6 million a year and Raymond sold the company to Leslie Wexner of The Limited (now L Brands) for $1 million, who still owns the company today. By this point women were already becoming a huge proportion of the brand’s audience, making up about 70% of in-store shoppers and 50% of purchases in 1981. (Fabry, 2015) As a result of the brand’s success with female customers, the target audience is now largely middle-class women, ages 16-30, although the desirability of the brand makes it attractive to women of all ages and economic backgrounds.

With net sales of $7.67 billion from 1164 stores in the US and Canada alone in 2015, the success of Victoria’s Secret is evident. (LBrands, 2016) It’s clearly defined brand image sets it apart from other lingerie retailers and has not changed since the early 1990’s when the first Victoria’s Secret Angels were hired.

This report intends to analyse Victoria’s Secret’s brand image and the construction of the shopping journey and examine how well this resonates with it’s target audience. The report is built on findings form careful analysis of the Victoria’s Secret website, L Brands statements and financial reports, news stories, industry commentary and the social media accounts of the brand and it’s ambassadors. This should create a well informed and thorough review of Victoria’s Secret and it’s shopping experience.

A highly intimate and sexual brand, in terms of brand archetypes Victoria’s Secret is the Seducer.

The brand is very vocal about it’s sexuality, describing itself as ‘Quite simply the sexiest brand in the world’, and it’s products and branding is seductive in equal measure. (LBrands, 2016) In terms of the clearly defined brand codes, Victoria’s Secret could be a ‘cool’ or ‘status’ brand, because it fosters a sense of belonging between fans who see themselves as belonging or aspiring to the ‘angel’ image. The mid priced products and luxury image mean that brand’s reputation is elevated above their actual market position, which can make the brand feel out of reach and makes Victoria’s Secret a status brand like many high end luxury retailers.

It is this high end image that Victoria’s Secret must maintain in store and online to provide customers with a consistent shopping experience. La Senza is also owned by L Brands, which they describe as “The world’s sexiest lingerie at seriously hot deals”, suggesting that the products will be largely similar to Victoria’s Secret at a lower price point. (LBrands, 2016) If the shopping experience is not up to the standard expected from Victoria’s Secret then customers will turn to these other high street lingerie stores instead. A high standard in store experience is particularly important since there are very few VS stores in the UK despite high demand and in the lingerie industry, as fit and style are essential, customers rely on their in store experience to find the perfect products. The table below explores the ways that Victoria’s Secret aims to maintain a consistent online and in store experience, basing the store analysis on the Bullring Birmingham store.

ONLINE

IN-STORE

Acting like different floors or departments of a store, Victoria’s Secret, PINK and Victoria’s Secret Sport all have separate sites, dividing the brand so that each can communicate in a tone appropriate for the target audience. For example the collegiate PINK has a far younger tone than Victoria’s Secret.

In order to create a store which looks high end but also welcoming, the store front is glossy and sleek with the logo the only signage. The store front is left open to reveal the interior instead of having a decorated window, in order to allow customers to see the promotional signage inside whilst painting a higher end appearance.

The store’s interior is designed to look like a luxury boudoir, kept as un-cluttered as possible, with only a few of each style on display, with further sizes and colours in labelled draws.

The lights are slightly dimmer than a typical retail store which emphasises the intimate, sexy atmosphere.

The website is highly visual and interactive. Acting like a blog for the brand, the home page features newest lines and campaigns as well as promotional films, model profiles and fashion show updates. The Victoria’s Secret Instagram is also embedded into the home page, integrating their most powerful social media platform. (See Fig.2) The ‘Today’s Offers’ tab at the bottom of the page shows all available multi-buy or free gift offers, encouraging customers to buy regardless of budget, particularly younger customers.

This more clearly indicates the brand’s mid-range market level.

Other features on the website include a love list, gift guides, trend edits and bestseller lists. Summarising products in this way adds another point of interest to the website so that customers may explore beyond the normal lists of products, guiding their shopping experience like a personal shopper or in store display might.

There needs to be a far more extensive range of products photos, both on and off models. Currently many products have only one or two different photos. Whilst sensory elements such as smell cannot be replicated online, customers should not have to compromise on their view of products.

The interactive online services such as ‘Find Your Fit’ and ‘Create Your Boutique’ questionnaires and a live chat for bra fitting advice and customer care make shopping online as easy and immersive as the in store experience, replacing the staff in an online capacity.

Images of the Angels in store reinforces the brand’s image so that shoppers are reminded of what, or who, they can become by shopping at Victoria’s Secret.

The store colour scheme is entirely pink and black with some white. Whilst colours have different connotations depending on the consumers cultural background, as a Western based brand, the colours pink and black suggest femininity, sexuality, sophistication and luxury, perfectly embodying Victoria’s Secret. (Singh, 2006) The smell of Victoria’s Secret perfumes and body sprays in store is an added sensory element that adds another dimension to the shopping experience and forces customers to pay attention to the beauty section even if that’s not what they came to buy.

In many ways staff are a touchpoint that acts as real and relatable alternative to an Angel, that customers will ever experience. Staff uniform is all black with no particular branding or uniform. This fits the stores colour scheme and is appropriate since Victoria’s Secret has no womenswear to indicate a certain uniform. however this suggests that the brand is far less luxurious than it’s branding makes it appear.

Victoria’s Secret encourages customer loyalty by offering a store credit points card called an ‘Angel Card’. Cards start at the ‘Angel Card’, earning 500 points unlocks the ‘Angel VIP’ card and earning 1000 points unlocks the ‘Forever Angel’ card. Different levels give customers something to aim towards, encouraging them to shop more. These cards are particularly clever because customers feel like they can become an Angel by being more loyal shoppers, imitating a sense of status and fostering a cult like belonging.

Holt’s concept of cultural branding is “derived form brands that have sown such compelling myths that they have become cultural icons” and this is certainly what Victoria’s Secret has managed to do. (Hancock, 2009) The brand is anthropomorphised by the Angels; they’re brand ambassadors and cultural icons as well as models. Monica Mitro EPV of PR for Victoria’s Secret points out that “between the angels and the brand there are over 250 million social media followers. That’s world domination.” (Hamilton, 2016) The models’ real personalities are integrated into the brand so their everyday lives are an advertisement for Victoria’s Secret and customers can become immersed in the brand. As the brand’s target audience immerses themselves in the angel’s lives, Victoria’s Secret is further gamifying the shopping experience.

Online, the interactive ‘Find Your Fit’ and ‘Create Your Boutique’ questionnaires introduce a game-like element that replicates the in-store experiences of bra-fittings or personal shopping.

There is a Victoria’s Secret app and although it is not available in the UK, in her analysis of the brand, Maria Richard describes gamified ways of shopping, such as a 4-week Spring Break Campaign that invites users to go on a “treasure hunt” to find and scan specific images found inside stores, on select college campuses and to online which unlock different promotions.

(Richard, 2014) This is a highly interactive way for customers to engage with the brand that directly results in sales.

Victoria’s Secret ethical standpoint is the brand’s biggest weakness. Forbes analysed that millennials, a large part of the target audience “want brands to stand for something… and they want them to be authentic – from what they stand for all the way through to how they engage with customers.” (Baird, 2016) Although IBISWorld analysts put Victoria’s Secret share of the entire lingerie market at 61.8%, it’s competitors have demonstrated a far more positive response to ethical issues in the fashion industry. (Dishman, 2016) The body image that Victoria’s Secret presents as an ideal is highly inclusive and controversial. The Angel body type is tall, slim and athletic, which is not representative of real customers, who increasingly value body diversity in fashion. Whilst this image is not entirely dishonest because Angels are meant to be dedicated to maintaining the ‘perfect’ body through fitness, the public backlash at the brands ‘The Perfect ‘Body’’ campaign demonstrates how problematic it is to sell a limiting image. Customers used social media to communicate their distress at the campaigns message and Victoria’s Secret responded by changing the tagline to ‘The perfect body for every body’ which pleased the public, however brands with a strong enough presence can easily survive PR disaster like this and Victoria’s Secret is no exception. (Stampler, 2014) It is unlikely that the brand will ever move away from this body image, as it’s very deeply rooted in the brand’s identity, however Victoria’s Secret could consider extending it’s lines into the plus size market in order to be more inclusive. Additionally it would be positive to see the brand partner with charities or social initiatives in line with it’s own values. Breast cancer or eating disorder charities would be appropriate, or organisation raising awareness of sexual assault, particularly on college campus’.

Another example is that the PINK brand which follows a collegiate image could demonstrate a “philanthropy initiative in the form of scholarships, bursaries or grants awarded to college students”. (Richard, 2014)

Overall it is clear that Victoria’s Secret is highly successful in engaging customers with the brand’s identity and shopping experience. The core values and branding strategy have not changed for 25 years; unattainably beautiful Angels embody the brand’s playful and sexy feeling, which manages to sell more underwear than any other retailer in the lingerie market. With little reason to change their branding, Victoria’s Secret has the time and resources to perfect the shopping journey. The in store experience is replicated online as closely as possible, giving customers all over the world the chance to experience shopping at Victoria’s Secret. As the brand expands further into the UK, opening more stores and tailoring it’s communication to the British public, Victoria’s Secret must be careful to retain it’s higher end reputation, and not lower itself too far into the typical high street store image. Delving deeper into new technologies and exploring gamification further will be vital for the brand in continuing to engage audiences, particularly as new lingerie brands more focussed on body diversity establish themselves in the market. Whilst it may have reached near perfection in terms of the cohesion between online and in store shopping, Victoria’s Secret must hope that the push for diversity and inevitable change in beauty ideals will not damage how the public worships it’s Angels in lace.

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Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2016 (2016) CBS, 5 December.

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Stampler, L. (2014) Here’s how Victoria’s secret quietly changed its controversial ‘body Shaming’ ad. Available at: http://time. com/3563499/victorias-secret-changes-body-shaming-perfect-body-ad/ (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

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Citations, Quotes & Annotations Baird, N. (2016) Millennials trashed Abercrombie & Fitch. Victoria’s secret may be next. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/ sites/nikkibaird/2016/04/12/millennials-trashed-abercrombie-fitch-victorias-secret-may-be-next/#44fd089160b3 (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Baird, 2016) Dishman, L. (2016) 5 lingerie brands challenging Victoria’s secret’s sex game. Available at: http://fortune.com/2016/03/07/ victorias-secret-competitors/ (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Dishman, 2016) Fabry, M. (2015) Who was the ‘Victoria’ in Victoria’s secret? Available at: http://time.com/4140242/victorias-secret-fashion-showhistory/ (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Fabry, 2015) Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2016 (2016) CBS, 5 December.

(Hamilton, 2016) Hancock, J. (2009) Brand/story: Ralph, Vera, Johnny, Billy, and other adventures in fashion branding. New York: Fairchild Books.

(Hancock, 2009) L Brands (2016) Our brands. Available at: https://www.lb.com/our-brands (Accessed: 13 December 2016). ( L Brands, 2016) L Brands (2016) Victoria’s Secret. Available at: https://www.lb.com/our-brands/victorias-secret (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(L Brands, 2016) Petro, G. (2016) Victoria’s secret Relaunches Athleisure line, but is it too late? Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ gregpetro/2016/09/16/victorias-secret-relaunches-athleisure-line-but-is-it-too-late/#225335926091 (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Petro, 2016) Richard, M. (2014) SWOT analysis of Victoria’s secret. Available at: https://mariacrichard.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/swotanalysis/ (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Richard, 2014) Singh, S. (2006) Impact of color on marketing. Available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/39005909/ Effect_of_Colour_on_Marketing.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1481646726&Signature=O LDgwINQmGRXLGhdIvIST5x6H5o%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DEffect_of_Colour_on_ Marketing.pdf (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Singh, 2006) Stampler, L. (2014) Here’s how Victoria’s secret quietly changed its controversial ‘body Shaming’ ad. Available at: http://time. com/3563499/victorias-secret-changes-body-shaming-perfect-body-ad/ (Accessed: 13 December 2016).

(Stampler, 2014)