FIRST DRAFT OF REPORT:
1. Executive Summary:
Victoria’s Secret was originally launched in 1997 by Roy and Gaye Raymond. The brand started up when Roy wanted to buy his wife some sexy lingerie as a present without coming across suspicious for purchasing women’s underwear. He then had the idea to begin this company in order for men to feel comfortable buying underwear as gifts for their significant others. (Business Insider, 2015) [1] Victoria’s Secret sales are targeted at both men and women to shop, and for middle class women of ages 16-49 to wear. It is known that all ages are welcome to buy from the brand, however the consumer demographics are also in place. (Madison and Jodi, 2014) [2] Victoria’s Secret are known for their superior and sexy underwear, they have many different sections of their store and company such as a makeup line, a body care line, obviously the lingerie and finally their PINK teenage line including sportswear, underwear, bags and other accessories. (Gullivan, Johnston, Seeger and Watts, 2013) [3]
2. Introduction to the Brand:
This report will be outlining the strengths and weaknesses of Victoria’s Secret, and also including many details about the brand. A lot of research has gone into conducting this report and as a result, further on in the report there will be a proposal defining and explaining ideas in order to make the brand better. The proposal will be surrounding the subject of body image and how the brand can be made more of an equal and accepting company in the public eye in order to bring in more business and give Victoria’s Secret a better name. This proposal and idea will target the models and campaigns to portray to members of the public that everyone is beautiful in their own skin and in their own way and nobody should ever be judged if they aren’t what society calls the ‘norm’. An underwear brand like Victoria’s Secret should be supporting all women and all body types, to make everyone feel comfortable and sexy in their own skin no matter what they look like. This is a huge issue that this report is going to outline and attack with the proposal mentioned prior to this.
3. Macro-Economic Analysis (PESTEL):
The Macro-Economic Analysis is to conduct a thorough and external analysis of the brand’s environment. These are important in order to eventually discover a strategy to take down any competition that the brand has and help get Victoria’s Secret to the top. A PESTEL Analysis includes the Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal aspects of the brand.
Political:
Firstly, Victoria’s Secret would not want to pay a high tax rate and this would therefore discourage them from maximizing the profits made.
Next, Brexit will make it difficult and more expensive for the brand to import and export materials, good and products to make products and also sell them. (Tobin, 2018) [4]
Economical:
As the economy increases and decreases, and the exchange rate changed throughout the different countries that Victoria’s Secret is sold in, the prices of the products also increase and decrease resulting in the rate of consumers purchasing goods from the brand going up and down constantly. This causes consumers to buy products when they go on holiday to different places as due to the exchange rate the prices are cheaper resulting in their different branches of stores to vary in business.
Also, some individuals cannot afford to pay for the products as the brand is known to be of quite high prices meaning less business.
Social:
Firstly, The consumer Demographic, this is down to the age, gender and all about the customers who shop in Victoria’s Secret, in order to market certain products to them.
Next, Class Distribution, this is because most customers who shop at Victoria’s Secret are of the middle class which is exactly what the target market is, however if the consumers were of the lower class, the brand would not be able to market the products to them.
Finally, the health and sizing of the consumers is also important. The brand does not cater for all sizes which is a large and obvious issue and as a result the company would not be able to market the products to members of the public who physically cannot wear the products that Victoria’s Secret is trying to sell. (Essay 48, 2013) [5]
Technological:
Firstly, Victoria’s Secret has a website where you can order products to your house all over the world, however the price does vary depending on where the shipping address is. (Customer Service, Victoria’s Secret, ) [6]
Next, The brand is constantly posting on their social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, in order to keep their loyal consumers up to date about what is being sold in store, what offers are going on and any new arrivals for the brand.
Finally, Victoria’s Secret have a high tech sports bra product, this uses built-in electrodes that measure your heart rate. It’s also a very wearable product as it looks like any normal sports bra which is an advantage. (Dickson, 2014) [7]
Environmental:
Firstly, Victoria’s Secret has decided to enter the China market and to do this they have had to agree and pay to test on animals, fully well knowing that is their policy in China, they decided to go through with it anyway. (Support PETA, 2019) [8]
Also, the brand is not sustainable as they use child laborer’s to hand pick their cotton and they also lied about this.
Finally, theproduction of Nylon gives off greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming. (Edwards, 2016) [9]
Legal:
Firstly, Immigration laws for the models who are of different ethnicities and are travelling for the fashion shows.
Also, All labels must have the correct washing instructions on so the consumer knows how to wash it to keep it in perfect condition, along with all materials on the labels too to avoid allergic reactions and to keep the consumers safe. All correct information with the brand rights must be on these labels too in order for the brand to cover themselves.
Next, the brand does not ship beauty products due to certain trade mark, labelling, product content and embargo restrictions. [6]
Finally, foreign governments have made laws on body image and the UK have banned false and photoshopped images and body image posts on public transport as it is a huge cause of eating disorders and mental health issues around the world. (Bromberg and Halliwell, 2017) [10]
4. Brand Market Position (SWOT):
Research into Victoria’s Secret has also led to a SWOT analysis being conducted for the brand. A SWOT analysis is to outline all the positive and negative aspects with the brand and includes the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the company.
Strengths:
Even though Victoria’s Secret has many issues that members of the public have picked up on and are offended by, the brand also includes many strengths. Some of the Strengths of Victoria’s Secret are:
First, the brand uses some powerful influencers as ambassadors and models in order to entice members of the public to buying their products, such as: Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid.
Also, the company is very active on their online marketing. They are constantly posting on their Instagram page and updating their consumers with activity taking place within the company such as new releases on social media platforms such as Twitter and even emailing.
Next, the company uses organic and fare trade raw materials making them sustainable.
Finally, the company also uses television adverts which is a positive for those who do not follow their social medias, they have good brand strategies in order to entice members of the public into their brand. (Guillios, 2013) [11]
Weaknesses:
Weaknesses of the brand are very much present, there is a lot of room for improvement and in order to do that the negatives of the brand have to be outlined, to then eventually create a brand strategy to improve it.
Firstly, the brand has many competitors that members of the public prefer for many reasons, which can cause loss of business, another thing that the competitors can possibly cause are fake products.
Secondly, they should sell and include the same products and range at every store, the customer would have a much easier and smoother shopping experience if this were put in place. [11]
Finally, they stock a lack of different sizes and therefore not all different sized women can shop at Victoria’s Secret. (WordPress , 2016) [12]
Opportunities:
Different brands and situations can cause opportunities for the brands which can be very beneficial to the brands in order to bring in more trade such as a collaboration with a different well known and liked brand.
Firstly, an expansion can be made onto more and international markets with the use of a collaboration with an extremely famous and well cherished company such as Savage X Fenty. [12]
Next, the company could expand their products that they sell and expand on their lines to add to equality which would appeal to more customers. [12]
Finally, the plus sized market as Victoria’s Secret do not have a plus sized line, but if they did it would appeal to a larger amount of customers which is a huge opportunity for the brand as they could bring in more loyal consumers. (Richard, 2014) [13]
Threats:
Retailers in the industry can face many obstacles which can include threats that can cause issues for their company. This is something Victoria’s Secret also face and have to keep a close eye on so that they do not lose any business.
Firstly, Counterfeits, which are products that other retailers create that are fake but they put the same name on it to make it looklike the real product when in reality it is not.
Secondly, there is a strong competition in the French lingerie market as it is a well-known market in France and a place where lingerie started. [12]
Also, the economy, the brand is quite highly priced which most people (especially their younger target audience) would not be able to afford meaning customers would rather buy from cheaper brands. [13]
Finally, conflict with customers who think beauty is skin deep and not from what you see, this could cause issues within the media and give Victoria’s Secret a bad name. [12]
5. Competitors (Brand Positioning Map):
Victoria’s Secret’s top competitors as of January 2019 are Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan New York, and all three just like Victoria’s Secret, work in the Systems Software Industry (Owler, 2019) [14] which is a type of computer programme that is used to run a computer’s applications. In addition, as found in some primary research of an Instagram Poll (Appendice 1) that was conducted for this report, there are also many other brands that are competitors of Victoria’s Secret. For example, Ann Summers, Boux Avenue, Primark and H&M. The main reasons that there are this many competitors that members of the public would lean towards rather than Victoria’s Secret is because they are cheaper, better qualities and have better ethics and better morals. Even though Victoria’s Secret is a successful business, other brands have a lot of features that members of the public worship that Victoria’s Secret do not have, which is what will be improved within the recommendations section of this report.
*MOODBOARD: CURRENT BRAND MARKET POSITION AND COMPETITORS*
BRAND POSITIONING MAP:
6. Consumer Demographic:
The consumer demographic for Victoria’s Secret includes a lot of different important features including age, gender, class and size. Victoria’s Secret has quite a wide consumer demographic, their target audience is females aged 16-49 of the middle class due to the highly priced products. They also target the products at men for them to buy for their female partners so they do not feel uncomfortable or look suspicious while shopping for underwear as a gift for their significant other. Victoria’s Secret targets all races as well however just does not include a lot of diversity within models and fashion shows that the company put on for the public. (Madison and Jodi, 2014) [14] Mostly teenage girls would be the type of consumer buying from the company even though the brand has a large target market. This is because it is an on trend brand that younger girls want as everyone has it, this is also due to the younger brand within Victoria’s Secret: ‘PINK’ which is targeted at the younger female generation and also proven very popular.
*MOODBOARD (CURRENT CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHICS)*
7. Product Selection:
Victoria’s Secret sells a huge range of products, from underwear and pyjamas to fragrance in their beauty range, and to add to this they have their PINK section of the store which proves sports wear and accessories along with more underwear but targeted at a younger consumer demographic. As underwear is the brands focus, it is clear that they have a wide range of different styles and cuts of bras, along with various styles of knickers. This is a really positive aspect of the brand as they have something that will suit everyone meaning a high sale margin. Their best seller is the bra with the ‘VICTORIA’S SECRET’ strap. This is because it is obvious that it is from the brand so people want it in order to show it off so that people know that they own Victoria’s Secret. As this is a best seller, they are obviously very popular and successful, this is because of the brand name being clearly on the product for people to see.
8. Social Media and Influencer Marketing:
- Victoria’s Secret angels
- Kardashians being involved in the fashion shows
- Gigi Hadid being involved in the fashion shows and campaigns
*MOODBOARD: CURRENT SOCIAL MEDIA/INFLUENCER MARKETING/ MARKETING MIX (OTHER BRAND COMMUNICATIONS)*
9. Marketing Mix:
Product:
Price:
Place:
Promotion:
10. Proposed Strategy (Recommendations):
- Plus sized models in the fashion shows
- Plus sized lingerie line/increasing the variations of sizes in the already existing brands in order for them not to feel segregated
- An app, it will make the consumers be more up to date with what new products are coming out and will also mean more individuals will buy from the brand as most people use mobile devices for online shopping these days
- £5 off voucher if you spend over X amount, for a bag of clothes/textiles goods that members of the public no longer need/want – the company can then recycle these materials and reuse them to produce their own products, this makes the brand sustainable and can have a label on these sustainable products to ensure consumers know that they are sustainable
- Collaboration with Lane Bryant and their ‘I’m No Angel’ campaign or Savage X Fenty as they are an equal and well respected brand
*MOODBOARD: PROPOSED BRAND MARKET POSITION AND COMPETITORS*
*MOODBOARD: PROPOSED CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHICS*
*MOODBOARD: PROPOSED SOCIAL MEDIA/INFLUENCER MARKETING/MARKETING MIX (OTHER BRAND COMMUNICATIONS)*
11. Bibliography:
Business Insider, How Victoria’s Secret Core Customers Have Completely Changed, August 2015, retrieved 20 January 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secrets-crazy-history-2015-7?r=US&IR=T[1]
Madison and Jodi, Demographics of the Client’s Target Market, April 2014, retrieved 20 January 2019, https://victoriasecretfinal.weebly.com/demographics-of-the-clients-target-market[2]
Gullivan, Johnston, Seeger and Watts, Group Consumer Analysis: Victoria’s Secret, June 2013, retireved 20 January 2019, https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Victorias-Secret-F3L3JJSX73U4Z [3]
Lucy Tobin, How Will Brexit Effect the UK Fashion Industry?, December 2018, retrieved 30 January 2019, https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/how-will-brexit-impact-the-uk-fashion-industry-a3931611.html[4]
Essay 48, Victoria’s Secret PESTEL Analysis & Environmental Analysis, 2013, retrieved 25 January 2019, https://www.essay48.com/term-paper/13812-Victoria-s-Secret-Pestel-Analysis [5]
Customer Service, Victoria’s Secret, Shipping Options: International (Outside the U.S), Retrieved 30 January, https://customerservice.victoriassecret.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/94/~/shipping-options%3A-international-%28outside-the-u.s.%29[6]
EJ Dickson, Victoria’s Secret Has a New High Tech Bra, November 2014, retrieved 30 January 2019, https://www.dailydot.com/debug/victorias-secret-wearable-tech/[7]
Support PETA, Victoria’s Dirty Secret: Paying for Cruel Tests on Animals in China, January 2019, retrieved 30 January 2019, https://support.peta.org/page/1096/action/1 [8]
Summer Edwards, The Environmental Impacts of Nylon, February 2016, retrieved 30 January 2019, http://www.tortoiseandladygrey.com/2016/02/01/environmental-impacts-nylon/[9]
Dr Marilyn Bromberg and Cindy Halliwell, The Latest on Body Image Law, November 2017, retrieved 30 January 2019, https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/22226-the-latest-on-body-image-law[10]
Romain Guillios, Victoria’s Secret Internationalisation Strategy, May 2013, retrieved 25 January 2019, https://prezi.com/rx4ha_coaulh/untitled-prezi/[11]
WordPress, SWOT Analysis and Recommendation, April 2016, retrieved 25 January 2019, https://victoriassecretinfrance.wordpress.com/swot-analysis-and-recommendation/[12]
Maria Richard, SWOT Analysis of Victoria’s Secret, April 2014, retrieved 25 January 2019, https://mariacrichard.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/swot-analysis/[13]
Owler, Victoria’s Secret’s Competitors, Revenue, Number of Employees, Funding and Acquisition, January 2019, retrieved 28 January 2019, https://www.owler.com/company/victoriassecret[14]
Madison and Jodi, Demographics of the Client’s Target Market, April 2014, retrieved 26 January 2019, https://victoriasecretfinal.weebly.com/demographics-of-the-clients-target-market[15]
12. Appendices:
APPENDICE 1:
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