Victoria’s Secret is retaining its reign as the leading dictator of
“what is sexy”. The brand continues to do so by presenting a “What is sexy?
List” and awarding sexy female celebrities with an award from the brand. The
categories are sexiest: actress, international import, hair, songstress, bikini
body, style, smile, sporty style, sense of humor, legs, lips, mom, eyes, curves,
summer glow, TV cast, cyber stars, tweeter and up & coming bombshell.
The brand came up with a video of their models (a.k.a angels) presenting
the awards to those celebrities in Victoria’s Secret lingerie and bikinis. By
having such a wide range of categories and celebrities, the brand is able to
cash in on their fame and remind audiences that they know sexy best. I think
it’s a really clever strategy that really capitalizes their brand image of
sexiness.
The short video showed that Victoria’s
Secret is responsible for over 50% of profits by Limited Brands, the company that owns
the brand. The success of the brand also caused their “angels” to take up 6 of
the top 10 spots in the richest models list. What interested me was how
profitable the brand Pink under Victoria’s Secrets was and how the
controversies surrounding the brand actually boosted profits even more. Pink is
targeted at females aged 15-22 while the general Victoria’s Secret brand is
aimed at women above that age. Pink was criticized for targeting young women
and encouraging their sexualization. Although Pink has pulled the ads, “…data show the controversial marketing may have paid off,
in spite of—or because of—the publicity it
sparked. It certainly got traders hot and bothered: The stock price closed
the day 4.3 percent higher.
Victoria’s Secret is no stranger to being provocative but this makes me wonder if companies
cross the lines a little on purpose to get publicity or are just less careful
about those lines because they know that even bad publicity can boost sales
too.
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