Victoria's Secret practices the business-to-business electronic commerce which is the use of the internet to facilitate activities with pages such as dropbox and others electronic commercial companies. Also, VS has agreement with Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. By doing B2B, the brand can be in the top and they can also provide effective marketing by using these tools.
The brand has a strategic alliance with UPS shipment services to obtain a good deliver service. Even though Victoria's Secret is not a producer they have contracts with manufacturers who are in charge of the production and merchandise in general, most of them are located in Asian territory such as China and others located in the Caribbean . In some way every industry has a connection to another which is good to the success of all of them.
As I said before, Victoria's Secret is a brand for teenagers and older women making them feel sexy, confident and providing comfortable products. This brand is well known nationally and other countries outside the U.S. where the company had to implant an specific geography segmentation according to the region where the store is located. For example, you cannot sell or deliver a product in the same way that is delivered in the United States because women have different role in different countries.
Also the environment is affected, in this nation you tend to see the stores with colorful designs and infrastructure but in places like London where the technology is limited the Victoria's Secret stores have colors like white and black. The brand offers different styles to each type of personality giving satisfaction to the consumers.
The one-to-one marketing we can often see it in the social media or electronic devices where the companies show their advertising and nowadays is constantly use the method that they enter to our social media and other sources to look at what we like or what we do. By this way, the companies advertise you what you like, need or want.
Victoria's Secret is a brand which offers a variety of products presented with a good new-product strategy. The brand has been renovating the lingerie products along the time creating products for each kind of person. For example, teenagers who tend to use underwear more sexy and provocative, and women who use underwear bigger or focused on how comfortable they are.
VS always present new products to the market, by this way the store always looks fresh with new products introduction. Almost every month the brand put out new products which is consider the biggest part of the strategy. The brand innovates their products, for this reason the product can obtain an effective life cycle giving profit to the company. A new product must be presented to the market with a excellent marketing strategy with a clear target market and good quality.
Victoria's Secret is a brand with excellent marketing even through social media. The brand always try to keep the connection with the costumers by different social network such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter and other social networks. By those social networks you can know information about a store near you, promotions and buy clothes visiting the official page www.victoriassecret.com
- Facebook: Victoria's Secret is on the top of the top Facebook Posts. The brand has 23,329,487 fanswho are always aware of all promotions that the brand offers to them.
- Twitter: This is another good social network where VS once again is on the top of the most popular users with more than 3 million followers. There, they also share information about future events, promotions and more. All these options and different benefits are available on smartphones, ipad or tablet by downloading the app.
Victoria's Secret is the most famous lingerie brand of the world but it has a product mix because the brand offers not lingerie but other products such as fragrances, make-up, outwear, accessories and more. VS always provides good quality and variety on their products, for it makes them a brand loyalty which the majority prefers Victoria's Secret over the competitors.
The product line started expanding when appeared Very Sexy and P!NK which are collections that are part of the brand but selling different products. Very Sexy is the name of the fragrance's line offering lotions, perfumes, body washes and more. In the other hand, P!NK which sells underwear but also provides clothing like shoes, outwears for gym, sleepwear and more.
An excellent example of relationship selling is the Angel's Card which gives to the customers more benefits and they can also save up to the 75% of their purchases. The employees are perfectly trained to give the best experience and satisfaction to the costumers. Also, they should notice costumer's needs and turn it into a costumer's wants Our costumers can try beauty samples, so it helps at the moment that a they are making a purchase decision.
Victoria's Secret offers different promotional sales to their members or the customers subscribed via email or the catalogs. Those customers receive coupons and purchase discounts like the Free Shipping with a purchase of $75 dollars or more. We also have more special offers such as:
The online page is a powerful tool because you can see the products, vaariety and different prices or sales that are going on. Since the web sites appeared the industry has undergone in a positive and modern way.
VS' advertising objective is to inspire sexiness, glamorous, confidence of fashion and a touch of fantasy to the costumers.
Victoria's Secret is a brand that goes further the traditional advertising, spending about $220 million a year on the catalogs sent to the 300 million of customers reached per year. The catalogs make the products available to consumers 365 days a year, 24 hours in the 7 days of the week.
VS also advertises using social media such as Facebook [20 millions friends], Twitter and Email to inform the customers about new collections, sales and different events like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show spending around $1.56 billion in advertising a year. It has its own apps making our brand open to the consumers all the time. Nowadays, the best way to keep the communication with the costumers is by social networks because this kind of technological benefits can connect the brand with the consumers from all over the world.
The brand had use celebrities in advertising campaigns to promote the products and admiration to the audience. In those celebrities we can mention the Angels who are the supermodels of Victoria's Secret and the brand's image. The called "VS All Access" is a section located in the offcial website www.victoriassecret.com which explains more about the role of the group composed by the supermodels Adriana Lima, Miranda Merr, Alesaandra Ambrosio and others.
Another successful way to advertise the brand is by the famous Victoria's Secret Fashion Show which is a annual show of two-hour long fashion show where the magic, variety of colors and glamour take place. By this way they promote the brand and where the brand shows the "Fantasy Bra" which is the most
expensive lingerie of the world and its cost is millions of dollars. The nation's top music performers show up on the fashion show which last year raked 9.3 million viewers.
“Our show is seen, in one way or another, in over 200 countries in print, Facebook, YouTube, and television specials,” Ed Razek, chief marketing officer, told the Business Of Fashion in 2011. “It is must-watch television for young women in the United States. They learn to walk in high heels in this show.”
VS is a department store that sells a huge variety of products including apparel, electronics and cosmetics. Thus, it has a retailer channel with a exclusive distribution which means that the producer does not sells directly to consumers because they do not manufacture their products. They make it easy for a women to find everything that she needs in only one place. It is obvious that Victoria's Secret has had a clear mission which through the last years has proven to have effective results.
According to SRI rankings here are the top 5 retailers in 2013. Victoria's Secret ranks as the most popular apparel brand in the world:
1. Victoria’s Secret
RIS SRI Rating: 42.1
2. Walmart
RIS SRI Rating: 37.1
3. Apple
RIS SRI Rating: 32.3
4. Target
RIS SRI Rating: 25
5. Best Buy
RIS SRI Rating: 21.1
"I think the secret sauce on Victoria's Secret is super simple: ton of marketing (online, print, and through in store deals) and consistent new product introductions (bras) that make the stores seem fresh every time the customer walks into, or by, the store," said Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Productions.
Smart marketing made Victoria's Secret the leading American brand.
Victoria's Secret marketing advertising has a big culture of special strategies which have been influencing consumers for many years. When we think about about lingerie we right away think about VS. This influences can be critical when a customer is making a purchase decision making. First of all is making the customer feel the product is a need, not something they temporarily just want to satisfy their cravings. The brand's variety of products allow it to marketed for social classes, from the upper class to the lower class making everything quo and providing different benefits for each of them.
As you know, VS is a store which targets a market starting from the young trendy girls to the older more mature lady based on their size and personality. Moreover, the company has made a commitment since the beginning to provide the best shopping experience, so they won't feel dissatisfied, never regretting a purchase. All these factors have an effect in the making of the customer happy about their purchase.
Victoria's Secret is a multinational company with the highest quality products on the market and providing a excellent service. As a consumer those are the facts that all people around the world look for when purchasing a product. The company has a global marketing standardization, in other words selling the brand in the same way like in the United States. In 2000, VS management decided to do not expand the brand outside the United States because they wanted to keep the brand exclusively nationwide. A few years later the management changed their mind opening 23 stores in Canada some of them located in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and the province Quebec.
The Canada native and supermodel, Candice Swanepoel, was present during the opening of the first store.
In 2012 Victoria's Secret opened 2 stores in London considering a further expansion all over UK. The company in this case adopted an external traditional environment assuming that country has a colonial infrastructure based on their culture and history. The predominant color is black but there is pink and white [To take a look inside the store on New Bond Street, London go to Chapter 4 video]
The strategy of VS continues being the same based on US promotions delivering the same message to the costumers but not the entire product is exported to the international stores and franchises. Therefore, the company give the same quality, service and responsibility based on the countries laws, traditions or customs.
International Franchises
The first store in Latin America opened in Isla Margarita, Venezuela in June, 2010. Following a posterior amplification of those stores. Angel's Group, a Colombian company which operates with the franchise in Colombia, opened a store in Bogota in 2012. The first Caribbean store is situated in San Juan, Puerto Rico opened in November 2011. Then, VS opened two stores in my native country, the Dominican Republic, at the Agora Mall and Sambil both of them located in the Capital of the country, Santo Domingo. After Victoria's Secret expand in Latin American and the Caribbean the brand took place in Europe for the first time with the first Polish store in Warsaw opened just a day before the opening in London.
Arlenis Sosa, a Dominican fashion model and the face of the brand in the Dominican Republic.
VS is an successful company for all age costumers with a huge variety of production, excellent marketing environment and globalizing goals. From the beginning, Victoria's Secret was classified as an "Skinny girls store" for women between 25 - 45 (Generation X) years old [In 1977 lingerie was used by wives] but everything has changed. The brand created PINK which sells lingerie for teenagers and college students (Generation Y) based on more sporty lingerie, clothes and accessories.Merchandise offering quality in every single detail and design. Nowadays you can find in just one place anything you want and need as a women; the store looks like a department store with different sections including shoes, beauty care and flagrancy.
The brand just opened the first British stores located in New Bond Street and Westfield Stratford City with the best collections like PINK, Very Sexy, Dream Angels and others. This is a big accomplishment for the growing ethnic market plan of VS. This is just an introduction to UK market and there are more expectations after this big opening. The design of our stores has follow the traditional designs even tough there are several stores which change the design every season, we can often see it in New York's VS. The pink glasses always take places on the infrastructure of the store predominating the colors pink, black and white. Mostly, the entrance is dark and full of sexy pictures of the called Angels [As explained in the past post Angels are the supermodels who are the faces of Victoria's Secret] giving an dramatic impression and screens playing the Victoria's Secret Fashion Secret creating a playful oversize area.
Victoria's Secret has excellent technological factors such as their mega important online page: www.victoriassecret.com reaching more than 390 million costumers per year, consider one of the fastest growing and profitable e-commerce destinations on the Internet.
Victoria's Secret is a brand from the company Limited Brands which provides moral, ethical and an impeccable social responsibility. We have responsibility with our customers and the environment guided by a Code based on laws and regulations. In VS the employees, managers and associate must follow the Code because our reputation is very important for the company. For this reason the Code content the following points:
- Respecting customers and associates: All customers and associates have to be treated in the same way with no inferior attitude, no bad languages and violence. The people can not be limited by color, gender, age, sexual orientation, origin or disability on a VS store and other brands from Limited Brands Company.
- Equal Opportunity: The company is prohibited to show discriminatory acts and behaviors when we are going to hire a person. By this we can obtain the free and divers environment in our stores and workplace.
- Be Honest: The employees must inform the truth about the merchandise, promotions and communicate clear info to the customers. Also, the employees can never manipulate or violate any type of records of the company which could change the data or disturb the entries.
- Accommodating Disabilities: Every Victoria's Secret store includes facilities customers and associates with disabilities. I can mentioned the elevators or other sources to help people with any disability in the store.
SAFETY AND WORK ENVIRONMENT - Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace: All the associates need to be free of any illegal drugs or alcohol specially if you will work but always complying with the privacy laws applicable.
More on the list such as:
- International Trade - No Corrupt Practice - Good External Communication
Victoria's Secret focuses on giving to our costumers the best benefits, providing high quality, unique luxury products and excellent marketing strategies based on our wonderful lingerie. We provide the best merchandise for a low-cost in the lingerie industry.
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
VS is one of the most recognized companies around the world and has an enormous evolution and keep growing with 1 billion income every year. Our store is a complete store because women find the basis for them such as underwear, beauty and clothing what make us a competent store on different categories. In addition, we offer to our costumers a high volume of promotions as well as opportunities for example coupons, in store specials and the Angel's Card which keeps our current customers & attracts new ones. You have the choice to shop in store or online on our official website: www.victoriassecret.com
Marketing mix (4 Ps)
*Product
Victoria's Secret main product is the bras (lingerie) which is the reason why we are recognized around the world. Even though we have implementing other resources to the market like clothing, perfumes and feminine services. We keep innovating our products and growing as a company to always give you the best quality and variety of the market.
*Place
In this strategy we concentrate on the different locations and merchandise availability for our customers. Our company have more than 1,000 stores and distributors in all over the world because we love our clients and the best way to show it is being near you, offer a good distribution and for you to have the best shopping experience is our satisfaction.
*Promotion
We promote our product by different ways including advertising in the magazines, social media, billboards and others resources. A good strategy is by our called Angels which is a group of supermodel who are the face of the company like advertising campaigns, interviews and everything related to Victoria's Secret communication activities.
*Price
We have a few pricing strategics and is having low-cost products, giving awesome coupons, specials and others. You can compare our price with the competition and you will see the benefits we give to the customers.
Strategic Directions
We introduced the clothing to become a complex store where you can find everything in just one place. Victoria's Secret current star is the lingerie especially the panties and bras.For this reason, the company need cash to afford rapid evolution and get more promotions, better product quality, and involve to the market more clients.
Effective Strategic Planning
Victoria's Secret has shown all these years that is a competent company and one of the most important one in the market . It is a company which does not stop growing and expanding their product around the world; I assume their Effective Strategic Planning is doing very well and it will keep Victoria's Secret on the Top.
Victoria's Secret is one of the largest retailers of the world which sells lingerie and beauty product such as lotions, make up and perfumes.The first store was founded in 1977 by Ray Raymond & his wife Gaye [Who borrowed 40,000 dollars from her parents to make their project real] situated in Palo Alto, California. When Raymond could not handle any more embarrassing moments shopping at lingerie department stores he felt the need to create a store where men could not feel embarrassed for shopping lingerie for their women.
Our mission statement is to catch our costumers attention with our divers merchandise where you can mix and match with no problem because of all the colors and variety. Also, we work so hard to give the best quality and experience of the market.
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