Victorias Secret Product Strategies and Customer Loyalty - Assignment Example

Running head: VICTORIA'S SECRET Victoria's Secret Product Strategies and Loyalty You're Over theyears the brand "Victoria's Secret" has undergone many different product line phases to lure new customers and to satisfy its older clientele. This research looks into how Victoria's Secret has utilized various marketing strategies to stay within the top percentile of companies that market feminine products for women. The ideas which this research focuses on are customer loyalty and how the company has transformed with the changing times in order to stay up to date with fashion for women. Victoria's Secret has been quite popular with its very sexy undergarments for women but they have devised strategies over the years that lure potential customers in with promises of more than just comfortable but classy undergarments. This research provides coherence into all of the various marketing activities of Victoria's Secret for the past decade. The conclusion of this research shows that the main reason Victoria's Secret has thrived for so long is due to the fact that they market their products specifically for all body types, and classes of women in society, not just the more affluent clients, or one size fits all customers either. Therefore people from every walk of life have been customers of this company at one point in time or another which has given it is irrefutable status in women's lingerie, body fragrances, clothing line, and accessories for years now. Victoria's Secret Product Strategies and Customer Loyalty The company, "Victoria's Secret" has developed into one of the largest female retailers of classy but sexy undergarments for women throughout the past thirty five years. Not only have they entered into one of the top retailer chains for women but they also provide other items that are variant from their main line of lingerie and body fragrances which has boosted their sales and increased their revenue year after year. Since the introduction of the Victoria's Secret lingerie line in 1970, they have been advertising and marketing their products in a habitual manner. Although there have been costs to the advertising it has worked well for the company in gaining customer loyalty to their products (White 2006). The many benefits of advertising that Victoria's Secret has gained are many as well. Advertising can give many ideas about a product to a consumer such as, various price information, availability of it, and the improvements that might have been made on a specific product as well. Without advertising, customer loyalty and interest would definitely be slim for Victoria's Secret or for any company for that matter. What advertisers try to do is impress the consumer and draw them in to the company. Through the years, Victoria's Secret has worked this in a way that if one product that they carry is more appealing to consumers then they have advertisers work on launching a bigger and better campaign to make that product appear to stand out and become more impressive to the consumer (White 2006). In 1982, Victoria's Secret was bought out by Limited Brands and since that time has continued to grow and lure in young, middle aged and even older customers. Once in the hands of The Limited, the company rapidly branched out to many malls throughout the United States, with 100 stores opening in record time in the late 1980's (White 2006). Also, the company's advertising campaigns during that period and even continuing on into today's time have always been strong and exemplary of what sexy really means. This shows in such ads like the one in 2003 titled, "What is Sexy" This ad earned the company a great deal of gross sales but not only that it earned them the number one spot in advertising within a 15 second time frame (Advertising Age 2003). It could be said however that the company really started to become influential in the feminine undergarment business in the early 90's as research shows that it actually redefined American's perception and ideal of what lingerie should really look and feel like for the fashion sense woman (Schwartz 1990, p. 238). In fact, in the time span of the last 15 years Victoria's Secret has marketed its products in a way that have been very conservative and have focused on the middle-class shopper. Fortunately for the company they have never had an advertising program that has been characterized to the public in a sleazy way, which a lot of lingerie companies have to deal with. Furthermore, when the mid 90's took avid shape in society through fashion and accessories, Victoria's secret helped women to feel that the idea of sensuality did not need to be limited to only the affluential people in the world such as skinny models and high fashion celebrities. The company has economized and found ways to make its products affordable to all types of customers, as has been stated (Schwartz 1990, p. 239). The company had surpassed its top running competitor; "Fredrick's of Hollywood" by the mid 90's and actually topped the billion dollar market in the lingerie fashion business. However, there developed problems in marketing more efficiently towards the older generation so the power of the company was handed over too Grace Nichols who formerly was the president of Howard Gross (Workman 1996, p. 63). The company flourished all through the end of the 90's and now in today's decade is continuing to be one of the nations top sellers of women's fashions. They have ultimately done this, as has been said, by classy advertising and steering their products to all age groups and body sizes of women in society. Also, the company has continuously stressed the need to make all women feel sexy regardless of the generations that might span them apart so they have many sleek lines that appeal to a majority of senses with women. It could be said that the biggest contribution the company has given to women is their product, "The Miracle Bra" which is an uplifting bra that can support even the bustiest of figures. Although it has been out for quite some time it has played an influential part in the expectations of the consumers who continue to be loyal to Victoria's Secret. To conclude, it can be easily seen how the company has continued to advance in today's decade with its strong marketing and advertising skills to its way of delighting its customers with new and improved products as well. There is no hesitation by this author to say that this company will quite possibly continue to grow and please the public, out stepping even its own expectations in the future. References Advertising Age. (2003). Ad Age: IAG's Top Spots, Victoria's Secret. Retrieved June 22, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1545/is_200312/ai_n6597742 Schwartz, Mimi. (1990). "A Day in the Life of Victoria's Secret." Mademoiselle Vol. 96, 238-239. White, Camilla. (2006). Victoria's Secret: A Brief History. Retrieved June 22, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.pamperedpassions.com/victorias_secret.htm Read More