Sex Sells: Victoria’s Secret

Sex Sells: Victoria’s Secret In this paper, we will be discussing the ways in which Victoria’s Secret uses sex appeal in their advertising campaigns. Victoria’s Secret is the largest American retailer of lingerie founded by Roy Raymond, on June 12 1977. Victoria’s Secret grossed $5000 in its first year of business, and in 2012 sales were $6.12 billion. Victoria’s Secret is known for its catalogues and annual fashion shows: The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Their catalogues now account for 55% of the $7 million of the company’s annual sales. It is to no surprise that the catalogues, even though they sell for only 3$, they bring in a large amount of cash flow because of its seductive display. Over the years, Victoria’s Secret approach in their advertising has been the same yet has gotten more provocative. During the 1970’s when Victoria’s Secret was first established they started off as a high quality lingerie company offering a sophisticated line of lingerie to highlight women’s femininity. Although, they were perceived as risk takers for their sex appeal yet they were a lot more conservative than the advertisements produced today. Through the 80’s and 90’s, up until present time Victoria’s Secret focused on gaining a higher consumer share and brand awareness in the market by showcasing their products in a more sexualized image. To highlight this point the Victoria’s Secret Chief Executive Sharen Turney said “We’ve so much gotten off our heritage.. To sexy, and we use the word sexy a lot, and really have forgotten the ultra-feminine. I feel so strongly about us getting back to our heritage, and really thinking in terms of ultra-feminine, and not just the word sexy and becoming much more relevant to our customer”. This shows the extent of which Victoria’s Secret has abandoned their core belief of the ultra-feminine and are focusing on “sexy”. One of Victoria’s Secret strengths is its very successful advertising strategy, V.S.

References: http://www.cbs.com/shows/victorias_secret/ http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4135012&page=1#.UVB111elr7A http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/victoria-secret-sexy-article-1.306380