(Response Blog)
In reading JM’s blog about Victoria’s Secret branding, I found myself fascinated by how Victoria’s Secret markets its value proposition of fashionable lingerie. I think JM is absolutely right in arguing that VS(Victoria’s Secret) have managed to make their customers their promoters by way of their fashion show and their Angels. The result of this is an incredible amount of publicity by way of social media and by word of mouth, which allows the company to stay popular among consumers.
While I agree with JM about VS’s lucrative branding and advertising, I disagree when JM argues that VS’s fame is a result of “not its quality, [but] its image”. I think that quality and positioning actually plays a much larger role in the company’s success than their branding. By positioning and differentiating themselves as the first fashionable lingerie company, VS’s value proposition set them up for success and fame.
As a fashionable clothing company, in order to be extremely successful the company has to be popular among its customers because if it’s not, the company has fallen behind the trends. For this reason, I think that while VS Angels and their fashion show certainly hype up and develop the brand, to a certain extent there would always be a consumers advocating for the brand if they are able to stay fashionable. Therefore I think that while certainly VS has powerful branding and innovative advertising, their core strength is and has always been rooted on their clothing’s quality and trendiness.
Link to JM’s blog post:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/jmjamet/2015/11/13/for-the-love-of-branding-victoria-reveals-her-secret/
