Group 4 - Victoria's Secret Proposal


 
 
 
 
 


Oregon State University
 WR 214, Group 4
 
 Victoria's Secret North American Office P.O. Box 16589 Columbus, Ohio 43216-6589 U.S.A. To Whom It May Concern: We would like to submit a proposal to improve upon Victoria’s Secret’s already successful company. As a business project, our group chose a certain aspect about the company that could be improved and how to improve it. After detailed research we found information on the history of the company, competitor’s methods of advertisement, statistics on obesity in America, and advertising strategies that Victoria’s Secret has been using recently. As of now, the company targets a larger market than they actually provide for. The solution to this issue can be met by expanding Victoria Secret’s size selection. And by making advertisements with models that represent the products as well as the average women. This would appeal to a larger population of consumers, there by increasing the company’s revenue. We hope that you take into consideration the work we put into this proposal and think about using some of our ideas. We appreciate your time and thank you for reading our proposal. Sincerely,

Sophia Grimm , [email protected]

Dominique Sabedra, [email protected]

RosalynMayo, [email protected]

Jeremy Currie, [email protected]

Connie Chan, [email protected],

KirstiClapsadle, [email protected]

Enclosure: Final Proposal

2


Table of Contents Title
Page
(Sophia
Grimm)........................................................................................I
 Letter
of
Transmittal
(Kirsti
Clapsadle) ............................................................. II
 Table
of
Contents
(Sophia
Grimm) ......................................................................III
 List
of
Illustrations
(Rosalyn
Mayo)....................................................................VI
 Executive
Summary
(Jeremy
Currie)................................................................... V
 1. Introduction
(Kirsti
Clapsadle) ..........................................................................7­8
 2. Company
Background
(Sophia
Grimm)........................................................ 9­11

 2.1 The Origin of Victoria’s Secret’s Name.................................................... 10 2.2 The Beginning of Victoria’s Secret........................................................... 10 2.3 The Progression of the Company .........................................................10-11 2.4 The Company Challenges ......................................................................... 11 3. Overweight
&
Obesity
(Jeremy
Currie)...................................................... 12­17
 3.1 Target Population ...................................................................................... 13 3.2 Who Does Victoria’s Secret Target?......................................................... 13 3.3 Body Mass Index....................................................................................... 14 3.4 Healthy, Overweight, or Obese ................................................................. 14 3.5 Big Women and Victoria’s Secret............................................................. 15 4. Body
Image
(Sophia
Grimm) ......................................................................... 18­21

 4.1 The Affects Models Have on The Average Woman’s Body Image.......... 19 4.2 The Affects of Advertising...................................................................19-20 4.3 Repercussions of a Poor Body Image...................................................20-21 4.4 Victoria’s Secret’s Role............................................................................. 21 4.5 Size Does Matter ....................................................................................... 21 5. Victoria’s
Secret
in
2010
(Dominique
Sabedra) ..................................... 22­25
 5.1 Current Success ......................................................................................... 23 5.2 Products Offered........................................................................................ 23 5.3 Current Sizes, Styles and Prices ................................................................ 23 5.4 Victoria’s Secret Collections..................................................................... 24 5.5 Semi-Annual Sale...................................................................................... 24 5.6 Communication with Store...................................................................24-25 6. Today’s
Advertising
Strategies
(Rosalyn
Mayo) ..................................... 26­30
 6.1 How Victoria’s Secret Advertises ........................................................27-28 6.2 Angels and Advertising ............................................................................. 28 6.3 An Image and an Idea...........................................................................28-29 6.4 The Target ................................................................................................. 29 6.4 I Love My Body by Victoria ................................................................29-30 7. Competitors
of
Victoria’s
Secret
(Connie
Chan)...................................... 31­35
 7.1 What can Victoria’s Secret Learn From Competitors ............................... 32 7.2 Playtex
is
carrying
bigger
bra
sizes
than
Victoria
Secret ..................... 32
 3


7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7

Difference in Advertising Techniques .................................................32-33 Image Editing .......................................................................................33-34 Companies Featuring Plus Size Models .................................................... 34 Will Bigger Bras Cost More to Produce ..............................................34-35 Survey........................................................................................................ 35

8. Summary
(Kirsti
Clapsadle) .......................................................................... 36­39
 8.1 Expanding Sizes ...................................................................................37-38 8.2 Benefits from Expanding Sizes ................................................................. 38 8.3 Model Variation ........................................................................................ 38 8.4 Benefits from Varying Models.............................................................38-39 





Charts
&
Figures
(Connie
Chan) .......................................................................... 40­47
 Appendices................................................................................................................. 48­85
 i. Annotated Bibliography (Rosalyn Mayo) .......................................48-53 ii. Procedural Documentation .............................................................54-64 a. Original Proposal (Sophia Grimm) ......................................55-60 b. Agenda/Progress Reports (Dominique Sabedra)..................60-64 iii. Original Survey (Connie Chan)........................................................65-74 iv. Final Budget (Jeremy Currie)...........................................................75-76 v. Power Point Slides (Dominique Sabedra) ........................................77-85 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


4


List of Illustrations Chapter 3: Overweight and Obesity Figure 3.1 – Obesity/Overweight/Normal Figure 3.2 – 1985 Map Figure 3.3 - 1996 Map Figure 3.4 – 2008 Map Chapter 4: Body Image Figure 4.1 - How does Victoria’s Secret Make You Feel Chapter 6: Advertisement Strategies Figure 6.1 – “I Love My Body” Models Chapter 7: Competitors of Victoria’s Secret Figure 7.1 – Playtex Models Figure 7.2 – Victoria’s Secret models Figure 7.3- Victoria’s Secret Advertisement Figure 7.4 – Hips and Curves Figure 7.5 – Hanes Products Figure 7.6 – I’d shop at Victoria’s Secret if… All Charts and Figures Page 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5


Executive
Summery

 
 Limited
Brands,
Victoria’s
Secret
 Four
Limited
Parkway
East,
Reynoldsburg,
OH
42068
 Phone:
1‐614‐577‐7111
 
 
 
 
 
 Web
Address:
http://www.victoriassecret.com/
 ___________________________________________________
 Business
Description:
Victoria’s
Secret
is
an
apparel
store
 Management:
 owned
and
operated
by
the
parent
company
Limited
Brands
 CEO:
Lori
Greeley
 Inc.
and
specializes
in
lingerie
and
undergarments
but
also
 
 has
its
own
line
of
clothing.
 Industry:
 
 Apparel

 ___________________________________________________
 
 Business
Strategy:
As
a
means
to
get
the
product
off
the
 Bank:
 shelf
and
into
the
hands
of
the
consumer
Victoria’s
Secret
 World
Financial
 chooses
the
option
of
advertisement.

Victoria’s
Secret
hits
 Network
National
Bank
 all
aspects
of
the
media
filming
television
commercials,
 
 printing
adds
in
magazines,
and
even
the
less
heard
of
radio
 Auditor:
 add.
 Henri
Bendel
 
 
 
 
 ___________________________________________________
 
 Products:
Victoria’s
Secret
is
most
undoubtedly
known
for
 
 its
lingerie
so
it
is
no
surprise
they
have
an
endless
selection
 
 of
it.

Ranging
from
push‐ups
to
demis,
and
briefs
to
v‐ 
 strings,
Victoria’s
Secret
has
the
style
each
woman
is
looking
 
 for
to
make
comfort
and
sexiness
the
forefront
of
their
 
 campaign.

As
well
as
their
lingerie,
Victoria’s
Secret
also
 
 holds
its
own
clothing
line
with
countless
options
of
blouses,
 
 bikinis,
skirts,
sweaters,
pants,
and
dresses
to
choose
from.
 
 
 
 __________________________________________________
 
 Target
Market:
Victoria’s
Secret
was
originally
intended
to
 
 be
a
location
where
men
could
shop
for
their
woman
in
 
 comfort
and
ease.

It
since
then
has
become
a
hotspot
for
 
 women
of
all
shapes
and
sizes
as
a
location
to
gain
a
feeling
 
 of
sexiness.

Victoria’s
Secret’s
target
market
includes
men
 
 and
women
of
all
ages.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Competition:

Victoria’s
Secret
competes
with
such
companies
as
Playtex,
Hanes,

 
 Outlook:
From
the
past
year,
Victoria’s
Secret’s
sales
have
been
down
by
 approximately
3%.

If
their
target
market
does
not
change
to
incorporate
a
larger
 population
of
the
women,
Victoria’s
Secret
will
surely
see
the
revenue
decrease.
 6





Victoria’s Secret

Introduction

7


Introduction Victoria’s Secret is a very successful lingerie and clothing store. However, while they do have success with a portion of the market they are currently advertising to, they do not cater to the market as a whole. Even though Victoria’s Secret did not begin as a store for women, it has become one over the years. In fact, rarely do you ever see a man even step into the stores today. In the Company Background section you will read more about the history and how Victoria’s Secret has evolved to become what it is today. Obesity rates in America have increased rapidly over the years, and while it is frustrating that so few people are as healthy as they could be, it is necessary to cater to the entire population, something that Victoria’s Secret is not currently doing. In the Overweight and Obesity section, more details and specific numbers on obesity in America will be given. The models used to advertise Victoria’s Secret are no doubt beautiful—skinny, tan, have gorgeous hair, and large breasts with a tiny waist—but you rarely see women that look like this in public. In the Body Image section, details about how unrealistic ideals cause mental and physical illnesses are described. While we offer a great deal of detail on what Victoria’s Secret could improve upon, we would like to point out that they have obviously been doing something right, or they would not be where they are at now. In the section Victoria’s Secret in 2010, you will read about how they are doing today, including successes and failures of the company. Victoria’s Secret currently advertises to a specific audience by using beautiful, skinny models. In Advertising Strategies, details on how the company advertises and who they advertise to will be given. Victoria’s Secret is not the only lingerie store, but it is definitely one of the most wellknown. In the Competition section, you will read about how the other lingerie companies advertisement techniques and the population they are targeting. With all of this information, you can assume that there are specific things that Victoria’s Secret could be doing differently. In the Summary section, these specific will be laid out in detail.

8


Victoria’s Secret

Company Background

9


Company Background The Origin of Victoria’s Secret’s Name Victoria’s Secret was originally designed to resemble a Victoria’s Bedroom, it is only fitting that the stores name is derived from the 19th-century monarch, Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was a vibrant woman, who was often referred to as the ideal wife or “Angel of the House.” The Angel of the house is almost assuredly were the company derived the name Victoria’s Secret’s Angels. Angels were suppose to be passive, meek, charming, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and above all, pure. Victoria’s devote faithfulness to her husband and the domestic life on the outside made her look like the perfect angel (The Angel in the House). However, Queen Victoria was notoriously fond of sex. During her life the Queen and her husband Prince Albert produced nine children. Queen Victoria was the primary influenced on women’s clothing in this era. The introduction of the corset was originally advertised as a sign of female decency. However, it is easy to see how sexually charged the corset truly is. It accentuates a woman’s curves both above and below the waist (Bonander) drawing the eyes to key points of the body. The 19th-century’s fashion and the multitude of children produced by Queen Victoria, lead Roy Raymond (Victoria’s Secret’s founder) to ask, what was Victoria’s Secret to becoming a sex goddess, while still maintaining a wholesome image? The Beginning of Victoria’s Secret Founded 1977, Victoria's Secret was established in San Francisco by entrepreneur Roy Raymond, a determined Stanford Graduate. Raymond. While ambitious Raymond was also somewhat timid. He often found buying lingerie for his wife to be an embarrassing experience. This is why he decided to create Victoria’s Secret, to make it less uncomfortable for men to purchase lingerie for their wives. Victoria’s Secret’s lingerie assistants did not give lofty glances, but merely offered helpful advice. The original store was somewhat secluded and instead of walls lined with bras and panties of every size and shape, the stores resembled a Victorian bedroom. The store was furnished with vanities whose draws were filled with up scale bras and panties. The draws were organized to make it easy for the man to find exactly what they were looking for in a short amount of time. The Progression of the Company Although Raymond’s future stores were not quite as elaborate as the first, they all had a balance of seduction and elegant charm, which lead to the company’s great success (Frentner). After the first year Raymond had earned over half a million dollars and was able to established four more stores. Unfortunately, he was forced to sell Victoria’s Secret in 1982 to Columbus, Ohio-based The Limited. Since Victoria’s Secret was already known nationally, so “The Limited decided to keep the stores personalized image 10


intact, albeit in a mass-produced, cost-efficient manner (Frentner).” However, the stores moved from somewhat secluded areas to openly luxurious locations in malls throughout the United States. The Limited also changed its target audience from men who wanted to buy lingerie for their wives, to middle class women themselves. Despite all of the changes made by The Limited, the store was still able to avoid the stigma of lingerie and be perceived as a fun and intimate, rather than taboo. Throughout the 1980s Victoria’s Secret stores continued to increase at an exponential rate. Increasing from merely a few stores to over four hundred. The increased number of stores throughout the United States malls and the release of a mail-order catalog issued eight times a year allowed the company to add additional products to the stores inventory. These products included: shoes, eveningwear, and perfumes (Bonander). By the early 1990s Victoria’s Secret had become the leading specialty retailer of lingerie and women’s clothing. The Company Challenges Regardless of that fact that Victoria’s Secret reaching the one billion dollar mark, in 1993 the company began to show signs of decline. Around this time Grace Nichols became Chief Executive of the Victoria’s Secret. Many critics were questioning the quality of Victoria’s Secret’s products and the high price put on merchandise. Many individuals believe that Victoria’s Secret is limiting their current market by making older and more voluptuous women feel out of place in sexy underwear. “The company's advertising campaigns exclusively portray younger models with slender, busty figures (Frentner)”, neglecting the average woman to whom they are trying to supposedly cater to. Nevertheless, with aggressive promotions and the 1995 launched of the first annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show, Nichols was able to help the company over come its financial setbacks. Now there are currently over 1,000 operating stores in the United States alone.

11


Victoria’s Secret

Over Weight & Obesity


 
 
 
 12


The
Overweight
and
Obese
 
 Target
Population
 
 When
it
comes
to
the
world
of
business
it
is
ever
so
important
that
primary
targets
 are
established
in
the
company.

In
other
words,
who
is
the
consumer?

Many
 companies
answer
this
question
through
years
and
years
of
research
to
discover
 what
population
will
yield
the
greatest
percent
of
income.

Other
companies
don’t
 even
worry
about
the
question
at
hand
and
instead
take
the
entire
population
into
 consideration.

Take
the
corporation
Wal‐Mart
for
example.

Wal‐Mart
does
not
 choose
to
specialize
or
single
out
one
individual
race,
ethnicity,
or
gender
to
become
 their
consumer.

Wal‐Mart
attacks
the
entire
population,
not
discriminating,
and
 through
this,
they
have
become
a
multi
billion
dollar
corporation.
Looking
at
the
 effects
of
corporations
that
do
discriminate
or
put
restrictions
on
their
consumer’s
 choices,
it
is
evident
that
the
effects
are
a
lowered
level
of
revenue.

For
example,
 view
the
corporation
Costco
Wholesale.

As
it
is
well
known,
Costco
Wholesale
is
a
 giant
warehouse
specializing
in
“buying
in
bulk”.


And
as
it
is
also
well
know,
Costco
 Wholesale
requires
their
customers
to
purchase
a
yearlong
membership
card,
which
 is
a
hefty
sum
of
money.

By
requiring
consumers
to
have
to
purchase
a
membership
 card
and
pay
a
membership
fee
for
renewal,
Costco
Wholesale
has
diminished
the
 percent
of
the
population
it
is
targeting.

The
idea
coming
up
is
that,
when
a
smaller
 percentage
of
the
population
is
targeted,
the
company
does
not
benefit.

However,
 through
reducing
the
target
population
the
result
is
a
reduction
in
the
amount
of
 potential
income
or
revenue
for
this
company.

In
conclusion,
if
a
larger
percentage
 of
the
population
is
allocated,
the
more
consumers
there
are
being
attracted
and
 therefore
more
revenue
is
being
generated.

 
 Who
Does
VS
Target?
 
 So
where
does
the
Victoria’s
Secret
corporation
stand
on
this
question?

Do
they
 target
the
entire
population,
or
just
a
small
portion
of
it?

To
answer
this,
look
first
 at
what
this
company
is
selling.

And,
as
it
is
known,
this
is
lingerie.

By
examining
 further
into
the
product
they
are
selling,
it
can
be
realized
that
the
sizes
they
are
 selling
their
product
in,
are
for
smaller
woman,
not
the
woman
who
are
overweight
 or
obese.

So
what
does
this
mean?

Well,
it
can
be
implied
from
the
products
that
 Victoria’s
Secret
is
selling
that
they
are
only
targeting
a
certain
type
of
person,
and
 by
doing
this,
as
has
been
demonstrated
through
the
Costco
example,
they
are
 minimizing
the
potential
revenue.

Victoria’s
Secret
only
focuses
on
the
“skinny
 girls”,
but
what
about
the
bigger
girls,
the
obese
girls
and
the
overweight
girls?

To
 first
discover
what
obesity
and
overweight
means
for
Victoria’s
Secret,
what
 determines
obesity
and
overweight
must
first
be
examined.

 
 

 
 
 
 13


Body
Mass
Index
 
 To
discover
what
is
considered
obese
or
overweight,
our
BMI
rating
or
our
Body
 Mass
Index
rating
needs
to
be
examined.

Body
Mass
Index
is
simply
a
general
rating
 that
describes
a
ratio
between
height
and
weight.

Body
Mass
Index
rating
is
not
 always
accurate
and
cannot
always
indicate
the
overall
level
of
health.

For
example,
 an
individual
who
goes
to
the
gym
everyday
and
lifts
weights
is
going
to
be
very
 strong
and
have
a
large
muscle
mass.

This
person,
in
ones
own
eyes
is
very
healthy
 and
strong.

In
the
eyes
of
the
BMI
scale
however,
this
individual
may
appear
to
be
 overweight.

This
is
so
because
as
it
is
known
muscle
weights
more
than
fat
so
they
 will
have
a
bigger
BMI
rating.

Although
the
BMI
rating
is
not
necessarily
the
most
 accurate
way
to
determine
whether
or
not
an
individual
is
healthy
or
not,
it
is
still
 the
number
one
way
used
throughout
the
country
to
collect
information
in
regards
 to
obesity
and
is
the
means
the
American
Obesity
Society
uses
to
collect
data.

Once
 the
BMI
has
been
calculated
using
a
particular
formula
(plugging
in
our
height
in
 inches
and
our
weight
in
pounds)
a
number
is
generated.

But
what
does
this
 number
mean?
Am
I
healthy?
Am
I
overweight?

Or
am
I…obese?



 
 
 Healthy,
Overweight,
or
Obese
 
 When
it
comes
to
being
of
a
healthy
weight
and
body
fat
rating,
having
a
BMI
rating
 between
21
and
25
is
excellent.

Now,
it
is
very
good
if
a
calculated
BMI
is
 somewhere
in
the
middle
of
those
numbers,
but,
unfortunately
for
some,
a
 calculated
BMI
will
above
the
25
mark.

If
this
is
experienced,
the
result
is
being
 overweight.


 
 When
it
comes
to
being
overweight,
a
BMI
between
25‐30
must
be
calculated.

When
 discussing
the
number
of
female
adults,
those
18
and
older,
in
America
that
are
 overweight,
over
half
of
the
population
is
found
to
be
overweight.

To
be
more
 precise,
62%
of
the
population
of
adult
females
is
overweight.

This
in
number
form
 is
roughly
68,100,000
(Physical
Inactivity).


 
 Now,
back
to
the
BMI
value.

If
a
BMI
is
calculated
that
exceeds
30,
obesity
is
the
 result.

In
America,
34%
of
the
adult
female
population
is
obese,
having
a
BMI
 greater
than
30
(Physical
Inactivity).
 
 (See
Figure
3.1
for
graphical
representation)

 
 Despite
America’s
efforts
to
stop
obesity
and
bring
our
nation
back
to
health,
the
 trend
of
America
is
getting
larger
and
larger
as
the
years
progress.

This
can
be
 demonstrated
through
Figures
2.2,
2.3,
&
2.4
as
well
as
the
fact
that
the
average
 woman’s
dress
size
has
increased
from
a
11
to
a
14
(What
Size).
As
America
gets
 bigger,
companies
all
throughout
the
nation
must
make
changes
to
incorporate
 those
larger
bodied
populations.
 
 14


Big
Woman
and
Victoria’s
Secret
 
 What
does
all
this
data
of
obese
and
overweight
woman
mean
to
Victoria’s
Secret?


 Currently
as
shown
through
the
various
advertisements,
as
well
as
the
sizes
and
 styles
of
merchandise
available
at
Victoria’s
Secret,
it
can
be
noticed
that
they
are
 focusing
their
sales
on
a
select
group
of
women:
the
young,
skinny,
and
“of
normal
 weight”
women.
This
group
only
makes
up
17%
of
the
adult
female
population.

 Granted
some
of
the
male
population
is
also
targeted
in
their
campaign
as
well
but
 even
with
the
small
percentage
of
men
combined
with
the
17%
of
woman,
you
are
 still
only
targeting
a
minority
population.


 
 If
it
is
Victoria’s
Secret’s
interest
to
expand
their
franchise
and
generate
a
larger
 revenue,
changes
will
have
to
be
made
to
incorporate
a
larger
percentage
of
the
 female
population
as
consumers.

If
Victoria’s
Secret
can
incorporate
the
overweight
 woman
and
even
a
small
portion
of
the
obese
woman
they
will
be
targeting
roughly
 80%
of
the
female
population,
not
only
17%.

By
simply
increasing
sizes
and
 availability
of
certain
styles
in
larger
sizes,
Victoria’s
Secret
will
easily
be
able
to
 accomplish
the
task
of
incorporating
more
of
the
population.

Through
this
increase
 in
targeted
population,
Victoria’s
Secret
will
generate
more
costumers,
which
will
 result
in
more
sales,
which
in
turn
yields
more
revenue,
the
whole
objective
of
a
 business.



 
 Figures
3.1


17%
 21%


Overweight


62%


Obese
 Of
Normal
Weight



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






15



 Figure
3.2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Figure
3.3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Provided
by
Centers
for
 Disease
Control
&
 Prevention


Provided
by
Centers
for
 Disease
Control
&
 Prevention


16


Figure
3.4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Provided
by
Centers
for
 Disease
Control
&
 Prevention


17


Victoria’s Secret

Body Image

18


Body Image The Affects Models Have on The Average Woman’s Body Image Why are some people so immensely discontent with their body? There is no doubt that the current social standards for beauty has put emphasis on the desirability of thinness at a level that cannot be attained in a healthy manner (Cash & Pruzinsky 91). Contemporary society has increasingly put more emphasis on beauty and creating the ideal body. And now it is almost impossible to go anywhere these days without seeing an advertisement for the latest fashion statement or beauty product. These advertisements create ideals that people internalize both consciously and subconsciously. When internalization occurs so does automatic comparison. According to Dr. Rita Freedman, a psychologist in Scarsdale, New York, “Distorted views of the body are due in part to an insidious contrast effect, in which people compare themselves with the models in advertisements." (Goleman C13). Social comparison is when someone evaluates them self against another person. This can become problematic if the individual that they are associating with is an unrealistic comparison. And possibly becoming can be detrimental to one’s personal growth and happiness. The average company model in Victoria’s Secret advertisements is a size 2, often around 5’11’’ and 117 pounds, unlike the average American women who is a size 14, about 5’4” and 140 pounds (The Average American Woman). These models are not a realistic comparison for many women in today’s society. The Affects of Advertising Society paints a fairly narrow picture of what beauty is and as long as someone meets the set criteria they are considered ideal. In the United States a beautiful woman is thin, with large breasts, long hair, and a firm butt. And today Victoria’s Secret’s advertisement campaigns continued to exclusively portray younger models with svelte, busty figures. And as you can see in Figure 3.1 the survey we conducted of 100 women polled, 42 of women reported feeling negative about their bodies after seeing Victoria’s Secret Models. One of the woman polled responded, “They remind me what I "should" look like and it is depressing.” This woman feels an obligation to fit society’s view of perfection, but realizes that she is not nor will she ever look like the models on the television or in the magazines. And another woman in the survey reported, “Only 5% of women look like those models, yet they are the only ones that advertisers feed us. This makes us feel inadequate.” Victoria’s Secret’s advertisements were never meant to make women feel inadequate, but it is inadvertently doing so. Empower the women, inform them that they can be sexy and strong women no mater what size they are. This starts by finding new ways to advertise the merchandise, perhaps by including every day women in commercials, similar to Doves’ marketing strategy.

19


Another survey participant said, “I'd like to know what makes [Victoria’s Secret model’s] bodies so much better than anyone else's? Where are the real women? They should be the models. Maybe then, you wouldn't get girls starving themselves and ending up in rehab clinics because of their distorted self-image partly due to the expectations that are set forth everyday about what an "ideal" body is. Ideal is not normal, nor, often times, healthy in terms of what the media deems as ideal” There is no reason for women to feel like they have to meet a standard of beauty laid down by an androcentric (male centered) society. In contrast, 19 women in Figure 4.1 reported that the models gave them something to strive for. However, for many women striving to be as skinny as a Victoria’s Secret Model is not only unrealistic, but also potentially incredibly dangerous to = health. Many models suffer from eating disorders and exercise addiction. There are very few individuals that are naturally 5’11’ and 117 pounds. Often when models strive to be that skinny it is do to pressure from the industry and peers, in reality these models are just as dissatisfied with their body’s as the average women is. Figure 4.1

How
Does
Victoria's
Secret
Models
Make
 You
Feel
 42


21


19


5


7
 2


Positive,
I
love
 Positive,
they
 Positive,
some
 Negative,
I
can't
 Negative,
some
 Neither
positive
 my
Body
 give
me
 other
reason
 ever
look
like
 other
reason
 or
negative
 something
to
 that
 work
toward


Source: Group Survey, May 11, 2010 Repercussions of a Poor Body Image Negative body image doesn’t always result in an eating disorder or body dysmorphia. It does however at the very least have a devastating effect on an individual’s view of self worth. A low self worth often caused individuals to become depressed or suffer from lack 20


of confidence. If advertisers promote natural women as models and provide affirmation, it will limit the negative effects of media on women’s self esteem and will improve their sense of self-worth. Some would primarily attribute the need to fit the social norm of beauty and idealism to peer pressure. This is true: a persons’ social circle have a tremendous effect on the way individuals perceive themselves. However, their peers’ perception of beauty and selfworth develops from messages presented by the media. It is unlikely women will find positive validation media. Media and advertisements are the catalysts. They feed unrealistic expectations of beauty and body ideals to individuals, which is then reinforced by peers. Victoria’s Secret’s Role Critics believe that the Victoria's Secret formula of femininity eliminates a majority of women. By advertising models that do not represent that average women, it often discourages older and more voluptuous women from going into stores to try on sexy lingerie and underwear. If women are not comfortable with their body they won’t want to go into a store that has size zero models everywhere. Because they know that once they are in the dressing room looking at them-selves in the mirror, the only thing they will see is imperfection. Victoria’s Secret reinforces the fact that average women do not look like the models in advertisements and can discourage them from purchasing the company’s products. This is why we are proposing that the company should create campaigns that are diverse and representative of women. Teach consumers to recognize and value their body as their own, no matter what shape, size, or color it comes in. By diversifying the advertisements it will show women that they came be gorgeous no mater what size or ethnicity they are. And encourage women to purchase the company’s products. Size Does Matter The Victoria’s Secret must all keep in mind that for larger women to buy lingerie and other apparel, larger sizes must be carried in stock. For may women not only are they bombarded buy the media telling them they do not have the idea body, they have it reinforce in the stores when they are force to look else where for cloths that will fit them. A devastating blow to ones self-esteem, no doubt. Today’s fashion industry is still catering to a smaller generation, a generation that has long past. Today the obesity rate is higher than ever and it is about time that the clothing and advertising reflected that. When the sizes are increased it will allow a larger demographic of consumers who are able to purchase the products. However, it is unlikely women will notice the change in size selection unless the marketing is changed to also reflect the increase in sizes. By doing these two things, it is expected that the store’s revenue will increase significantly. As well as, give women a more realistic view of that is beautiful. 21


Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret in 2010

22


Victoria’s Secret in 2010 Current Success Victoria’s Secret currently operates over one thousand stores that span across America today. The store alone brings in a net sale of 5,307 million dollars per year. This net sale does not include the profit that is contributed from Victoria’s Secret catalogue and website. Due to the increase of technology over the years consumers are able to buy lingerie without ever leaving the comfort of their own home. Women are able to order products that are delivered to their front doorstep from the monthly catalogue via phone or internet. Because of this easy accessibility of products, the company’s sales rose nine percent taking the business to a monumental net sale of 6,695 million dollars a year. Products Offered Victoria’s Secret has come a very long way from being a small, secretive store for lingerie. Today the store goes above and beyond simply selling undergarments. Walking into any of the stores in America, one can see the line of fragrances, body care and cosmetics sold. Along with the beauty line there is also a large demand for swim wear, shoes, sleep/lounge wear and regular, everyday clothing. All of these recently added lines have added to the success of Victoria’s Secret, making it one of the leading women’s shopping centers in the United States today. Considering the increase in sales, Victoria’s Secret did what every other clothing store has done in the past decade, offered a store credit card. The store’s credit card is known as, “The Angel Card” and comes complete with many benefits. Some of these benefits include; six months of irresistible offers, worth up to $100, surprise birthday gifts every year, access to a personal customer service number and much, much more! Annual percentage rates for purchases are 24.99% and there are no annual or processing fees. If a payment is late there can be a penalty of up to twenty-five dollars depending on the current balance of the account. Current Sizes, Styles and Prices Current bras that are offered online and in-stores vary in size. The waistline size spans from a 30 to a 40 and cup sizes include; A, AA, B, C, D, DD and DDD. There are many different styles of bras to choose from, each made to cater different needs and offered in a variety of colors and patterns. According to Victoria’s Secret website, there are three secrets to know when buying a good bra; style, swell and size. They recommend shopping for undergarments by first choosing the style you are looking for, then deciding how much “lift” you want, and finally knowing your “true” measurements. As far as prices are concerned, bras that are of the same style are sold at the same price unless offered in print. If a bra is offered in something besides a solid color the price will rise about two dollars for the consumer. In other words, Victoria’s Secret bra prices are not determined by size but rather by quality of fabric used. Cost can range anywhere from a nineteen dollar clearance sale to fifty-some dollar high quality bra that is not only guaranteed to last and support but to also be sexy. 23


Victoria’s Secret Collections Victoria’s Secret offers hundreds of products separated by lines or collections. Many of these collections have been patented due to the quality and innovation of their products. The most popular collections are Body by Victoria, Angels by Victoria and Victoria’s Secret Pink. These three collections have driven Victoria’s Secret to tremendous success. Each collection provides bras, panties, lingerie and other products that differ from other lines and are known for certain styles, fabrics, color palettes etc. Victoria’s Secret Pink collection is currently the number one lounge wear in the world and Body by Victoria has recently come out with a new campaign that claims to cater to all body type. These collections have become so popular that they have created their own website completely separate from the Victoria’s Secret home page. Semi-Annual Sale Twice a year, Victoria’s Secret offers incredible discounts on many products throughout the store including clothing, lingerie, cosmetics, sleepwear and swimsuits. For consumers, the semi-annual sale has been a great way to stock up on merchandise that is normally so costly. Benefits of the sales for the stores are well worth it. Because these discounts are only offered twice a year the sales within that short amount of time soar skyward. Communication with Store Victoria’s Secret has several pages on their website dedicated to the customer service. They encourage asking question as well as consulting their frequently asked questions page. The following is a brief list of FAQ that I found useful as a consumer: • My order has shipped but I still can’t track it. How can I find out where it is? • What is your Returns Policy? • When checking on the status of my order I received an “In Process” message. What does this mean? • How can I use an Offer Code online? Although these are basic questions that, for the most part, seem self-explanatory they are helpful not only to the consumers but also for the individuals working for the company that have to answer the same questions over and over again. If a consumer has a question or comment that is not answered in the list of FAQ they are invited to contact the store in a number of ways. Customer service is available via email, phone and mail. The address to send a letter in is: Victoria’s Secret North American Office P.O. Box 16589 Columbus, Ohio 43216-6589 U.S.A. 24


There are many customer service numbers including the U.S. & Canada Customer Care, Victoria’s Secret Angel Credit Card Service and other international lines. Most of these lines are automated but have the option of talking to a representative. The U.S. customer care line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can be contacted by calling: 1.800.888.8200. To gain information for this proposal our team wrote an email to human resources claiming to be a woman who was a size 40DDD and had several questions for the company. The following is a copy of the letter sent: Hi, I was wondering if your store is able to custom order bras. I am a 40DDD and love your bras. They always have the cutest patterns and designs, but none of the cute ones come in my size. If you are not able to custom order is there another place you recommend for bigger cute styles? Thanks so much, Dominique Sabedra We received two responses the same day. The first response was an automated email that simply recognized the fact that an email was sent and told us that we would be receiving a detailed response shortly. The second was sent shortly afterwards and contained the following: Dominique Sabedra, Thank you for your email regarding the size selections featured in our collections. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause. As you have recently noticed, we have expanded our sizes because of customer comments. Unfortunately, we are not currently featuring the size selection you desire. If you have any questions regarding sizing and styles feel free to call our consultants and they would love to be of assistance. Victoria’s Secret values each of our customers and we hope you will grant us the opportunity to serve you again in the future. Truly, Your Friends at Victoria’s Secret The email was satisfactory in that it was personable and speedy in timing but vague in its content. The biggest issue that our team had was that on Victoria’s Secret website, they advertise a 40DDD which contradicts the email we received. This looks bad for the company as it seems to be false advertisement. Other than this small miscommunication the customer service has phenomenal. All representatives on the phone are friendly and willing to help along with the sales men and women in stores. 25


Victoria’s Secret

Today’s Advertising Strategies

26


Today’s Advertisement Strategies How Victoria Secret Advertises Victoria’s Secret spends $66 million every year on advertising. One of the biggest contributors to their great success is the fact that they cover all the media bases. More specifically, they cover all the visual media bases. Victoria’s Secret thrives on the persona that they produce and sell. Victoria’s Secret runs advertisements in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. They have catalogs, television commercials, and even an annual televised fashion show. Radio is not used as often in the advertising of Victoria’s Secret. This is because radio is not visual in any way. It requires you to think and form mental pictures for yourself. Victoria’s Secret wants you to see the image that they created instead. They use an aggressive advertising style that causes word of mouth. Newspaper and Magazine Ads Newspaper and Magazine ads are last on Victoria’s Secret’s priority list. All of the big time and money go into the Fashion Show and Television commercials. Newspapers are a smart idea for advertising because they will reach a large audience with a wide variety of people. Although in today’s day and age, the newspaper is dying. Television and the Internet are taking its place. Victoria’s Secret does not put advertisements in just any old magazine. They target their audience by putting advertisements in the magazine that their consumers are buying, like Cosmopolitan, Allure, and Glamour. The Fashion Show The Victoria’s Secret Annual Fashion Show features the company’s top models. The first show happened in August of 1995 in New York City. It was not aired on television and neither were any of their other annual shows until 1999. Beginning in 1996, the fashion show ran right before Valentine’s Day, in order to promote their store and brand prior to the holiday. In 1999 and 2000, the fashion show became a webcast. The first webcast was promoted during Super Bowl XXXIII. The thirty second commercial cost $1.6 million, which resulted in over two million internet viewers. In 2001, the fashion show was moved to right before Christmas, instead of Valentine’s Day. Also in this year, the show made its network television debut on ABC. Every following year, the hour long show has been aired on CBS, with whom they have an exclusive contract with. In 2004, the show was cancelled due to the Super Bowl incident involving Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. The show hit its peak in the number of viewers in 2001 with over 12 million viewers. This number has never been this high since that time. With the help of special effects, music, and lighting, the fashion show is almost to the level and excitement of a Broadway play. Catalogs 27


The Victoria’s Secret catalog is an at home ordering tool. It is easy to obtain one of these catalogs. All one would need to do is go onto Victoria’s Secret’s website, enter in their address and a complimentary catalog will arrive on your doorstep in a couple weeks. Over 400 million copies have been printed in the United States. The Semi-Annual Sale Twice a year, Victoria’s Secret has a semi-annual sale. They advertise for it a great deal before it starts so that by the time the sale finally gets here, women cannot stay away. Prices dramatically drop down during this sale. Forty dollar bras are now suddenly twelve dollars, for example. Angels and Advertising If asked what a typical Victoria’s Secret model looks like, most people would come up with a similar answer. She is a tall, beautiful, young, tan, skinny, probably white female with a big chest, perfect hair, perfect skin…She, herself, is essentially, by America’s standards, a “perfect” woman. With all the money they spend on advertising, Victoria’s Secret not only has models, they have supermodels. These supermodels go by the name of Angels, and it is the most sought after gig for a model. Victoria’s Secret has a reputation for having the most beautiful supermodels in the clothing industry. You never hear any one rave about Old Navy models, but if Victoria’s Secret is brought up, the models beauty is most definitely mentioned as well. The company has signed and made many models famous, including Heidi Clum and Tyra Banks. There is no mistaking a Victoria’s Secret model in comparison to the rest of us normal, average looking women. In the same way, there is no mistaking a Victoria’s Secret advertisement. Victoria’s Secret advertisements can be anywhere from foggy, wild, and animalistic, to being soft, fluffy, and seductive. There are generally many colors and a lot of things going on in each shot. The models are generally in over-exaggerated, un-natural, and uncomfortable poses. There is nothing simple or real in any of these shots. They are not even real women, but this is what our culture believes that men want. An Image and an Idea Victoria’s Secret sells both an image and a specific idea of a certain lifestyle. The image that they represent is fun, romance, fantasy, desire, and love. The idea that they sell is that the women who wear Victoria’s Secret are confident, beautiful, spontaneous women. Their advertisements tell you that you are not investing in a bra; you are investing in beauty and confidence. You are told that just by putting on this bra, you will be everything you want to be. You will have fun and experience romance. You will live out your fantasy and become your partner’s fantasy. You will be desired and you will find 28


love. Isn’t that what every Victoria’s Secret commercial markets to us? We are led to believe that their bras can give us a Cinderella-like story, that we can be transformed, because we are not perfect already. Victoria’s Secret tells us what beauty is and makes it into a physical object that we can buy and take home. The Target With models and advertisements like this, who is targeted? Men. Although the company was founded by a man for men to shop for their wives, times have changed. Women can and usually prefer to shop and pick things out for themselves. Even though women are the ones spending the money, these commercials are still made with the men in mind. Women are also interested in the commercials. They can see the way that men are taking in these commercials and want with all they have to appeal to their man the same way these models do. Every woman wants to feel sexy and desired. Every woman wants to make their man go crazy and Victoria’s Secret claims to hold that key. Sex Sells…Kind of. Victoria’s Secret thrives on their sex appeal. They base all of their advertisements on the basis of “Sex Sells”. It is true, sex does sell. But does it sell to everybody? No, not exactly. In a study done at the University of Georgia, a professor researched the reactions of both men and women to sexually charged ads. He had these volunteers watch a series of sexy ads, including a Victoria’s Secret one, and then he asked them to rate how much they liked them. The men responded well to the ads, regardless of their attitudes towards sex. The women, on the other hand, were highly influenced by their views about sex. The women with open minds to sex rated the ads positively, while the ones with negative attitudes towards sex were repelled. I Love My Body by Victoria A big campaign going on for Victoria’s Secret right now goes by the name, “I Love My Body by Victoria”. The campaign says that “you will love the way your body looks” in a Victoria’s Secret bra. As the thirty second commercial progresses, different beautiful models wearing only bras and underwear tell us why and how much they love their bodies. Of course these women love their bodies! They are skinny, gorgeous, and perfect. Models make a living off of the way they look. But do they really love their natural bodies? They are constantly on a diet to restrain from putting any fat or carbohydrate into their body. They have personal trainers that work with them every day to keep their body thin and toned. They even get spray tanned before each photo or film shoot to make them look bronzed. The people running the campaign don’t even love their models natural bodies. If they did, they would not make them starve themselves. They would not edit the pictures to make these skinny women look even skinnier. And they would not spray on a quick tan before letting them step foot onto the set.

29


The last shot of the “I Love My Body by Victoria” commercial is a pan over all the models standing next to each other while a voice over recites the line, “There really is body of everybody”. What they just showed us is not everybody. What they just showed us is a group of very thin women and a very small percentage of the entire population. Figure 6.1

Voltaire, Robert. "Voltaire Photos". June 2, 2010 .


30


Victoria’s Secret

Competition of Victoria’s Secret 
 31


Competitors
of
Victoria’s
Secret
 
 What
can
Victoria
Secret
learn
from
competitors?
 
 In
the
world
of
lingerie
business,
it
is
important
to
always
examine
how
other
 competitors
change
their
technique
of
marketing
such
as
methods
of
advertising
 and
choices
of
supermodels,
as
the
population
of
consumers
also
change.
For
 example,
currently
the
obesity
epidemic
is
creating
a
consumer
population
that
is
 bigger
in
size
and
other
competitors
are
beginning
to
change
their
marketing
 techniques
to
cater
the
sizes
of
bigger
women.
It’s
also
important
to
examine
how
 much
of
the
consumer
population
other
competitors
are
catering
by
looking
at
the
 sizes
of
products
they
offer
and
the
achievability
of
producing
these
products
at
a
 cost
that
is
reasonable.

 
 Playtex
is
carrying
bigger
bra
sizes
than
Victoria
Secret
 
 The
primary
competitor
of
Victoria
Secret
is
Playtex
Inc.
which
is
a
sub‐company
 owned
by
Hanes
Inc.
Playtex:
My
Fit
specifically
produces
bras
for
women
of
all
 shapes
and
sizes.
Playtex
relies
on
many
re‐tail
stores
such
as
Target,
Macy
and
Wal‐ Mart
to
distribute
their
products
where‐as
Victoria
Secret
only
sells
their
 merchandise
in
their
Victoria
Secret
Stores.
Both
companies
offer
online
shopping.
 However,
Playtex
offers
bras
in
bigger
sizes
compared
to
Victoria
Secret.
Playtex’s
 distributors
only
carry
limited
sizes
in
stores
but
bras
up
a
46G
can
be
found
on
 their
online
website
compared
to
Victoria
Secret
where
only
a
size
up
to
40DD
can
 be
found
(Playtexbras,VictoriaSecret).
Obviously,
Playtex
is
offering
products
to
a
 broader
range
of
consumers
and
their
advertising
reflects
these
consumers.
 
 Difference
in
advertising
techniques
 
 The
biggest
difference
between
Playtex
and
Victoria
Secret
is
their
method
of
 advertising.
Playtex
chooses
a
very
personal,
direct
approach
towards
advertising
 while
Victoria
Secret
relies
heavily
on
a
“sex
sells”
type
of
method.
For
example,
 Playtex’s
online
website
is
full
of
consumer
testimonials
on
the
quality
and
comfort
 of
their
bras.
This
method
reassures
women
out
there
of
all
shapes
and
sizes
to
buy
 their
products.
Victoria
Secret
offers
no
personal
message
or
consumer
testimonials
 on
their
website
and
don’t
rely
on
quality
and
comfort
to
sell
their
bras.
Instead,
 they
rely
heavily
on
the
sexual
images
of
their
models
to
sell
their
products.
 Playtex’s
Ads
consists
of
a
variety
of
women
in
all
shapes
and
sizes
sharing
their
 experience
with
Playtex
bras,
which
shows
strong
verbal
messages,
to
lure
in
 consumers.
Victoria
Secret
Ads
have
few
words
but
many
sexually
explicit
images
 and
poses
to
lure
in
men
more
than
women.



32




Figure
7.1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 

Figure
7.2


Choice
of
Models



 Another
major
component
of
advertising
is
the
type
of
models
a
company
chooses
to
 hire
to
represent
their
products,
which
in
turn
represents
the
company.
Playtex
 hires
models
that
are
of
average
size
and
shape.
They
look
like
women
who
could
be
 seen
in
a
grocery
store.
This
method
tells
consumers
that
the
company
is
using
the
 consumers
or
the
majority
of
the
image
of
their
consumers
to
represent
their
 products.
Victoria
Secret
hires
models
that
are
tall,
extremely
skinny
and
tan.
These
 models
only
represent
a
sliver
of
the
population
of
women
out
there.
They’re
giving
 the
message
that
in
order
to
be
sexy
and
to
wear
sexy
lingerie,
one
has
to
be
this
 skinny,
tall
and
tan.
This
approach
of
advertising
is
more
directed
at
men.

 
 Image
Editing

 
 One
of
the
biggest
differences
in
their
advertising
technique
is
the
 



Figure
7.3
 way
they
shoot
their
pictures.
It
is
very
subtle
but
the
changes
cause
 a
tremendous
affect
in
their
advertising.
Playtex
always
uses
a
white
 background
and
the
models
do
the
same
general
pose.
The
pictures
 are
shots
of
their
upper
bodies
which
puts
a
focus
on
the
products
 they’re
trying
to
sell,
bras.
Victoria
Secret
uses
a
variety
of
 backgrounds
and
many
different
sexual
explicit
poses,
along
with
 working
the
faces
of
the
models,
to
create
an
over‐all
distracting
 image
of
what
they’re
trying
to
sell.
Their
pictures
can
be
posters
of
 models
instead
of
an
advertising
piece.
Also,
Playtex
uses
computer
 editing
to
rid
their
models
of
imperfect
skin
while
Victoria
Secret
 uses
computer
editing
to
correct
the
overall
body
of
their
models.
In
 some
of
their
advertising,
the
whole
body
of
the
model
is
so
very
 blatantly
edited,
that
she
looks
plastic.

This
sends
a
message
to
the
 consumers
that
even
the
super
models
don’t
have
the
perfect
body
 33


that
the
company
is
trying
to
show.
Indeed,
Victoria
Secret
is
the
sex
icon
of
the
 fashion
industry,
but
the
times
have
changes
and
there
has
been
a
big
increase
in
 plus
size
super
models
showing
that
bigger
women
can
be
part
of
a
“sex
sells”
 company.
 
 Companies
Featuring
Plus
Size
Models
 
 There
are
many
personally
owned
companies
out
there
that
are
producing
sexually
 appealing
bras
to
bigger
women.
Such
a
company
is
Hips
and
curves.
This
company
 only
hires
models
that
are
a
size
12
and
above
which
shows
that
bigger
women
can
 be
sexy
(hipsandcurves).
The
problem
with
these
smaller
companies,
however,
is
 that
consumers
can’t
try
on
their
products
in
stores
before
purchasing
and
aren’t
 guaranteed
quality
and
comfort.
Victoria
Secret
is
a
big
enough
brand
that
if
they
 decided
to
carry
bigger
bra
sizes,
consumers
would
be
lured
into
their
stores
to
try
 it
on
before
purchasing
and
buying.

 
 Figure
7.5
 
 Figure
7.4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Will
bigger
bras
 cost
more
to
 produce?
 
 A
big
problem
with
producing
bigger
bras
is
 the
cost
of
production.
Obviously,
bigger
 bras
require
more
fabric
which
will
cost
 more
money.
However,
after
researching
on
 other
competitors,
it’s
apparent
that
bigger
 bras
don’t
need
to
cost
more
to
produce.
For
example,
at
Hanes
Inc.
they
offer
a
bra
 that
is
a
58J
for
the
same
price
of
a
bra
that
is
38B(Hanes).
If
other
competitors
are
 34


willing
to
produce
bigger
bras
for
the
same
price
then
Victoria
Secret
should
be
able
 to
as
well.


 
 Survey

 
 Lastly,
to
prove
that
this
change
is
beneficial
to
the
company,
a
survey
of
100
 women
was
done.
Out
of
the
100
women,
almost
half
agreed
that
if
Victoria
Secret
 hired
plus
size
models,
they
would
be
more
willing
to
shop
there(survey).
Plus
size
 models
are
emerging
in
many
industries
to
reflect
the
majority
of
the
consumers.
 They
encourage
consumers
to
buy
their
products
because
the
company
has
 marketed
the
products
in
such
a
way
that
shows
bigger
women
can
look
good
with
 their
products.
It
also
shows
that
the
company
is
aware
of
exactly
who
the
majority
 of
the
consumers
are
and
are
representing
this
portion
of
their
consumers.

 
 Figure
7.6
 


I
would
be
more
or
less
likely
to
shop
at
Victoria's
 Secret
if:
 70
 60
 50


I
would
be
more
likely


40
 30


I
would
be
less
likely


20
 10
 0
 There
were
 There
were
 They
used
plus
 They
had
more
 larger
bra
sizes
 more
styles
in
 size
models
also
 plus
size
 offered
 larger
bra
sizes
 workers


Source: Group Survey, May 11, 2010

35


This
would
not
change
how
oBen
I
 shopped
there





Victoria’s Secret

Summary

36


Summary Expanding Sizes As of now, the largest bra size Victoria’s Secret offers is a 40DD, even though sixty-two percent of American women are overweight and cannot fit into this size. If Victoria’s Secret wishes to continue to increase profit, the company will have to start accommodating to more of the population. This means selling larger sizes in different styles. While there are a few larger bra sizes right now, there are not large enough bras for the majority of the population. We are proposing that Victoria’s Secret sells bras up to a 44DDD in all styles. This would include all collections including Victoria’s Secret Pink, Body by Victoria, VS Cotton, BioFit, Angels by Victoria’s Secret, Emma Collection, Second Skin Satin, and Glamour by Victoria’s Secret. After surveying one-hundred women, we found that the best option would be to sell bra sizes up to 44DDD (in all styles) in eight different stores around the United States. Six of the stores would be in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia, where obesity is most prevalent. The other two stores would be located in states that gross the most revenue among all of the United State’s Victoria’s Secret stores. In the all other Victoria’s Secret stores one 44DDD would be available for sizing. Another addition to the website would be to include a section for custom orders. There would be an area where one could choose a size and style, and then a fabric or color. It would be similar to the current order form for normal bras, except that you would have two separate selectors for your bra size, one for band size and one for cup size. Custom orders would range from a 46DDD to a 54G. If the company deemed it necessary, an extra fee would be an option for these custom orders. Women of all sizes have difficulty finding bras that fit them comfortably. For example, one woman who took part in our survey wrote “usually bras that fit me around have a cup size that is way too big.” She has smaller breasts, but a large band size and cannot find bras from Victoria’s Secret that fit her properly. If larger sizes were offered, this would no longer be an issue. Lane Bryant, another company under the parent company Limited, sells bras for larger women, but they do not have the same “sexy” look to them. From the survey, one woman wrote “I cannot buy bras at Victoria’s Secret. They do not have my size. But I have no trouble finding them at Avenue or Lane Bryant.” Right now these competitors of Victoria Secret are catering to a larger population of consumers. Another woman wrote “Who wears a 32D?! Apparently just me! Even finding a 34D bra is hard!” This woman has a small band size, but larger breasts, and she can’t find a bra there—which is ironic because the models are small around and they have larger breasts. This makes consumers wonder: do they have to custom make the models bras? And if so, why isn’t that an option to the public? 37


Victoria’s Secret advertises to all women, yet the company fails to provide for all women. If they sell larger bra sizes, this will no longer be an issue. Benefits from Expanding Sizes From our survey, we gathered that over thirty percent of women would shop at Victoria’s Secret more often if they offered larger sizes, and over forty percent would shop there more often if they offered larger sizes in a larger variety of styles. The most obvious benefit from selling larger bra sizes is that it would accommodate to more of the population, thus creating more sales, and more sales equals more money. It is important to cater to the majority of the population, and right now, Victoria’s Secret is not doing that as well as they could. Model Variation Another issue with Victoria’s Secret is their lack of variation in models—not only in size and shape, but in color also. For example, the slogan for one particular line of bras, Body by Victoria, is “a body for everybody,” yet all of the models have the same shape, some varying slightly in height or breast size. Within the seven main models, there are only two models of color. The plan would be to apply these plus size models in a way so that they seem no different from the regular Victoria’s Secret models. They would be mixed in with the other models among all of the styles of bras. That is, there would be no separate section for plus-size bras, because all of the bras would be offered in all sizes and styles. In Body by Victoria, only three of the 25 bras that are modeled are worn by the two women of color. As the percentage of minorities continues to increase, we should continue to advertise more to minorities also. Right now Victoria’s Secret puts off the vibe that only thin white women can shop at their store. They could be doing much better if they included everyone. Benefits from Varying Models From the survey, it became clear that if plus size models were put to use, Victoria’s Secret would be likely to recruit more customers. First off, forty-two percent of the survey-takers felt negatively about themselves when looking at Victoria’s Secret models. In addition to the negative feelings regarding the current models, forty-nine percent of the women surveyed said that they would shop at Victoria’s Secret more often if plus-size models were used. 38


There would be a positive result on sales due to the positive feelings that would come out from seeing that average women can be sexy too. There would be no more feeling of “I will never look like that. I can’t shop there.” When women have more pride in themselves, they have more pride in what they will wear as well. Women need to feel sexy no matter what their bodies look like. If Victoria’s Secret made this obvious, they could really improve their sales.

39


Victoria’s Secret

Charts & Figures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 40


Charts/Graphs/Images
 Chapter
3:
Overweight
&
Obesity
 Fig
3.1

 


Overweight
 Obese
 Of
Normal
Weight



 This
graph
represents
the
body
sizes
of
adult
American
women.
The
information
 was
gathered
from
American
Heart
Association
and
shows
that
the
majority
of
the
 American
women
are
either
obese
or
overweight.
It’s
important
that
a
company
 sells
its
products
with
the
intention
of
reflecting
the
majority
of
their
consumers
 which
Victoria
Secret
is
currently
not
doing.
Victoria
Secret
is
advertising
 specifically
to
the
sliver
of
women
who
are
of
normal
weight
and
neglecting
the
 needs
of
the
other
major
sizes
of
American
women.
 
 Fig
3.2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


41


This
map
shows
the
distribution
of
the
percent
of
adults
that
are
overweight
in
 America.
It
was
collected
from
the
Centers
of
Disease
Control
and
Prevention
 website.
The
colors
on
the
map
represents
the
percentages
of
adults
living
in
those
 states
that
are
obese.

 
 Fig
3.3
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This
map
represents
America
at
a
later
time,
year
1996,
and
shows
the
trend
of
 obesity
as
it
becomes
more
and
more
predominant.
As
the
population
of
consumers
 change,
companies
also
need
to
adapt
to
these
changes.
For
example,
the
population
 of
women
is
increasing
in
size
and
need
bigger
bras.
Victoria
Secret
needs
to
 manufacture
bigger
bras
to
continue
to
upkeep
the
revenue
from
the
women.
 
 Fig
3.4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 42






 
 
 
 This
map
shows
the
most
recent
and
updated
distribution
of
obesity
in
America.
 Notice,
that
the
previous
maps
were
predominantly
blue
and
now
the
majority
of
 the
map
is
colored
in
orange
and
even
deep
red.
The
obesity
epidemic
is
not
lighting
 up.
Victoria
Secret
needs
to
change
it’s
company
to
reflect
their
consumers.
 
 Chapter
4:
Body
Image
 
 Fig
4.1



How
Does
Victoria's
Secret
Models
Make
 You
Feel
 42


21


19


5


Positive,
I
love
 my
Body


7
 2
 Positive,
they
 Positive,
some
 Negative,
I
can't
 Negative,
some
 Neither
positive
 give
me
 other
reason
 ever
look
like
 other
reason
 or
negative
 something
to
 that
 work
toward



 
 
 The
information
in
this
chart
was
gathered
by
a
survey
done
on
100
women.
The
 question
asked,
“how
do
Victoria
Secret
models
make
you
fell?”
Out
of
the
100
 women,
almost
half
said
the
models
made
them
feel
negative
about
their
own
 images
because
they
felt
they
could
never
achieve
the
sexy
look.
21
women
felt
 neither
positive
nor
negative
about
the
supermodels
and
19
women
felt
positive
 because
the
models
gave
them
an
image
they
felt
they
could
strive
for.
This
question
 was
important
in
the
proposal
in
gathering
feedback
from
the
consumers
of
Victoria
 Secret
in
answering
how
Victoria
Secret’s
current
marketing
is
affecting
them.
 
 
 
 
 
 43



 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter
6:
Advertisement
Strategies
 Fig
6.1



 This
image,
taken
by
Robert
Voltaire,
is
the
newest
advertising
campaign
from
 Victoria
Secret.
It’s
slogan
is
“Body
for
Everyone.”
The
problem
with
this
image
is
 that
the
models
do
not
represent
the
typical
body
of
any
women.
The
models
are

 clones
of
each
other,
tall,
skinny,
tan,
and
having
the
perfect
body.
This
advertising
 campaign
is
causing
some
women’s
self‐esteem
to
be
hurt
is
completely
unreflective
 of
the
major
consumers
out
there.

 
 
 Chapter
7:
Competitors
of
Victoria
Secret
 Fig
7.1


44



 This
image
is
taken
off
of
Playtex’s
online
store
and
is
of
the
models
that
they
chose
 to
hire
to
represent
their
products.
Notice
how
the
models
are
of
average
size,
shape
 and
show
a
variety
of
ethnicities.
They
resemble
women
who
can
be
seen
in
a
 grocery
store.
This
decision
in
model
choosing
is
a
major
difference
between
Playtex
 and
Victoria
Secret.
Playtex
is
trying
to
hire
models
that
represent
the
majority
of
 their
consumers.
 
 Fig
7.2



 These
images
were
taken
off
of
Victoria
Secret’s
online
store
and
are
used
to
 contrast
the
differences
between
Playtex
and
Victoria
Secret.
The
models
are
all
tall,
 skinny,
tan
and
have
unrealistic
bodies.
They
are
not
representing
the
majority
of
 the
corporation.
While
they
make
the
products
they
wear
look
good,
they
are
also
 making
other
women
self‐conscious.

 
 Fig
7.3


45



 This
ad
is
from
Victoria
Secret’s
newest
campaign
called
“Bombshell.”
The
image
 shows
a
super
model
whose
body
is
so
computer
edited
that
she
no
longer
looks
 realistic.
This
sends
a
message
to
consumers
that
even
super
models
don’t
have
the
 perfect
bodies.
Victoria
Secret’s
image
of
sexy
is
unrealistic
and
unachievable.

 
 
 
 Fig
7.4



 This
image
shows
one
of
the
super
models
that
company
“Hips
and
Curves”
hired
 and
uses
to
promote
sexy
lingerie
for
bigger
women.
She
is
proof
that
plus
size
 super
models
can
be
represented
in
a
“sex
sells”
corporation
 
 
 
 Fig
7.5


46



 The
images
above
were
taken
from
a
onehanesplace,
an
online
compilation
store
of
 all
sub
companies
that
Hanes
Inc.
owns.
It
shows
that
competitors
out
there
are
 manufacturing
bigger
bras
for
the
same
price
as
a
smaller
bra.
It
proves
that
bigger
 bras
are
achievable
and
cost
beneficiary.
 
 
 Fig
7.6


I
would
be
more
or
less
likely
to
shop
at
 Victoria's
Secret
if:
 70
 60
 50
 40
 30
 20
 10
 0


I
would
be
more
likely
 I
would
be
less
likely
 There
were
 There
were
 They
used
 They
had
 larger
bra
 more
styles
in
 plus
size
 more
plus
 sizes
offered
 larger
bra
 models
also
 size
workers
 sizes


This
would
not
change
how
 oBen
I
shopped
there



 This
graph
is
a
representation
of
a
question
that
was
in
a
survey
of
100
women.
Out
 of
the
100
women,
almost
half
agreed
they
would
be
more
willing
to
shop
at
Victoria
 Secret
if
plus
size
models
were
used.
Over
60
women
said
they
would
shop
at
 Victoria
Secret
if
bigger
bra
sizes
were
offered.
This
chart
proves
that
this
proposal
 will
increase
the
population
of
consumers
shopping
at
Victoria
Secret
which
will,
in
 turn,
increase
revenue,


47


Victoria’s Secret

Appendices: Annotated Bibliography

48


Work Cited Bonander, Ross. "5 Things You Didn't Know: Victoria's Secret - AskMen.com." AskMen.com Men's Online Magazine. 2 Dec. 2009. Web. 22 May 2010. . In “5 Things You Didn’t Know” the author discusses many interesting facts about Victoria’s Secret. Including the death of Victoria’s Secret’s founder Roy Raymond. Raymond committed suicide after being forces into bankruptcy. The article also contains less depressing information such as the origin of the stores name, background information about models and information about some of Victoria’s Secret’s most outspoken critics. Cash, Thomas F., and Pruzinsky, Thomas . Body Image A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice. New York: The Guilford, 2002. This book is comprehensive, with 57 chapters in nine sections; covering all aspects of body image, including developmental and cultural aspects to psychological, pharmacological, and surgical interventions. The authors of this handbook are 71 internationally recognized experts in their field. They came together and work jointly to address the suffering that stems from body image problems. Written in 2002 I believe that this book is still relevant to today’s society, because the ways in which we create and attribute body image and perceptions of ourselves has remained the same. The information in this article is very complete and is presented in an organized fashion, with many citations. It is a great resource for anyone hoping to get an in-depth look at what influences body image. Frentner, Shuan. "Victoria's Secret History | Summary." BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More. 2005. Web. 23 May 2010. . 
 This
 article
 gives
 a
 general,
 yet
 fairly
 comprehensive
 overview
 of
 the
 history
 of
 Victoria’s
 Secret.
 It
 covers
 why
 entrepreneur
 Roy
 Raymond
 decided
 to
 create
 Victoria’s
Secret.
And
how
The
Limited
company
kept
the
stores
personalized
image
 in
tacked.
The
Limited
did
however
determined
that
the
marketing
should
be
more
 directed
towards
women
instead
of
men,
because
it
would
be
more
profitable.
The
 article
is
very
informative
and
gives
the
reader
a
very
wide
view
of
the
history
and
 background
of
Victoria’s
Secret.
 Goleman, Daniel. "When Ugliness Is Only in Patient's Eye, Body Image Can Reflect Mental Disorder." The New York Times 2 Oct. 1991: C13. In this article the author addresses the issues of body dysmorphic disorder and image ugliness. These disorders cause extremely self-conscious people to hide themselves from some aspects of their lives. The author of this article cites many doctors and points out 49


different case studies; this helps the flow as well as informs the reader. Written in 1991 some of the percentages and ratios may be off, but the definition and symptoms do not change making this article as relevant today as it was 18 years ago. 
 Hartlaub,
Peter.
"MSNBC".
06‐01‐2010
 .
 
 This
is
a
news
article
I
found
about
“The
Sleaziest
Super
Bowl
ads
of
all
time.

 Victoria’s
Secret
made
it
onto
the
list.

It
is
talking
about
the
ad
that
aired
to
promote
 Victoria’s
Secret’s
first
webcast
fashion
show.

The
thirty
second
ad
cost
around
$1.6
 million.
 
 Lacey,
LB.
"What
Size
is
the
'Average'
Woman?"
Full
and
Fabulous.
N.p.,
23
May
2010.
 Web.
3
May
2010.

 .

 
 The
article
entitled,
"What
Size
is
the
"Average"
Woman?",
found
on
the
Full
and
 Fabulous
website
discusses
with
the
reader
actual
facts
when
it
comes
to
the
 average
woman
in
America.
It
gives
a
great
and
accurate
depiction
of
the
size
of
 woman,
not
what
is
seen
on
the
television
and
magazines.
This
website
and
article
 were
useful
in
providing
information
to
provide
backup
in
demonstration
that
the
 trend
of
America
is
that
we
are
growing
larger
and
larger.
 
 McAfee,
"The
Silky
Strategy
of
Victoria
Secret".
BEM.
May
31,
2010
 .
 
 This
is
a
paper
students
from
a
different
college
wrote
in
2004.

It
is
about
Victoria’s
 Secret.

I
found
it
very
helpful
and
thorough.

They
did
many
different
sections
in
 their
paper.

The
section
that
I
found
particularly
helpful
was
the
part
on
marketing
 and
advertising.
 
 Rawlins,
Aimee.
"The
Hard
Sell".
Fast
Company.
06‐01‐2010
 .
 
 This
is
an
article
I
found
about
the
“Sex
Sells”
phrase.

A
professor
did
an
experiment
 about
how
different
people
react
to
sex
ads.

He
wanted
to
find
out
if
the
”Sex
Sells”
 method
really
works
and
how
often.

He
found
that
it
works
more
than
not
to
male
 viewers.

But
it
does
not
work
as
well
or
often
to
the
female
viewers,
unless
the
 female
viewers
had
an
open
view
towards
sex.
 
 Voltaire,
Robert.
"Voltaire
Photos".
June
2,
2010
 .
 


50


Robert
Voltaire
is
a
photographer
that
has
worked
with
Victoria’s
Secret
many
 times.

He
has
done
photo
shoots
with
many
of
their
models,
along
with
other
 models
in
different
companies.

He
keeps
a
online
blog
and
posts
to
it
every
so
often.

 In
this
post,
he
explains
what
it
takes
to
be
a
Victoria’s
Secret
model.

The
 qualifications
are
outrageous,
expectations
like,
be
on
the
cover
of
Vogue
before
you
 are
18.

He
tells
it
like
it
is
though.
 
 
 
 "The Angel in the House." 2 Oct. 2005. Web. 02 June 2010. . The article on The Angel in the House describes the expectation but on women to be passive, meek, charming, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and above all, pure in the 19th-century. Written by Coventry Patmore a poet, the phrase "Angel in the House" comes from his poem in which he uplifts his angel-wife up as a model for all women to strive to be. The article allows you to read the poem for yourself and points out the correlation between Queen Victoria and popularization of the Angel in the House ideal. 
 "The Average American Woman - Dieting and Weight Statistics." Weight Loss through Fitness Affordable Weight Management Program and Community. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . The Average American Women, jumps straight to the point, giving fact and figures about today’s women and the influence media has had on their body image. It encourages readers to take a step back and analyze the reasons why their feel the need to diet, before actually engaging in the “diet roller coaster.” Some of the information provided while somewhat startling is very informative and helps to put things in prospective. "Credit
Card
Commentaries."
Card
Offers.
Web.
2
June
2010.
 .

 
 This
website
is
helpful
if
a
customer
is
interested
in
applying
for
a
Victoria's
Secret
 credit
card.
Consumers
are
able
to
go
to
cardoffers.com
and
leave
feedback
about
 not
only
their
cards
but
their
experiences
with
how
they
obtained
a
card
and
 whether
or
not
they
are
satisfied.

 
 “Hips and curves” Web. 03 June 2010 Hips and curves is a privately owned company that specializes in lingerie for bigger women. They only hire models that are a size 12 and above. Their models and images are much similar to Victoria Secret’s style instead of Playtex, which shows that bigger women can represent a company that relies on sexually explicit images to sell their products. 
 51


"Obesity
and
Overweight."
Centers
For
Disease
Control
and
Prevention.
CDC,
May
2008.
 Web.
4
May
2010.

 .

 
 This
website,
Centers
for
Disease
Control
and
Prevention,
is
a
reliable
source
of
 information.
The
website
was
used
to
gather
information
in
regards
to
the
rates
of
 obesity
in
America
in
a
graphical
representation
using
the
maps
of
obesity
through
 the
ages.
This
source
was
very
useful
in
showing
the
overall
trend
of
obesity
and
 overweight
in
America.

 
 “One Hanes Place.” Web. 03 June 2010 This online store contained all of the products that sub-companies of Hanes’ offered, such as Playtex. When searching for bra sizes on this website, it showed that the price for a bigger bra was the same for a small bra. This website also proved that Playtex:My fit is owned by Hanes Inc.
 
 "Physical
Inactivity,
Overweight
and
Obesity."
American
Heart
Association.
AHA,
19
May
 2010.
Web.
6
May
2010.

 .

 
 This
article,
"Physical
Inactivity,
Overweight,
and
Obesity",
published
by
the
 American
Heart
Association
is
a
very
reliable
source
of
information.
The
article
itself
 discussed
with
the
reader
the
current
statistics
in
regards
to
the
percentages
and
 numbers
of
women
that
are
obese
or
overweight.
This
article
was
very
useful
in
 trying
to
demonstrate
how
the
number
of
woman
that
are
obese
or
overweight
 greatly
our
numbers
or
outweighs
the
number
of
women
that
are
of
normal
weight.
 
 “Playtex” Web. 03 June 2010 The Playtex online store provided information on their advertising techniques and products that they carry. The website showed consumers and their responses to the Playtex products as well as model images. The website alone served as an excellent example of the differences between Victoria Secret and Playtex. “Victoria Secret” Web. 03 June 2010 Victoria Secret’s website provided information on product sizes and images that were evaluated and analyzed to show their method of advertising. 
 “Victoria's
Secret
Angel
Credit
Card."
Web.
03
June
2010.
 .

 
 Victoria's
Secret
has
their
own
credit
card,
also
known
as
"The
Secret
Angel
Credit
 Card".
On
this
website
specific
details
of
the
card
are
given
as
well
as
benefits
and
 rewards.

 52



 “Victoria's
Secret:
Lingerie
and
Women's
Clothing,
Accessories
&
More”.
Web.
03
June
 2010.
.

 
 The
Victoria's
Secret
website
was
a
valuable
source
for
finding
current
sizes
and
 prices
of
lingerie.
It
allows
a
customer
to
shop
by
certain
types
of
clothing,
sizes,
 colors,
styles
etc.
It
is
a
colorful
and
effective
advertisement.

 
 “VS
PINK::Welcome”.
Web.
03
June
2010.
.

 
 Victoria's
Secret
Pink
Collection
is
the
number
one
sleepwear
collection
in
the
 world.
This
website
is
a
Victoria's
Secret
website
solely
designated
to
the
Pink
 collection.
This
website
was
useful
in
getting
current
information
on
one
of
the
 company's
biggest
selling
products
world‐wide.

 
 "Wikipedia".
06‐01‐2010
 .
 
 I
used
this
Wikipedia
source
to
give
me
more
information
about
the
Victoria’s
Secret
 Fashion
Show.

I
did
not
know
anything
about
it
before.

This
was
very
helpful
and
 gave
me
a
lot
of
useable
information.

I
found
out
a
lot
about
the
history
of
the
 fashion
show.

It
had
a
chart
on
the
page
about
when
each
show
was,
how
it
was
 aired,
where
it
was
held,
how
many
viewers,
what
famous
people
were
there,
and
 what
models
the
show
featured.
 "Who2".
June
1,
2010
.
 
 This
is
a
website
that
tells
you
the
who’s
who.

It
has
bibliographies
on
my
many
 famous
people.

I
used
this
website
to
find
out
what
models
have
been
involved
with
 Victoria’s
Secret.
 


53


Victoria’s Secret

Appendices: Procedural Documentation

54


Original
Proposal
 
 
 
 April
28,
2010
 
 To:
Writing
Team
Members

 
 From:
Sophia
Grimm

 
 Subject:
Create
a
Wider
Buyer
Demographic
&
Use
Average
Size
Women
as
Models

 
 Background
 
 Founded
in
the
early
1970’s,
Victoria's
Secret
was
established
in
San
Francisco
by
 Roy
Raymond.
The
company
has
since
become
a
leading
specialty
retailer
of
lingerie
 and
women’s
clothing.
There
are
currently
over
1,000
operating
stores
across
the
 United
States.
These
stores
carry
bra
sizes
running
from
a
32AA
to
a
40DDD.
The
 company’s
marketing
campaigns
include
the
Victoria's
Secret
Catalog
and
Victoria's
 Secret
Fashion
Show.
The
average
company
model
in
these
advertisements
is
a
size
 2,
often
around
5’11’’
and
117
pounds,
unlike
the
average
American
women
who
is
a
 size
14,
about
5’4”
and
140
pounds
(The
Average
American
Woman).

 
 
 Problem
 


There
is
no
doubt
that
the
current
social
standards
for
beauty
has
put
emphasis
on
 the
desirability
of
thinness
at
a
level
that
cannot
be
attained
in
a
healthy
manner
 (Cash
&
Pruzinsky
91).

Contemporary
society
has
increasingly
put
more
emphasis
 on
beauty
and
creating
the
ideal
body.

You
cannot
go
anywhere
these
days
without
 seeing
an
advertisement
for
the
latest
fashion
statement
or
beauty
product.
These
 advertisements
create
ideals
that
people
habitually
internalize
both
consciously
and
 subconsciously.

When
internalization
occurs
so
does
automatic
comparison.
 According
to
Dr.
Rita
Freedman,
a
psychologist
in
Scarsdale,
New
York,
“Distorted
 views
of
the
body
are
due
in
part
to
an
insidious
contrast
effect,
in
which
people
 compare
themselves
with
the
models
in
advertisements."
(Goleman
C13).

This
 comparison
can
be
detrimental
to
one’s
personal
growth
and
happiness,
especially
 for
adolescents.


 As
one
of
America’s
leading
manufacturer
of
lingerie
and
women’s
apparel,
 Victoria’s
Secret
often
advertises
products
to
women
as
sexy,
fun,
and
empowering.
 However,
the
company
is
presenting
a
body
size
that
is
for
most
women
 unattainable.
It
is
also
currently
discriminates
against
more
voluptuous
women.
 There
is
a
sizeable
portion
of
women
that
struggle
to
find
clothing,
especially
sexy
 bras.
Most
women
who
have
a
bra
size
over
40DDD
are
often
confronted
with
three
 55


options,
a
Full
Coverage
Bra
in:
white,
nude,
or
black.
Victoria’s
Secret
only
carries
 sizes
ranging
for
32AA‐40DDD.
These
sizes
do
fit
a
substantial
portion
of
women.
 Nevertheless,
with
America’s
current
obesity
epidemic
the
company
is
neglecting
 women
that
do
not
fit
in
the
typical
sizing
range
that
has
been
established
by
the
 fashion
industry.
“Department
stores
typically
offer
tiny
sections
with
only
20
or
so
 brands
that
fit
sizes
14
and
up
‐‐
compared
with
the
900‐plus
brands
they
carry
in
 their
regular
women's
wear
departments
(Vesilind).”
 
 Despite
the
current
demographic
that
Victoria’s
Secret
caters
to,
there
are
a
large
 number
of
women
that
are
not
able
to
buy
the
company’s
clothing
products,
for
a
 simple
reason,
there
is
nothing
in
their
size.
Nearly
34
percent
of
Americans
over
 the
age
of
20
are
obese,
this
percentage
has
more
than
double
within
30
years
 (Belluck).

 
 Table
1.
Prevalence
of
Obesity
and
Overweight
for
Adults
Aged
20
Years
or
Older
(Flegal)



 All
women
deserve
to
feel
confident
and
sexy,
not
just
the
ones
that
happen
to
fit
the
 body
type
dictated
by
the
fashion
industry.
In
order
to
make
women
feel
more
 confident
and
sexy,
Victoria’s
Secret
needs
to
start
manufacturing
bras
that
will
fit
 larger
women
and
also
market
their
merchandise
with
models
that
represent
the
 size
of
average
women.

 
 
 Feasibility

 
 As
a
company
the
main
concern
is
increasing
profit
and
consumer
satisfaction.
It
has
 been
obvious
for
years
that
these
things
are
intertwined.
And
Victoria’s
Secret
has
 made
it
a
point
to
manufacture
nothing
but
high
quality
products.
However,
it
is
 time
to
take
it
to
the
next
level.
Empower
the
women,
inform
them
that
they
can
be
 sexy
and
strong
women
no
mater
what
size
they
are.
This
starts
by
finding
new
 ways
to
advertise
the
merchandise,
perhaps
by
including
every
day
women
in


56


commercials,
similar
to
Doves’
marketing
strategy.
The
second
thing
that
needs
to
 happen
is
to
produce
products
that
fit
larger
women.
This
enforces
the
idea
that
all
 women
can
feel
beautiful,
no
mater
what
size
they
are
and
also
increases
the
 number
of
women
that
are
able
to
buy
Victoria’s
Secret
Bras.
 
 I
believe
that
we
can
find
an
effective
marketing
strategy
that
will
increase
women’s
 self‐esteem
and
create
a
positive
self‐image,
within
the
next
5
weeks.
We
will
also
 create
a
plan
to
design
and
distribute
larger
bra
sizes
to
all
operating
Victoria’s
 Secret
stores
in
the
United
States.
It
will
require
hard
work
and
extensive
research,
 but
with
this
team
of
experts,
it
is
completely
feasible.

 
 
 Topics
to
Investigate
 
 In
our
upcoming
report
we
intend
to
discuss
the
effect
models
have
on
a
women’s
 body
image.

The
report
will
also
include
information
about
why
increasing
bra
sizes
 is
necessary
for
expanding
the
consumer
market.
We
will
be
asking
the
fallowing
 questions.

 • Do the current body sizes of advertising models cause women to see themselves more negatively? • How can we create advertisements that show off the quality and desirability of the company’s products, while still showing women that being skinny is not a prerequisite for being sexy and beautiful? • How much more will it cost to manufacture bigger bra sizes? • How many bras bigger than a 40DDD should each store have in stock or should they only be sold online? • Have any major competitors increased their range of bra sizes to include bras over a 40DDD?

Audiences
 There
are
several
audiences
that
have
a
substantial
investment
in
this
project.
Our
 primary
audience
is
Mark
Weikel
the
Chief
Operating
Officer
(COO)
of
Victoria’s
 Secret.
He
took
on
his
position
as
COO
in
2003
and
has
since
helped
to
integrate
 Victoria's
Secret
Beauty,
Victoria's
Secret
Direct,
Pink,
Intimissimi
and
emerging
 concepts
together
to
form
a
megabrand
(Victoria's
Secret
Appoints
New
Executives).

 
 You
are
our
initial
audience.
As
our
initial
audience
you
are
concerned
that
we
will
 be
able
to
complete
this
report
by
the
given
due
date.

You
also
want
to
see
it
done
in
 a
rational,
timely,
well‐written,
and
comprehensive
manner.

 
 The
secondary
audience
of
this
proposal
includes
the
employees
of
Victoria’s
 Secret’s:
Marketing
Executive
Jill
Beraud,
Telecommunications
Executive
Wendy
E.


57


Burden,
and
Plant
Manager
William
Mcraith.
This
report
is
also
of
interest
to
union
 members
and
investors.

 
 
 Methods

 
 We
will
employ
the
EBSCO
database
and
use
other
online
research
information.
The
 fallowing
sources
include
information
from
Newspapers,
Journal
of
the
American
 Medical
Association,
and
other
helpful
resources.
Here
are
some
articles
and
 information
that
are
pertinent
to
the
project.

 
 Cash,
Thomas
F.,
and
Pruzinsky,
Thomas
.
Body
Image
A
Handbook
of
 Theory,
Research,
and
Clinical
Practice.
New
York:
The
Guilford,
2002.

 
 Belluck,
Pam.
"American
Obesity
Rates
Have
Hit
Plateau,
C.D.C.
Data
 Suggest
‐
NYTimes.com."
The
New
York
Times
­
Breaking
News,
World
 News
&
Multimedia.
13
Jan.
2010.
Web.
26
Apr.
2010.
 .
 
 Flegal,
Katherine
M.,
Margaret
D.
Carroll,
Cynthia
L.
Ogden,
and
Lester
R.
 Curtin.
"Prevalence
and
Trends
in
Obesity
Among
US
Adults,
1999‐ 2008."
JAMA:
The
Journal
of
the
American
Medical
Association
(2010):
 235‐41.
Web.
26
Apr.
2010.
.
 
 Goleman,
Daniel.
"When
Ugliness
Is
Only
in
Patient's
Eye,
Body
Image
Can
 Reflect
Mental
Disorder."
The
New
York
Times
2
Oct.
1991:
C13.

 
 "The
Average
American
Woman
‐
Dieting
and
Weight
Statistics."
Weight
 Loss
through
Fitness
Affordable
Weight
Management
Program
and
 Community.
Web.
28
Apr.
2010.
.
 
 Vesilind,
Emili.
"Fashion's
Invisible
Woman
‐
Los
Angeles
Times."
Featured
 Articles
From
The
Los
Angeles
Times.
1
Mar.
2009.
Web.
26
Apr.
2010.
 .
 
 "Victoria's
Secret
Appoints
New
Executives
|
Company
Activities
&
 Management
Board
&
Management
Changes
from
AllBusiness.com."
 Business
Resources,
Advice
and
Forms
for
Large
and
Small
Businesses.
 Display
and
Design
Ideas,
30
Jan.
2007.
Web.
28
Apr.
2010.
 .
 
 
 58



 Qualifications
and
Recourses
 
 These
are
the
strengths
that
my
team
will
bring
to
this
project.

 
 • Dominique Sabedra is our project manager. This is just one of many projects she has taken on over the past few years. She has become a strong leader and knows how to bring out the best in her co-workers. From my previous experience working with Ms. Sabedra, I know that she leads by example and will assist others without hesitation. •

Jeremy Currie is determined and open-minded. He is willing to learn and work hard to find the information that we need to complete this project. His ability to write in a clear and concise manner, gives him an edge of professionalism that is hard to match.

•

Rosalyn Mayo is currently working for KBVR, the Oregon State University student run television network. This gives her an insight into the media that is often not know to those outside of the media production industry. I believe that her knowledge will be invaluable in our investigation between the correlation of models in the media to the average women’s’ view of self-worth. She will also be able to give us a realistic approach to producing a new advertising campaign.

•

Our resident sales expert Kirsti Clapsadle has worked with several companies to improve sales and build customer satisfaction. She also has experience manufacturing business paraphernalia. Along with this, her ability to communicate with others in a calm and personable way makes her the perfect interviewer for this project.

•

My personal expertise is in building a positive image for companies as well as in people. I have put together several marketing campaigns that have helped improve customer’s overall opinion of companies. These campaigns include community outreach programs, commercial marketing, and print advertising. My ability to help improve an individual’s self image comes from mentoring and working with young teen-agers for the past four years. I have seen first hand how the unrealistic desire to be a size zero has been brought on in large by the media’s influence. I believe that with this experience I will be able to identify the types of advertising campaigns that will build Victoria’s Secret’s image and help create a more realistic perception of beauty.

•

Connie Chan’s organizational prowess is going to be very useful. Specifically, when it comes to completing this project with an efficient and structured system. She is very persistent and makes sure people complete their assignments in their given time frame. Then she takes the information and makes it available to the entire group. She is an excellent scribe and documents all of the team the










59


meetings. Ms. Chan will be crucial to making sure this project in completed in a timely manner. 
 Work
Schedule


 
 The
fallowing
schedule
has
been
designed
to
ensure
the
completion
of
the
project
by
 June
4,
2010
 
 Activity

 
























Responsibility




 




Total­time




Completion
Date
 Gathering
Information













Sophia,
Rosalyn
 




24
hours

 
 May
4
 Team
Meeting

 
 


All
 
 
 




3
hours

 
 May
9
 Progress
Report

 
 


Kirsti,
Jeremy














3.5
hours

 
 May
10
 Expense
Account

 
 


All
 
 
 




2
hours

 
 May
10

 Analyzing
Information

 


All

 
 
 




11
hours

 
 May
12
 Organize
Information

 


Rosalyn,
Connie











4
hours

 
 May
13
 Team
Meeting

 
 


All

 
 
 




4
hours

 
 May
14
 Plan
the
Draft/visuals

 


Sophia,
Dominique






8
hours

 
 May
15
 Draft
the
Report/visuals

 


Kirsti,
Rosalyn












16
hours

 
 May
21

 Planning
Revisions

 
 


All

 
 
 




7
hours
 
 May
23
 Revising
Drafts/Visuals

 


Jeremy,
Connie

 




11
hours

 
 May
25
 Editing

 
 
 


Dominique

 




 




8
hours

 
 May
27
 Proofreading


 



 


All

 
 
 




4
hours

 
 May
28
 Total
Hours:
105.5

 
 
 Projected
Cost

 
 Expense

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cost
 • Printing: 25 cents per page, estimate 100 pages $25.00 • Binding: Black Plastic Binding Combs $10.00 • Research phone calls $2.00 • Travel at 37-cents/mile; 81 miles $29.97 • Labor Cost; at $10 per hour $3,300.00 
 Total
$3,366.97
 
 
 Call
to
Action

 
 This
project
will
provide
the
company
with
information
that
will
be
prevalent
to
 increasing
revenue
and
creating
a
new
consumer
market.
We
will
be
determining
 how
sales
will
be
affected
by
increasing
bra
sizes
and
creating
a
marketing
 campaign
that
displays
women
as
beautiful
and
sexy
at
any
size.
If
the
information
is
 positive,
it
will
allow
Victoria’s
Secret
to
take
a
marketing
path
that
many
companies
 60


have
not
pursued.
Intern,
this
gives
our
company
an
upper
hand
over
competing
 marketers.

 Agendas/Progress Reports April 30th, 2010 Chapter 1: Background • To inform reader of history dates, etc. Chapter 2: Current Market • Today’s Victoria’s Secret, demographic Chapter 3: Success • ? Chapter 4: Failures/Problems • What needs to change, what we propose Chapter 5: The Plan-What • What will change Chapter 6: The Plan-How • How we plan to change Chapter 7: Potential Benefits • Possible gain in revenue May 12, 2010 •

Send out survey -at least 50 surveys -try to survey all ages

•

Commercials & Advertisements -Slow motion, bigger boobs, very skinny -Sex appeal -Very rarely show full body -“…very important for a woman to feel sexy” -campaign for I love my Body “body for everyone” -be sexy, be young

•

Victoria Secret Competitors -Playtex had full coverage; most are in beige and white o Go up to a 46 G o Older looking models -Hanes; most are beige, white and black o Go up to 40 DD 61


-Dove o Does not display the typical size 0 model o Campaigns for bigger sizes •

History -Founded in early 1970’s -Established in San Francisco -Over 1,000 operating stores across the US -Catalogs and fashion shows -Roy Raymond *How did Limited Inc end up with Victoria’s Secret? -Tell everyone who Victoria is!

•

Contacting Victoria’s Secret -How much does manufacturing a bra cost on average? -What is the biggest size your company makes? -Are some bra sizes offered only on special order? If so, where would I order them at?

•

Victoria’s Secret -2008-2009 they lost sales -over the past 3 years they have only grown .1% -$537 million net sales/year

Team Member Descriptions: •

•

•

Connie -Business Strategies of other companies o Include; -Different styles and sizes of bras -Models -Stores that products are sold at -Other websites -Sales Rosalyn -Current and Potential Marketing Strategies Sophia -History -Body Image in the Media 62


•

Jeremy -Today’s Society o Has Victoria Secret catered to larger sizes i.e. obesity epidemic

•

Dom & Kirsti -Communication with the Store o What sizes are there currently? o Feasibility o How much do bras cost?

________________________________________________________________________ May
24th,
2010
 Reviewed
all
group
members
outlines
 
 
 June 2nd, 2010 ***Attention Wonderful Group 4 *** -We are meeting on Saturday @ 4pm in the Library (bring $2 for pizza if you want some) and Sunday @ 12 in the Library (brings snacks if your heart desires  )  Please bring completed individual portions of your proposal so we can read through everything & start putting it together on Saturday…  Sunday will be dedicated to combining proposal and emailing it to John THANKS FOR ALL EVERYONE’S HARD WORK! …YOU GUYS ARE GREAT 

• • • • • •

Sophie: Table of Contents, Title Page Rosalyn: Bibliography Dom: Letter of Transmittal, Procedural documentation, PowerPoint Jeremy: Final budgets, Executive Summary Connie: Original Survey, Charts/Graphs Kirsti: Introduction, combining of proposals


  Outline format, similar to the proposal (refer to Sophie’s …she will email it to everyone) 


‐Subsections
for
categories
 63



 
 
 
   



‐Single‐spaced
 ‐Minimum
of
4
pages
per
person
 ‐Charts
and
images
do
not
count
for
text
 ‐12
pt,
Times
New
Roman
 Please send annotated bibliographies to Rosalyn by tonight, as she has to put it together for the proposal. Sophie needs your chapter titles and sub-categories tonight, tomorrow at the very latest…so she can put together the table of contents Jeremy needs everyone’s hours and what they worked on by tomorrow at the latest…to calculate final budgets (refer to the original budget Sophie sent out in her proposal) Connie needs all charts/graphs/pictures by tomorrow at the latest.

Final Budget:  Hourly wages ($15/hr)  Printing, binding prices (if we were to print out proposal)  Include how much it would cost to send to Victoria’s Secret Executive Summary:  This is a short summary of the entire document, (someone should be able to read this and know what the proposal contains) Original Survey: • Survey questions • Analysis of results • How many people? Age span…etc. 
 Charts and Graphs: • Make sure to have titles and explanations of how each relate to proposal 


64


Victoria’s Secret

Appendices: Original Survey’s & Interview Questions 65


Survey In order to understand the needs and wants of Victoria Secret consumers, a survey was conducted, directed towards the public women. The survey was created from SurveyMonkey and distributed to women via facebook. The group forwarded the survey randomly to a variety of women of different age, size, and ethnicity. Some of the survey takers would then pass on the survey to other women. Below are the questions asked in the survey and the answer choices that these women chose from.

1. How old are you?

Age

How old are you? Age

2. Please choose your bra size: Please choose your bra size: 32-36 38-42 44-48 50-54 56-60 Larger than 60 AA A B C D DD DDD E F G 66


Larger than G If larger than 60 and/or G, please state size

3. How difficult or easy is it for you to find bras in your size? How difficult or easy is it for you to find bras in your size? Very easy Somewhat easy Neither easy nor difficult Somewhat difficult Very difficult

Additional Comments

4. Are these bras comfortable, attractive (do they come in different styles and colors), and do they fit correctly? Are these bras comfortable, attractive (do they come in different styles and colors), and do they fit correctly? Yes, they are comfortable. Yes, they are attractive. Yes, they fit correctly. None What would you say is attractive about your bra, if anything?

5. Where do you shop for your bras? Where do you shop for your bras? Target Wal*Mart Ross Sears ShopKo Victoria's Secret TJ Maxx 67


Other (please specify)

6. What brands of bras do you own/have you owned? What brands of bras do you own/have you owned? Playtex Victoria's Secret Adonna Champion Liz & Co. MaidenForm Bare Necessities Dove Flirtitude Lilyette Other (please specify)

7. Have you ever shopped at Victoria's Secret? Have you ever shopped at Victoria's Secret? Yes, only once. Yes, a few times. Yes, all the time. No, never.

8. Do you find it easy, or difficult to find bras that you like at Victoria's Secret? Do you find it easy, or difficult to find bras that you like at Victoria's Secret? Very easy Somewhat easy Neither easy nor difficult Somewhat difficult Very difficult What do you find easy/difficult? (Finding sizes, styles, colors... etc.)

68


9. How do the Victoria's Secret models make you feel about yourself? How do the Victoria's Secret models make you feel about yourself? Positive, I love my body. Positive, they give me something to work toward. Positive, some other reason (please specify in "Other" box). Negative, I can't ever look like that. Negative, some other reason (please specify in "Other" box). Neither positive nor negative. Other (please specify)

10. I would be more or less likely to shop at Victoria's Secret if: I would be more likely

I would be less likely

This would not change how often I shop there

I would be more or less likely to shop at There were Victoria's Secret if: larger bra sizes There were larger bra offered. sizes offered. I would be more likely

I would be less likely

This would not change how often I shop there

There were more There were styles in larger bra more styles in larger bra sizes. sizes. I would be more likely

I would be less likely

This would not change how often I shop there

They used plus size models also.

They used plus size models also. I would be more likely

I would be less likely

This would not change how often I shop there

They had more plus size workers.

They had more plus size workers. I would be more likely

I would be less likely

This would not change how often I shop there

69


Survey Results A total of 100 women completed this survey and their results are as follows:

Age
of
Women
Surveyed

 30


#
of
Women



25
 20
 15
 10
 5
 0


Age


Bra
Size
Around
Middle
 90
 80
 #
of
Women


70
 60
 50
 40
 30
 20
 10
 0
 32‐36


38‐42


44‐48


Size
Around
Middle








70


Cup
Sizes
 30


#
of
Women


25
 20
 15
 10
 5
 0
 AA


A


B


C


D


DD


DDD


E


F


G


Larger
 Than
 G


Cup
Size






 


How
Difiicult
or
Easy
is
it
for
You
to
Find
 a
Bra
in
Your
Size?
 Very
Difsicult
 12%
 Very
Easy
 25%


Somewhat
 Difsicult
 25%
 Niether
Difsicult
 nor
Easy
 19%


Somewhat
Easy
 19%








71


Where
Do
You
Shop
for
Bras?


Sears
 5%


Ross
 11%


TJ
Maxx
 8%


Target
 25%


Wal*Mart
 8%


Victoria's
Secret
 42%


ShopKo
 1%








What
Brands
of
Bras
do
you
Own/Have
 Owned
 Lilyette
 Adonna
 4%
 Liz
&
Co.
1%
 2%


Playtex
 13%


Bar
Necessities
 7%


MaidenForm
 21%
 Champion
 11%


Victoria's
Secret
 37%


Dove
 Flirtitude
1%
 3%








72


Have
You
Ever
Shopped
at
Victoria's
 Secret
 44
 37


10


9


Yes,
only
once


Yes,
a
few
times


Yes,
all
the
time


No,
never



 


How
Does
Victoria's
Secret
Models
Make
 You
Feel
 42


21


19


5


7
 2


Positive,
I
love
 Positive,
they
 Positive,
some
 Negative,
I
can't
 Negative,
some
Neither
positive
 my
Body
 give
me
 other
reason
 ever
look
like
 other
reason
 or
negative
 something
to
 that
 work
toward



 
 
 
 


73





I
Would
be
more
or
less
likely
to
shop
at
 Victoria's
Secret
if:
 70
 60
 50
 40


I
would
be
more
likely


30
 I
would
be
less
likely


20
 10
 0
 There
were
 There
were
 They
used
 They
had
 larger
bra
 more
styles
in
 plus
size
 more
plus
size
 sizes
offered
 larger
bra
 models
also
 workers
 sizes











74


This
would
not
change
how
 often
I
shopped
there





Victoria’s Secret

Appendices: Final Budget

75


Budget

Employee Wages

Chan, Connie Clapsadle, Kirsti Currie, Jeremy Grimm, Sophia Mayo, Rosayln Sabedra, Diminique

Group Work (hrs.) 19 19 19 19 19 19

Individual Work (hrs.) 15 16 17 30 17 14

Hours Worked 34 35 36 49 36 33 Total Wages

Printing/ Binding Costs Estimated 100 pages

X

$0.25/page

Total $25.00

Black Plastic Binding (1)

X

$10.00/binding

$10.00

Total Printing/Binding

$35.00

Submital Charges Free of cost, Email Submital

Grand Total

$3,380.00

76


Income ($15/hr.) $510.00 $525.00 $540.00 $735.00 $540.00 $495.00

$3,345.00

Victoria’s Secret

Appendices: PowerPoint Slides

77


Power Point Slides

78



 79





80



 81



 82



 83



 84





85