Victoria's Secret: The latest craze in women's lingerie

All women want to know the secret of Victoria’s Secret… and entrepreneurs too. Find out here which elements made this lingerie company a sales success.

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The Victoria Secret brand was created in honor of Queen Victoria, who had 9 children with Prince Albert. They say he must have a “secret” to look this good.

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We will talk about the birth and market positioning of the Victoria Secret brand and products in this article. We will also talk about its consolidation thanks to its acquisition by The Limited Inc. company.

Birth and positioning of Victoria’s Secret

To talk about lingerie and beauty products company Victoria’s Secret, you have to know about its beginnings.

Victoria’s Secret grew out of Roy Raymond’s experience when he went to a lingerie store to buy a gift. He was embarrassed by the little attention he received and ignorance of women’s taste and size. So she decided to open a women’s products store with a marketing strategy focused on men.

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The first Victoria’s Secret store opened on June 12, 1977 in a San Francisco mall. To start her business, she applied for two loans of $80,000 (which were repaid at the end of a year since the profit was $500,000).

As a sales strategy, he developed catalogs of his products, which he sent by post, using this strategy to increase demand through gifts and opened 3 more shops.

Within five years, Victoria’s Secret had 6 stores and $6 million in revenue. These figures caught the attention of the owner of the company The Limited Inc. Then Roy Raimond agreed to a partnership with businessman Les Wexner. In 1982, Raimond sold his stake in the business for $4 million.

Victoria’s Secret Consolidation

After the sale of Victoria’s Secret to The Limited Inc., success was overwhelming.

By 2005, profits were $2 billion (in the 900 stores in the United States alone). While they got another $870 million for catalogs.

What strategy did they use to promote Victoria’s Secret?

In 1990, The Limited Inc. board of directors decided to hire famous models to wear the lingerie models for women in fashion shows. These models are known as Victoria’s Secret Angels.

Here we discuss the details that have made Victoria’s Secret a worldwide phenomenon.

Victoria’s Secret fashion show

An introductory show for the new women’s underwear line is organized annually. Well-known models are hired to present the new products, all accompanied by a musical show.

pink line

Founded in 2004, this line is aimed at teenagers and young university students, whose products are diversified between lingerie, pajamas, beauty products and accessories, depending on the age of the target market.

Its main goal is to attract customers from a very young age.

fantasy bra

Every year, Victoria’s Secret creates a special model of bra that they make with precious jewels. It is used by one of the angels in the fantasy show.

The only model that was offered for sale was 1996. In 2000, the same model was awarded a Guinness record for the most expensive underwear in the world (with an auction price of $15 million).

Internationalization of brands and products

After the United States, the first markets Victoria’s Secret conquered were Canada and England. They later allied themselves with duty-free shops and began offering their products at the world’s major international airports.

Lessons learned from Victoria’s Secret trajectory

If you have a business with prospects of success, analyze your possibility of merging with other businesses. Set the terms of the negotiation well.
Create a good marketing plan for your target market.
Diversify your products within the same industry (to increase profits and attract new customers).
If your company is in the fashion segment, organize launch activities every time you launch a new line.