SOCIAL MEDIA AND INFLUENCER MARKETING VS

For many years Victoria’s Secret used the “supermodel” recipe for success to mass market products by taking advantage of people’s natural instinct to compare themselves with someone else considered superior. A Victoria’s Secret model is the epitome of success in today’s society: perfect body, social status, financial means to fulfil their desires and some of them are also perfectly happy mothers and wives. Studies show that women and in particular young females are more prone to be impacted by the media, more likely to base their self-worth on appearance and “are more at risk for negative effects (Fallon & Rozin, 1985)”. (Strahan, Lafrance, Wilson, Ethier, Spencer, 2007)

Using prominent figures in the cyber-world is one of the Victoria’s Secret staple marketing strategies. Not only do customers associate the brand with their favorite supermodel and influencer (Kendall Jenner, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Candice Swanepoel etc.), but these models also create a lot of buzz on social media before, during and after the annual fashion show. In 2018, the lingerie giant dressed the Kardashian-Jenner sister for Halloween, which helped increase their following and most certainly advertised that year’s fashion show.

Victoria’s Secret are present on all highly used social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube. Overall, the engagement they get does not match the huge audience they have and their content is similar across different platforms. Analysing the differences between Millennials and Gen Z, one can tell they prefer different platforms, hence the content should be slightly different between photo and video-based platforms and discussion-based platforms. Youtube is the safest social networking website for brands that want to market to both generations, as 80% Millennials and 85% Generation Z consumers use the platform (Van Elven, 2018). On their Youtube VS have 1,742,820 subscribers (1/27/2019) and their latest fashion show reached 8,431,091 views.

Visually, all their platforms match the in-store design, colour-scheme and overall brand identity.

References:

Van Elven M. (2018, Jun 07). What do Millennials and Generation Z consumers want from retailers?. Retrieved from: https://fashionunited.uk/news/business/what-do-millennials-and-generation-z-consumers-want-from-retailers/2018060730094

Strahan E. J., Lafrance A., Wilson A. E., Ethier N. (Wilfrid Laurier University); Spencer S. J., Zanna M. P. (University of Waterloo) (2007, Aug 14). Victoria’s Dirty Secret: How Sociocultural Norms Influence Adolescent Girls and Women.