Group ConsumerAnalysis: Victoria’s SecretMKTG 425-101

Michelle Fox, Tyler Gullivan, Shannon Johnston, Sara Seeger, Colin Watts

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Executive Summary

Victoria’s Secret is one of, if not the most popular women’s

lingerie and clothing store in the United States. They are known

for their higher priced, sexy, and sometimes promiscuous

clothing. Victoria’s Secret has come up with many different

innovations after first opening their door, such as a make-up

line, body care line, and PINK teenage line. The next logical

step is for Victoria’s Secret to create a baby clothing line. The

baby clothing line, entitled Baby Secret, would have various

types of infant and toddler clothing, and would be classic and

simple, yet fashion-forward. A focus group was interviewed to

find out their feelings on the Victoria’s Secret brand as a

whole, and the new baby line. From these findings, a rationale

was built which helped form a new target segment, examples of

possibly baby products, and recommendations of company changes in

strategy and tactics. All of these elements confirmed the

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original proposition that the Victoria’s Secret new baby clothing

line is the next logical step in the Victoria’s Secret expansion

plan in order to generate more revenue, and capture a different

target market. By capturing a different target segment with the

baby clothing line, the hope is that these customers will become

loyal Victoria’s Secret customers in future years.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………….……..……….…………………… 2

Overview & Current Target Segment……………………..……...……..………………….. 4

New Target Segment………………………………………………….…………………….. 6

Focus Group………………………………………………………………………………… 8

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Analysis of Chosen Market………………………………….……………………………… 9

Proposed Products……………………………………………....………………………….. 13

Recommendations………………………………………………………………………….. 14

Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………. 18

Overview & Current Target Segment

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Victoria Secret is an American retailer of women’s wear,

beauty products, and lingerie. It is the largest segment of

publicly traded limited brands with sales above five billion

dollars. It is known for its annual fashion show, the Victoria’s

Secret Fashion Show, and for its catalogs, both which involved

the top fashion models.

The company was started in San Francisco, California in 1977

but Tufts University and Stanford Graduate School of Business

alumnus Roy Raymond. Roy’s idea behind the start up was the

feeling of embarrassment he felt when trying to purchase lingerie

for his wife the department store scene (FragranceX, 2011).

In 1995, Victoria’s Secret began holding the annual

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which is broadcasted primetime on

American television. The show is all about elaborate costumed

lingerie, music, and a set design according to the different

themes running within the show. The show attracts hundreds of

celebrities and entertainers (FragranceX, 2011).

Victoria’s Secret opened up the first stores outside of the

United States. They now have stores in Canada, Kuwait, and the

United Arab Emirates. In 2012 Victoria’s Secret is planning to

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open their first location in the United Kingdom with a 16,500

square foot flagship store on Bond Street, London (FragranceX,

2011).

The PINK branch of Victoria’s Secret was founded in 2004 and

marketed towards late teen and college-age women. This brand

sells age appropriate underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, beauty

products, and accessories. The intent is to change buyers into

more adult product lines, such as Angels, Very Sexy, and Body by

Victoria (FragranceX, 2011).

Victoria’s Secret customers are confident, sexy, sultry

women, who want to feel good about them while looking good. The

main target markets of Victoria’s Secret are 25-45 year old

women, with an income higher than $50,000, and a need to look

good or feel good about them. Their lifestyles vary from person

to person, but many are married or dating, employed, and have

children (Morris, 2006).

The New Brand: Baby Secret

The goal of Baby Secret is to create new lifelong customers

with our new line of clothing. This new line should add a new

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dimension to Victoria’s Secret product mix. By designing this

new line of baby clothing for newborns and toddlers, Victoria’s

Secret can get consumer’s loyalty even before their teen years.

The line will be based on the Victoria’s Secret PINK line, and

include:

Bright colors

Soft cotton materials

Onesies

Sweat suits

Cotton dresses & diaper covers

Baby accessories (hats, booties, socks)

We want to make sure Victoria’s Secret continues to bring high

quality to its customers. To do this they will remain

manufacturing and distributing the Baby Secret products the same

way they do business in every other aspect of the company.

Striving to make consumers feel comfortable and create an

environment that will welcome customers back time and time again.

Quality includes:

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Diversity: We want to continue creating a wide variety of

colors patterns and designs

Superiority: Victoria Secret already has a huge name and

well-organized company in the industry. It is important

they remain held at high regards by their consumers.

New Target Segment

The new target market chosen for the Baby Secret clothing line

are pregnant women, mothers, and young, trendy women. These

categories of women were chosen because each type of woman would

go into Victoria’s Secret already, as well as, each type of women

would have an interest or need to buy baby clothing. By choosing

a target market of young, trendy women, you capture an ideal

Victoria’s Secret customer. If the target segment are already

likely to shop at Victoria’s Secret, you have a better chance of

them accepting and buying the new Baby Secret line. Pregnant

women and mothers would be likely to buy the clothing while they

are in the store shopping for themselves, and young women would

be likely to buy the clothing for nieces or friends’ children.

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The idea behind the Baby Secret line is to help mothers that

shop at Victoria’s Secret. It becomes one stop shopping for them.

It is also about the “look”. Young mom’s can go in the PINK

section and pick out something cute for themselves as well as

something their baby can look cute and possibly match them in.

The baby line would include accessories for the mom’s too such

as:

Blankets,

Diaper bags,

Teething instruments,

Car seat covers,

Bibs, and

Hair bows for girls.

The idea behind this is to sell to the mom’s. It will be

stylish accessories and baby clothes. Initially moms dress their

babies in cute clothing because the mom holds the baby. What the

baby looks like reflects on person holding it. Creating a sense

of style for the mom to carry and show off, the Baby Secret line

will be a huge hit.

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Short-term goals mostly include advertising. Through the

internet, catalogs, magazines, commercials, and word of mouth,

advertising would be easy due to the fact that Victoria’s Secret

already markets their other lingerie and products in these ways.

The costly part about this would be adding new pictures and fonts

for the new baby line. More money would have to be thrown in to

the project because it is a new line, and new idea.

The long-term goals are pretty simple. They include:

Increase revenue

Create longer term loyalty with the new target market

New major competitors that will compete with the Baby Secret

clothing line are:

Gap

Osh Kosh B-Gosh

Children’s Place

Disney

Gymboree

Babies R Us

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Focus Group

The focus group was done on Monday, April 25, 2011 at around

8pm. The focus group was comprised of 6 volunteers who were both

female and in the college. The focus group was a diverse group

of young women from all different heritages and backgrounds. The

women were all between the ages of 18-21, and ranged from

freshman to seniors at Towson University. They were all of

different races from Caucasian to Hispanic, as well as,

Christians and Jews.

The focus group was started with a brief introduction and

explanation of what a focus group is, and why we all were here.

After everyone was settled in their seats, and looked more at

ease, the questioning began. The first question that was asked

was, do you shop at Victoria’s Secret? All of the young women

said that they did shop at Victoria’s Secret. The average amount

they shopped in Victoria’s Secret was to buy 1 bra every 3

months. From this statement, we estimated that on average each

girl shopped at Victoria’s Secret 4-5 times a year. The next

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question asked their attitude about Victoria Secret as a brand.

The consensus was that it was expensive; however, it was thought

that it does last longer than other brands. It was also noted

that the sizing of the clothes was split between very good sizing

and sometimes bad sizing depending on the product line. It was

recommended that you get fitted when you go into the store and

try on anything before you buy it, to avoid inconvenient return

lines. It was also brought up that the Victoria’s Secrets

commercials were very scandalous and didn’t appeal to them. The

topic questions then turned to address the Victoria’s Secret

offspring brand, PINK. All of the girls explained they liked the

PINK brand because it was trendy and comfortable. Although all

of the women liked the PINK brand, only 50% of the women have

actually bought the PINK brand before. All of the women said

they would buy the PINK brand for others, because of the “status”

and “fun” feeling associated with the brand. The question was

then proposed to find out if they would buy PINK brand baby

clothes. All of the interviewees seemed very interested;

however, they did have some stipulations on what would make them

actually purchase. They said there needed to be a noticeable

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difference between the sections, meaning the baby line would have

to be separate from the Victoria’s Secret lingerie and regular

PINK line. Some suggestions to make the baby clothes “simple and

classy” were the logo of the PINK dog, lipstick, smile, and just

the words PINK. In the end, they all thought it was cute and

thought their peers would like the line; however, only 50% of

them would personally buy it for baby girls they know.

Analysis of the Chosen Market Segment

The chosen market segment is to pregnant and young mothers,

and young trendy women. Pregnant women and young mothers are

being targeted because they are younger and trendy themselves,

and have children that would wear the baby clothing line. Young

women are also being targeted to include those that have a family

member or friend who has a little girl and wants to get them

something new and trendy.

The common consumption behaviors and lifestyle of the chosen

market segments are designed for trendy pregnant women and young

women. Pregnant women could sometimes feel negative about

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themselves because of the changes to their body during pregnancy,

and they would go into Victoria’s Secret to make themselves feel

sexy. While in the store they would see this baby clothing line

and be able to pick up a few items while they are there for

themselves. To target the segment of young women, while they are

in the PINK section searching for a new warm up or t-shirt, they

would spot adorable baby clothing and think, “I can get that for

my niece.” The baby line is targeted to young women who are

already shopping for themselves and see that it is convenient to

purchase for others because it is trendy and adorable. All women

who have a baby girl or have a family member or friend having a

baby girl always want to have their baby look and feel the best.

There is sometimes an internal competition with mothers because

they want their children to be in the newest fashions and convey

a sense of status. For these reasons, the PINK baby clothing

line would excel in the chosen target segment because it keeps

the babies cute, classy, and trendy.

This product will have to be strategically placed to make

the consumers decision a positive one. The products need to be

in a clearly defined section away from Victoria’s Secret

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lingerie, or from the normal PINK clothing. The baby clothing

will need to be placed in a remote section by itself so it can be

independent from the rest of the store, and break away from the

sexy and scandalous connotations Victoria’s Secret currently has.

The product placement and promotion also needs to be kept simple,

like the baby line itself, to convey an innocent, classic

feeling. For the baby clothing line, light soft colors and a

simple monogram of PINK, lips, the VS dog, or a smile would be

acceptable. The targeted segments need to feel that the articles

are tasteful and realistic for a baby to wear. The placement of

this product is key in having a successful line and a positive

target market.

Another way to target the segment market is celebrity

endorsement. This would occur in commercials of pregnant

celebrities either buying the baby clothing, or already having

their little girl “decked out” in it. In addition, the Victoria

Secret Angel Miranda Kerr, who is the spokes model for the PINK

brand, could be in a commercial or magazine ad. This commercial

or ad would be her shopping for a fellow Angel Heidi Klum’s baby

girl. The ad would be positive for the segment market because

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Heidi Klum is known as a fashion icon through her modeling as

well as the television show Project Runway. She attracts women

of all generations and attributes. In addition, Miranda Kerr

would be another great spokes model for the brand because she

already is closely related to the PINK brand.

There can be other celebrities that can endorse the PINK

children’s brand by being in commercials and ads, or being a

brand advocate. We could send out samples of the new line to

well-known celebrities to have their children where the clothes

to gradually expose the public to the new line. There are always

women pregnant in the public eye and if we can have them endorse

Victoria’s Secret and the new baby line, the brand will take off.

The consumer buying process has five different levels that

are the bases for consumers wanting to buy our PINK baby clothing

brand. The need recognition and problem awareness is when you

have a child; you want your child to be fashionable and

presentable for the public view. This is where we recognize the

need for trendy baby clothing. The information search is

deciding which distribution channel to find the product you need,

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in this case baby clothing. Baby clothing is sold in retail

stores, online, and in a catalogue. All of these outlets allow

consumers to have a choice of where to purchase and a variety of

different styles. The evaluation of alternatives is

acknowledging there are multiple places to buy trendy clothing

for babies. The Gap, Jill and Jack, and Carters have a

reputation of being classy and fashionable clothing for babies.

However, a woman looking for clothes for her baby girl, and

wanting her baby to be wearing trendy, fashionable clothing,

opens the possibilities of other brands to emerge. There is a

lot of competition in the baby clothing industry, but by being

sold by such a well-established and reputable brand like

Victoria’s Secret, there is sure to be a high want for the

product. The purchase phase is important because after evaluating

all the competitors, customers weighed pros and cons, and decided

that PINK offers more of a classy, trendy image for baby girls.

This part is crucial in order to gain and retain the target

segment for future purchases. The post-purchase evaluation is how

you as the consumer feel about your child being in Victoria

Secret PINK brand baby clothes. If the product is well received

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by customers and society, Victoria’s Secret has a possibility for

extended growth. In addition, if you feel your child is not

stylish, or the brand conveys a negative image, will you have a

negative evaluation of the brand, which may cause cognitive

dissonance and negative word of mouth by the customer (Kenney,

2011).

All in all, Victoria’s Secret using the PINK brand to sell

baby clothing is a positive option for women in the market

segment. They have to uncover what they want in the chosen

product, which is trendy, fashionable, and classy clothing for

their children. Once they have established this is the product

for them they are to evaluate the alternative options at other

stores and make a conscious decision on what they want their

child to be wearing. The purchase point is the key step to

completing the sale with the consumer and selling that PINK

brand. Once the purchase has been made it is the retention and

loyalty you are trying to build with your consumer. The consumer

will take judgments from their peers and society on whether it

was a good decision or not. This will be the point on whether

the brand receives repeat buyers, or the brand name is slandered.

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The goal is to get the society to accept the PINK brand for baby

clothing in order to produce a positive line, and help the store

grow. Loyalty of the product is key for both the customer buying

their child the baby clothing at Victoria’s Secret, and the child

to become a loyal Victoria’s Secret customer when she grows up.

The Victoria Secret brand is expected to grow as a whole with

this baby line, and convert the “one time buyer” to a customer

for life.

Proposed Products

To implement a successful baby line, Victoria’s Secret will

need to pay close attention to not only the clothing they make,

but the message they are sending to consumers with these ideas.

In order to successfully launch this line, with a positive

message, Victoria’s Secret needs to somewhat change the image of

their brand to better fit a “family-friendly” environment, while

maintaining their “sexy” appeal to appease their current target

audience. The new target segment is trendy and fashionable, yet

classic and refined. We have come up with two proposed products

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that Victoria’s Secret could design and implement into their baby

line.

One proposed product to help Victoria’s Secret achieve this

success to the new target segment is a baby onesie. The onesie

would be light pink, reflecting Victoria’s Secret feminine and

playful attitude, and would be designed with a darker pink dog on

the right hand side. This would be a spinoff of the already well-

formed PINK line, but would stay classic, simple, and fresh to

represent the innocence of a young baby. The classic look of this

piece would be a big seller because of its versatility of being

able to be paired with other clothes and colors to form different

outfits, and because of its trendy nature. The packaging of the

onesies would be sold in packs of three for $19.99. This would

give the customer the feel of a bargain for getting “three for

one.” The pricing is important because the product is priced less

expensive than other products in Victoria’s Secret, but priced

more expensive than other onesies at competitors’ stores. This

pricing strategy gives customers the flexibility to buy this

product, while still maintaining a level of establishment and

exclusivity.

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A second proposed product for the Victoria’s Secret baby

line would be a “mommy and me” look, by mimicking a design from

the women’s Victoria’s Secret track suits. The baby “track suit”

would be made of velour with is comfortable and soft. It would

come in many different colors and have many simple, yet classic

designs to choose from. Most importantly, the baby clothes would

be created with matching women’s clothes, so that mother’s could

match their babies. This would appeal to the new target segment

by providing customers with a trendy outfit for their babies and

themselves. The pricing for the baby “track suit” would be

$29.99. This pricing strategy provides customers with a complete

designer outfit for their child at less than $30 dollars. This

would keep Victoria’s Secret high exclusivity with their current

customers and increase their brand equity, while still providing

reasonably priced clothing.

The main points to help Victoria’s Secret in the successful

launch of their baby product line, is to stray away from the

provocative and sexy image from this line that they display now,

keep items reasonably prices, stay trendy and fashion-forward,

and create a need for the product by keeping up an exclusivity

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for the product line. If the proper measures are taken,

Victoria’s Secret baby line will be highly successful with the

new target segment.

Recommendations

When marketing the new Baby Secret line to the new target

market, Victoria’s Secret marketers must be very careful in their

marketing tactics. The current Victoria’s Secret commercials and

ads are considered very “sexy” and sometimes “too much.” Women

and mothers do not want their children to be segmented in the

same group as the regular Victoria’s Secrets thoughts because of

the sometimes, negative connotation to the brand. Victoria’s

Secret marketers must differentiate the new product line,

correctly market to the new target market, market the new line as

fun, classic, fresh, and clean, and correct the negative

connotation of the Victoria’s Secret brand in order gain the new

target segment.

To prevent this from happening, marketers must consider the

4 P’s when establishing a presence with this product. When the

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correct marketing mix is implemented, there is a better shot to

capture the new target segment and earn revenue. The four P’s of

the marketing mix are:

- Product

- Price

- Place

- Promotion

Product is considered the tangible product that is being

sold, in this case the baby clothing line. The product must be

perfected because you need to design something that your target

market will want to buy. Careful consideration must be placed on

colors, design, coverage, material, and the appropriate

connotations the product is conveying. The baby clothing line

will have both soft and bright colors, to exenterate the

“playful” and “childish” side of the line. The designs will be

classic, simple, and in good taste, but still staying true to the

Victoria’s Secret PINK line that everyone has know to love. The

material will be made of pima cotton, which is the softest part

of the cotton plant, to ensure a soft feel for even the most

sensitive skin.

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Price is the next element in the marketing mix. Price is

also a very important attribute when finding how to market to the

new market segment. The price of the products in the new baby

clothing line must not be too expensive, but must also not be too

cheap. The careful pricing balance of the products must have

people able to afford them, but also not compromise the integrity

of the brand. Victoria’s Secret is known for more expensive

clothing and lingerie, and many people like the brand because it

is more exclusive than Wal-Mart or Target. This high exclusivity

makes it imperative that the pricing of the new baby clothing

line fits in the same pricing strategy as the rest of Victoria’s

Secret. We want the new target market to be able to afford the

baby line without the feeling of cognitive dissonance, but we

must also stay true to the Victoria’s Secret exclusivity.

Place is the third element of the marketing mix. Placement

refers to where the products will be placed in the Victoria’s

Secret store. Placement is very important in this situation

because the placement of this product could make, or break the

new clothing line. When the focus group was interviewed, they

made it very clear that they would buy the baby clothing line if,

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and only if, it was obviously separate from Victoria’s Secret

itself. The baby line would have to have its own “out cove” like

the PINK section has, adjacent to the Victoria’s Secret store.

This way, it would be separate enough so that the feeling of sexy

and sultry would not be in the customers’ heads when shopping

around for baby clothes. The clothes would be both hung and

folded, as to show the full outfit, size, and length of the

garments. The retail store would also have mannequins

demonstrating how the clothes look on both babies and toddlers,

and fun activities for children to do while their mothers are

shopping in the store. We plan to have the Baby Secret line start

off as a brick-and-mortar store only first, and eventually expand

into the online e-commerce market after it is more well

established.

The last element of the marketing mix is promotion.

Promotion refers to the communications a marketer uses in the

marketplace. Various promotion elements include public relations,

advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion. The promotion

techniques used for the Baby Secret line would be, public

relations, celebrity endorsements, various banner ads,

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commercials, and arguable most important, word of mouth.

Victoria’s Secret will need to place commercials and ads in busy

places and on TV to make the audience aware of the new line.

There is also a plan to use pregnant celebrities or celebrities

that are mothers to endorse the baby line. By doing this, trendy

mothers will see the celebrities using the product line on their

own children, and in turn, be more inclined to buy the product

for their own children. The different promotional techniques are

being used in order to facilitate the importance of word of mouth

promotion.

The Victoria’s Secret, Baby Secret clothing line would be a

great extensive of the already popular store. There is an obvious

need for the product, with the increasing number of babies being

born and the recent trendiness of baby clothing. If marketed

correctly, Baby Secret will be a huge success and increase

Victoria’s Secret brand equity and reputation.

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Appendix A

References:

FragranceX. (2011). FragranceX. History and Background of Victoria’s Secret. Retrieved by

http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_bid_Victoria--Secret-am-cid_perfume-am- lid_V__brand_history.html.

Kenney, Tim. (2011). EZArticles. Consumer Buying Decision-Making Process. Retrieved by

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Consumer-Purchase-Decision-Making- Process&id=508342.

Morris, Barry. (2006 June 13). The Spotlight Blog. Victoria’s Secret Plays Marketing Ball.

Retrieved from http://barrymorris.blogspot.com/2006/06/victorias-secret-plays-

marketing-ball.html.

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Appendix B

Primary Data:

Interview Questions & Participant Answers-

Question 1: Do you shop at Victoria Secret?

Interviewee 1: Yes

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Interviewee 2: Yes, but not every often

Interviewee 3: Yes

Interviewee 4: Yes

Interviewee 5: Yes

Interviewee 6: Yes, but only sometimes

Question 2: What do you think about Victoria Secret?

Interviewee 1: Expensive

Interviewee 2: They have good and bad bra sizes

Interviewee 3: Last longer than any other brand

Interviewee 4: Expensive

Interviewee 5: Expensive

Interviewee 6: Last longer than any other brand

Question 3: How often do you buy from Victoria Secret?

Interviewee 1: Buy 1 every 3 months

Interviewee 2: Buy once a month

Interviewee 3: Buy every other month

Interviewee 4: Buy 1 every 3 months

Interviewee 5: Buy every other month

Interviewee 6: Buy 1 every 3 months

Question 4: What do you think about the PINK brand?

Interviewee 1: Trendy

Interviewee 2: Comfortable

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Interviewee 3: Bright and Vibrant

Interviewee 4: Fashionable

Interviewee 5: Comfortable

Interviewee 6: Trendy

Question 5: Do you buy from the PINK brand?

Interviewee 1: Yes

Interviewee 2: Yes

Interviewee 3: No

Interviewee 4: Yes

Interviewee 5: No

Interviewee 6: No

Question 6: Would you buy the PINK line for others?

Interviewee 1: Yes

Interviewee 2: Yes

Interviewee 3: Yes

Interviewee 4: Yes

Interviewee 5: Yes

Interviewee 6: Yes

Question 7: Would you buy baby clothing based off the PINK brand?

Interviewee 1: Yes, but with hesitations

Interviewee 2: Absolutely yes

Interviewee 3: Maybe

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Interviewee 4: Yes

Interviewee 5: Yes, but with stipulations

Interviewee 6: Yes

Question 8: What would you suggest to make this line more appealing?

Interviewee 1: Make the line a noticeable different section of the store, away from lingerie and PINK

Interviewee 2: Has to be simple in style

Interviewee 3: Noticeable separation between areas in store

Interviewee 4: Small logos: dog, lipstick, smile, or PINK

Interviewee 5: Simple style with small logos

Interviewee 6: Separation in store

Question 9: Would you actually buy the PINK brand baby clothing?

Interviewee 1: Yes

Interviewee 2: Absolutely yes

Interviewee 3: No

Interviewee 4: Yes, but if the stipulations were took into consideration

Interviewee 5: No

Interviewee 6: No

Question 10: Do you think your peers would by the PINK brand babyclothing?

Interviewee 1: Yes

Interviewee 2: Yes because it is cute and trendy

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Interviewee 3: Yes

Interviewee 4: Yes

Interviewee 5: Yes it is fashionable

Interviewee 6: Yes absolutely