VS website is run as a separate business unit from VS retail (stores). Therein lies the problem. Customers see the brand as one, but the two business units aren’t always in sync with one another.

I’m in grad school at FSU (the big one in Florida), and with this being a rather large college town they have tended to stick to the college demographic. However, they are now carrying a nursing bra (our store is one of only a few test stores for it), so that does point to a shift in product development. (Not sure how they will have one of the Angels Models advertise that on TV or in the catalog) As well, they are also selling a new panty under the “Angels” line called the “Starlet panty.” It’s super high-waisted, I think it looks dreadful, even on the models.
Thought I would just throw my opinion into the hat since I stumbled on the blog while working on marketing homework.
(I am in Art Administration and taking a marketing class for the arts, just happened to google VS and marketing terms to see what I came across)

Guys – do you agree with Lisa Daily that Victoria’s Secret is targeting you?

I think you ask the key question – who is V.S’s audience? I think when they started out, it was women. In my opinion, they were going after women who wanted to feel sophisticated and sexy – who wanted nice everyday underwear, and maybe a few pieces that were a little more “special occassion” worthy.

Lenore Skenazy has a fabulous article in Ad Age about this very sujbect. She quotes Lisa Daily about who VS’s audience really is.

“The problem, says Lisa Daily, author of the soon-to-be-published “Fifteen Minutes of Shame,” is that about a decade ago Victoria’s Secret shifted from being a store for women to being a store for men. “The catalogs got smuttier, the TV ads looked like network-approved lap-dances and the Super Bowl ads just ticked us off,” she says. “My lingerie-buying friends and I started buying our delicates somewhere a little less icky.”

Lenore agrees. She thinks the problem isn’t that VS is too sexy, but that it is too trashy.

“I’m trying to think of something trashier than Victoria’s Secret, and all I can come up with is preteen pole-dancing classes at the Y, which I don’t think actually exist. (Yet.) The place is, in short, trashapalooza. If trash were a country, Victoria’s Secret would be its Epcot — a ham-handed celebration of all its most trashy elements.”

I don’t know if Victoria’s Secret actively made a decision to target men instead of women, but it might explain why women (who I would imagine are the core buyers of underwear and lingerie) aren’t resonating with the store anymore.

I look forward to my business trips to the States (I am from the UK and fit the “young” later 30’s age group, with disposable income, demographic). The one hour of shopping I give myself out of my schedule, takes me stright into three shops, one of which happens to be VS.

I just got back from my trip this week, empty handed. Instead of the usual discreet and calming experience I used to have, I was greeted by a window of stuffed dogs, met by a headset wearing, gum chewing individual, and couldn’t make out where I was supposed to look amidst the array of colour, frills and somewhat disorganised layout of the store. Needless to say – I walked straight back out!

Do you think that this leaves an opportunity for companies like Jockey.com (that still targets women over 30 years old) to take some of that market share that V.S. has left behind?

I run a series of slides, where I show participants about seven slides. Each of the slides contains a well-known brand. I localise the brand, so that if the workshop is in New Zealand, the brands are Kiwi brands. If it’s in the US, it’s US brands.

And we find consistent answers when we ask three core questions:
1) Who is their target market?
2) What problem do they solve?
3) What is their solution?

When these questions are asked, you’ll find that some brands are rigorous about answering the questions, while others simply cause confusion. The core of marketing lies with those three questions. If you ever have to audit your marketing at a moment’s notice, then you’ll need absolutely clarity on those three issues.

The clarity is important for a simple reason. It splits your audience into:
1) Customers
2) Non-customers.

And interestingly enough, non-customers are vital to the mix, because it keeps them away from your product, and attracts only those who are interested in the product. When you have customers that kinda detest your product/service, you’re actually doing quite well.

With this in mind, we would need to evaluate whether:
1) Who is Victoria’s Secret customers?
2) Whether they have kept that customer profile consistent?
3) Whether their customers are clear about that message or not.

The problem is always going to lie in whether they know, and audit who they’re talking to at all times. If they don’t have a clear understanding of the exact person they’re talking to, that’s where the problem begins.

Sean
http://www.psychotactics.com

could I be so bold as to suggest you send them a boxload of copies of “The Soccer Mom Myth.”

HerRoom.com – I really like the “Bra Finder” feature on the top right – the choices in the “Feature or Style” dropdown are really helpful. Good job.

Holly

My blog: http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/

You’re basically their target market. How are they doing in meeting your needs? What else can they add to appeal to you?