Victoria’s Secret, known for its signature, thin and gorgeous models with an almost unattainable barbie like physique, is going through a major rebranding. The thin models are now being replaced by seven trailblazing women who are popular for their achievements and not necessarily the body type.
This group of seven remarkable women will now serve as the brand ambassadors as well as brand advisors for the brand. This group has come to be known as the “VS Collective”. The seven new brand ambassadors are Megan Rapinoe, Eileen Gu, Paloma Elessar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Amanda de Cadenet, Valentina Sampaio, and Adut Akech.
Along with the new brand ambassadors and the brand advisors, Victoria’s secret also introduced a new team of executives and a new board of directors that is predominantly female. The new members promise to work towards creating new content, product lines and programs.
These new brand ambassadors will also raise issues concerning women such as the company’s new breast cancer fundraising initiative known as the VS Global Fund for Women’s Cancers.
Raising Issues
Being an equal pay and LGBTQ activist, Megan Rapinoe believed that the previous Victoria’s Secret was in its ways hurtful, patriarchal and sexist. She quotes on the VS Collective website, that she is thrilled to be working on creating a space that regards the true spectrum of all women.
Previously, in January 2021, the Gap brand, Athleta, carried out an initiative to expand its activewear collection to be inclusive and include larger sizes as well. In March 2021, L’Oreal also did something along the same lines. It rebranded its hair care line called Matrix to make it more racially inclusive.
A similar move was carried out by Estee Lauder by launching a program that was focused on more talent diversity, equal hiring practices and more. This makes Victoria’s Secret, not the first brand that is undergoing an image overhaul and choosing to be an ambassador of a more inclusive message around body types and race. Nevertheless, the effort is much welcome.
A Much-Needed Step
Melissa Hibbert, a beauty brand consultant suggested that this move by Victoria’s Secret was a critical one as these days the expectations of the consumers demand more inclusion around all body types and all races in the products of the brands that they consume.
Encouraging feeling comfortable and attractive in your skin rather than men’s opinions or validation is an underlying principle behind the feelings of the consumers. According to Hibbert, because of the recent controversy linked to the brand and it is an association with a fixed specific look for so long, having to have a new face, or rather multiple new faces, that reflect the world is a much crucial step for the brand to take if it wishes to survive and retain its equity.
Inspired by a similar and successful rebranding done by Dove, with its Dove Real Beauty Campaign, that was launched by Unilever in 2004, in which the brand made a bold move at the time and unveiled a line-up of racially diverse and different body type models, which was considered a pretty revolutionary move back in the day. Cynthia Johnson, founder of a marketing firm believes a lot of brands look up to Dove.
According to Johnson, Dove set the tone with the beauty campaign it launched and showed to the world that the majority of the world comprises of average-sized people and not an extreme direction or the other. It showed the world that you could sell reality and not a dream and have a positive advertising campaign for the same. It empowers customers and most certainly works.
According to a report from Mintel, 63 per cent of Americans feel more drawn towards brands that encourage and employ inclusivity in their advertisements and that 73 per cent of the participants of the survey feel majorly influenced by the beauty industry in regards to their insecurities.
Customers now are shopping with their values and not just with their eyes, says Jodi Katz, founder of Base Beauty Creative Agency. She believes in the coming times, it’s certainly not enough to just occupy space in the mall but to give a reason to the customers that choosing their brand is the right and purpose-driven choice for them.
Better Late than Never
Victoria’s Secret recently admitted that they were perhaps slow in responding to the changing times. According to Becca Post, founder of a branding company, it will take a huge and comprehensive effort by the brand to ensure that the rebrand seems authentic and to sustain customer trust.
At the same time, it is believed that Victoria’s Secret will start seeing the positive results this rebranding will bring in. Companies are expected to be more adaptable and proactive with their rebranding and not wait until their sales start dipping.
They shouldn’t wait for a crisis to improve their branding and image and make them more inclusive.
Written by - Rishika Taneja
Edited by - Piyush Pandey
Edited by - Piyush Pandey
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