Victoria Secret is renowned lingerie retailer in America. It also sells beauty products and women wear through its many stores in U.S. The company is also known for its wide use of catalog and website to sell its products (Prezi 1). The business is expanding to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio is a vibrant economy that can support most of the businesses especially in apparel. Some of the factors which have made Victoria Secret to open up a new line at Rio de Janeiro include globalization and democratization of culture in a constantly growing middle class economy (Baitel para 3). Although this market is presenting a very good opportunity for many companies, very few are positioning themselves appropriately to grab it. Victoria Secret is an exception and has a new brand to test in this economy.
Brand
Victoria Secret has the pink brand. This is a lingerie line which is aimed at introducing teenage girls to Victoria Secret business stores. Previously the company has given much emphasis on adult lingerie. Owing to the fact that lingerie is only popular with adult females the company had inadequate market for its products. Pink is a transitional product that is aimed at introducing young people to adult product lines. Under this brand, Victoria Secret is selling products like sleepwear, beauty products, Loungewear, underwear and accessories. The brand is registered under the name PINK and the company will open a standalone store at Rio de Janeiro (Strauss 159). All products which will be sold under this line will be labeled under Pink name. For example, there will be PINK’s Underwear, PINK’s Pajamas, and PINK’s Swimsuits etc. This will give the products a new appeal which is aimed to lure more customers into the stores. The PINK brand will also do the unusual in apparel industry. It will issue warranties on accessories such as earrings, bangles, necklaces, nail extensions and the like. The warranty period will range from two weeks to three months depending on the type of accessory. The warranty procedures are aimed at assuring customers of the quality of the products. However, these warranties will be under specific terms and conditions, a breach of which the warrant will be ineffective.
Market positioning
The Pink brand targets youths of 15 to 22 years of age. This demography has been left out by companies dealing with lingerie (ATKearney para 6). Rio de Janeiro has been culturally influenced by visitors who come from different parts of the world and the community has accepted lingerie across demographic groups. Introducing this brand comes at the very right time when the youths are taking up the behaviors of adults and have been granted the freedom to choose what they want to wear especially when partying and for leisure. The youth in Rio de Janeiro are also becoming financially reliable. Most of them can work while still schooling while others have enough savings by themselves or through their guardians from their childhood which enable them do their shopping freely. After identifying this market niche, Victoria Secret is introducing this Brand in this new market with intentions to differentiate itself from competitors through product and service quality (Ferrell and Hartline 258). The company also has established internet marketing and selling platform which will enable it reach potential customers all over the city.
Competitors and Promotions
The lingerie market has several competitors in Brazil and in Rio de Janeiro. However, Victoria Secret with its Pink Brand is among the three companies which are targeting the 15 to 22 years old demographic. The other two includes American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch. Other distant but influential competitors are the GapBody. GapBody is a lingerie market competitor but has not invested in products targeting the 15 to 22 demographic groups (Ferrell and Hartline 258). Victoria Secret is rolling out marketing strategies to improve its competitive edge. The company has a college line through which it will partner with university in athletics and give out PINK products to be used. This will bring about brand recognition which is paramount in the competition. The company will also launch various promotions to reach the young people all over Rio de Janeiro. It will make use of its website marketing tool and social media advertising to make potential consumers aware of the Pink Brand. Social media like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook are of high use amongst the young people aged 15-22 years (Madura 70).
Pricing Strategy
Victoria Secret pricing strategy begins with maintaining a high profit margin for the Pink products. This will emanate from its constant effort to improve quality and reduce operation and production costs. The prices for Pink brand will also be considerably lower to make them affordable since the target customers do not have constant income. The pricing will also be done in consideration of competitors. They are competitively priced against competition for the quality and quantity. Discounts will be offered on large quantities purchased once on all accessories (Strauss 158). Those customers who orders large quantities and also manage to pay promptly will also be accorded a special discount. This pricing strategy will maximize sales to raise the business profitability.
Work Cited
ATKearney. Global Retailers: Cautiously Aggressive or Aggressively Cautious? 2013. Accessed on 2nd Dec 2013 <http://www.atkearney.com/consumer-products-retail/global-retail-development-index/full-report/-/asset_publisher/oPFrGkbIkz0Q/content/2013-global-retail-development-index/10192#sthash.WUk62JdT.dpuf>
Baitel, Shai. Uplifting Art in Rio de Janeiro. 2013. Accessed on 2nd Dec 2013 < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shai-baitel/uplifting-art-in-rio-de-j_b_3934477.html>
Ferrell, O C, and Michael D. Hartline. Marketing Strategy: Text and Cases. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.
Madura, Jeff. Introduction to Business. Mason, OH: Thompson/South-Western, 2007. Print.
Prezi. Victoria Secret, Company Profile. 2013. Accessed on 2nd Dec 2013 <http://prezi.com/g1yjgbgjsced/victoria-secret/>
Strauss, Ralf E. Marketing Planning by Design: Systematic Planning for Successful Marketing Strategy. Chichester, England: Wiley, 2008. Internet resource.
