This one from Miami Ad School (via I Believe in Advertising) takes a nice angle on the basic promise of expensive lingerie: that it's actually sexier to wear a little bit of fashion than nothing at all. And then it uses QR codes on apparently naked models to sucker (presumably) men into spending time with the message.
As I said, I presume the target is men who will then be aroused into buying VC frilly underthings for their beloveds.
According to Wikipedia, "Victoria's Secret was started in San Francisco, California, in 1977 by Tufts University and Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Roy Raymond, who felt embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in a department store environment."
But that was the '70s. What about now? According to the She-conomy blog, 85% of branded purchases are made by women. And sales are up at VC. Are those increases still being driven by men who want their wives or girlfriends to look like underwear models?
A case study for an online campaign (found on Slideshare) implies that men are still the target. However, a couple of years ago VC also launched "PINK" — a line targeted directly at teen and pre-teen (!) girls.
This is where I will give the opinion that these student ads are off. Because while sexy print ads, catalogues and online fashion shows attract aspirational female consumers as well as horny dudes, how many straight women are going to publicly lift up their iPhone at a billboard in the hope of seeing another woman's bare tits and ass? It's a pretty exclusive appeal. And I'm betting that young women are the brand's future.
As a publicity stunt though, admittedly it would keep the brand in the headlines.
What do you think? Are men still buying most of the lingerie?
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