THE ANGEL EFFECT: New woke Victoria's Secret struggles as Megan Rapinoe and Priyanka Chopra fail to impress
Victoria's Secret is a luxury lingerie brand that was notorious for its 'Angels' - a lineup of the most famous supermodels of all time to represent the brand. However, most recently in 2021, the brand decided to 'chop off the wings' and thus cancelled out some its famous angels after seeing a slump in numbers. The brand had been struggling with deteriorating numbers for quite some time, which led it to introduce a whole different lineup of the 'VS Collective' as an intent to cater to 'What Women Want.'
This included seven women who are famous for their acheivements and not their 'Barbie Doll' physique, which was the initial USP of the brand. However, this decision that initially seemed like a working idea brought more backlash to the brand than good. As the lineup had some names that have been on the bad side of the audience, the brand did not see a great progress; in turn, it witnessed a drop of 6% in the sales for their second quarter of 2022.
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For the longest time, the brand that was founded in 1977 had been catering to the idea of Playboy fantasies and 'sexy' Barbie-like bodies. Keeping this in mind, the brand had their lineup of 'Angels' consisting of leading supermodels to represent their image. However, according to the New York Times, the former head of Victoria’s Secret’s international business, Martin Waters, said, "When the world was changing, we were too slow to respond. We needed to stop being about what men want and to be about what women want.”
This led to the formation of a group of seven women called 'VS Collective' - Megan Rapinoe, a soccer star and gender equity campaigner, Eileen Gu, a Chinese American freestyle skier and soon-to-be Olympian, Paloma Elsesser, a biracial model and inclusivity advocate who also calls herself “a 29-year-old mixed Black fem in a size 14 body,” and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, an Indian actor and tech investor. These names would be the advisers and promoters of the brand.
This lineup gave company hopes of redeeming its image; and it did seem like a case in the second quarter of 2021 when sales went up. However, it did not last long as the second quarter of 2022 saw a slump of 6% in their sales which is a huge deal for a brand with a turnover in billions. The brand also seemed to miss out on operating income - costing about $300 million to $350 million.
When it comes to a brand's success or downfall, there are various aspect that comes to play. Priyanka Chopra and Megan Rapinoe especially have been on the bad side of the auidence, however judging by the brand's performance after the decision, putting the entire blame on the spokepeople does not quite seem to answer all the questions. The brand had anyway been witnessing a struggle with their sales since 2010s and this decision did not bring out a lot of results either. The plunge in the sales has outpaced the hike in 2021.
Some fans also mentioned that the brand could have focused on the practical aspects like expanding sizes, rather than switching people that represent the brand. Lingerie expert Cora Harrington shared her opinion on Twitter and said, "I was having dinner with a friend, so my thoughts on this: 1) Any rebrand without a size expansion is DOA. 2) I don’t think this new VS Council or whatever it’s called will change Victoria’s secret brand credibility. It might hurt the image of those associated with it though."
I was having dinner with a friend, so my thoughts on this:
— Cora Harrington (@lingerie_addict) June 17, 2021
1) Any rebrand without a size expansion is DOA.
2) I don’t think this new VS Council or whatever it’s called will change Victoria’s secret brand credibility. It might hurt the image of those associated with it though. https://t.co/T1YQZTpwzp
Conclusively, in spite of what some may believe, spokespeople like Megan and Priyanka could not be blamed for the entire downfall keeping in mind there are other factors that play a significant roles. The locations (active and closed) or the stocks in the store are also important. Regardless, everyone is free to judge and deduce the fault in the marketing plans of Victoria's Secret and its affects on the company's future.