The purpose of this study was to analyze the rebrand of Victoria's Secret through a consumer perspective. We focused on Instagram, since this platform enables communication between the company and consumer. By analyzing the opinions found in the comment section under the post announcing the rebrand, we were able to see how the new direction was perceived by consumers. Previous research has shown that consumers today have higher expectations of the companies they interact with, which we believe could be another contributing factor to Victoria's Secret’s new identity.  Through a thematic analysis, we were able to find patterns in which opinions were expressed, and then we categorized the opinions into themes. We located three main themes: opinions about the rebrand, identity/image, and corporate responsibility. Our thematic analysis shows that most of the opinions found in the comment section were negative; the Instagram users grieved the old Victoria's Secret and specifically the loss of the Angels. There were also positive reactions expressing gratitude towards the new direction, and neutral comments wanting something more in line with the former identity. To add more depth to our study, we decided to perform a semiotic analysis of two campaigns before and after the rebrand. We perceived that the first one, published in 2019, focused more on portraying the “perfect” woman, while the second one, published in 2022, allowed more of the woman's personality and strength to shine through.  Our conclusion is that Victoria's Secret’s rebrand has been received with mixed reactions. One thing that was made very clear to us is how knowledgeable today's media users are and how they are not afraid to speak up. In the comment section under our chosen post, it showed that the Instagram users strategically chose their expressions and found support in other users with similar opinions. With this in mind, we believe that if a company is to make a similar change today, it is crucial that they listen to and involve their customers.

Advertising constantly surrounds us in different ways and it affects us in our everyday lives. The underwear industry has often been criticized for sexist and excluding advertisements and women has often been depicted in a stereotyped way. Today marketing has become more inclusive, as diversity of people in advertisements has become a hot topic of discussion. It is interesting to examine this topic out of a Swedish context as it in many ways is a country that is on the cutting edge when it comes to inclusion and diversity. This study aims to, based on images and commercials from Victoria’s Secret Sweden and Lindex, examine how and in what ways inclusion and exclusion depicts in female underwear advertising. Our theoretical framework consists of following theories: representation, stereotyping, intersectionality, and following terms: norm, norm creativity and femininity. Our analysis is made with semiotic image analysis as the chosen method. The main conclusion of this study is that our material included women with different skin colors and ethnicities, and partly women with varying body types and ages. People with visible disabilities was excluded from the advertisements. Factors such as class, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, gender identity and invisible disabilities we could not distinguish, which made it impossible for us to assess whether these groups was included or excluded in the advertisements. Thus, the advertisements was both including and excluding, however we question whether it is possible for companies to include all types of groups and people in their advertisements.

I denna uppsats tittar jag på utdrag av Victoria’s Secrets och Savage x Fentys bildflöden på Instagram, för att med hjälp av en semiotisk analys se hur de representerar kvinnlighet som en del av deras marknadsföring. Syftet är att undersöka skillnaden mellan märkenas visuella varumärkesbyggande, och hur det står i samband till konsumenters personliga identitetsbyggande. Resultatet analyseras utifrån litteraturstudier i form av vald teori kring representation, genus, distinktion, klass och märkeskultur. I min slutsats kommer jag fram till att de två märkena använder sig av liknande tecken som är olika kodade för att referera till kvinnlighet, och därför genererar olika budskap. På så sätt utvecklar de två flödena kulturella särdrag som konsumenter kan ta till sig som en del av sitt personliga varumärkesbyggande. / In this paper I examine excerpts from Victoria’s Secret’s and Savage x Fenty’s feeds on Instagram with the help of a semiotic analysis in order to see how they each represent women as a part of their marketing. The purpose is to investigate the difference between the two brand’s visual branding, and how it correlates to consumer’s personal branding. The result is then analysed with the help of selected theories regarding representation, gender, distinction, class and brand culture. In my conclusion I conclude that the two brands use similar signs that are coded differently to refer to femininity, and thus generates different messages. The two brands thus develop cultural characteristics that consumers can adopt as part of their personal branding.