A strong brand is a valuable asset for modern companies. Victoria’s Secret is an American lingerie company that has had a well established and successful brand for years. However, the company’s net sales and market share have been decreasing since 2016. The company has also received criticism for creating unattainable beauty standards and excluding women with different appearances. In recent years, the brand has made changes in their marketing. This might be an attempt to increase revenues again and to gain lost market shares back. However, the numbers have continued to decrease, which indicates that the new strategy has not been very successful. The questions that the study intends to answer are how Victoria's Secret’s marketing has changed between 2016 and 2022 and why the new marketing strategy does not seem to be successful. The purpose of the study is to increase the comprehension of possible challenges that can arise in the process of trying to change an already established brand. This is a qualitative, interpretive study that uses a method called semiotic content analysis. The semiotic content analysis was used to analyze how the brand’s advertising images have changed. The results from the semiotic studies were then analyzed through some theories and earlier studies on the subject, to find possible explanations to why the rebranding does not seem to have created the expected results. The study found that Victoria’s Secret’s marketing has become less sensual, aesthetic and fantasy-like. Instead it has become more inclusive and oriented towards comfort, relatability and self-esteem. The study further presents a couple of possible explanations to why the new branding concept does not seem to have become successful, according to a couple theories on the subject. The explanations that were found was that the company does not seem to have achieved a congruence between the brand’s new identity and the brand image, that the changes might not be perceived as authentic and that the brand can no longer capitalize on an idealized identity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:sh-52188 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Ström, Vendela, Bchara, Nathalie |
| Publisher | Södertörns högskola, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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