Final project for Advertising 126: Media Planning & Buying San Jose State University Fall 2013

1. Media Plan
Isadora Busch
Advertising 126
Professor Tim Hendrick
December 3, 2013

2. Table of Contents
1.
Overview
2.
History
3.
Situation Analysis
4.
SWOT Analysis
5.
Competitors
6.
Target Audience
7.
Budget
8.
Reach
9.
Frequency
10.
Geography
11.
Media Mix
12.
Media Vehicles
13.
Media Objective/ Strategies
14.
Reflection
Victoria’s Secret Media Plan

3. Overview:
Victoria’s Secret is part of the Limited Brands Company. It is based out of
Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Victoria’s Secret specializes in lingerie, swimwear, beauty
products, sleepwear, hosiery, etc. Currently operating 1,000+ stores in 49 states,
Puerto Rico, and Canada, the company generated $6.12 billion of revenue in 2012.
Victoria’s Secret consists of Victoria’s Secret PINK, Victoria’s Secret Beauty, and
Victoria’s Secret. .
History:
Roy Raymond, a Stanford Graduate School of Business student, founded
Victoria’s Secret in 1977. Raymond felt embarrassed when shopping for lingerie for
his wife in a department store setting. Raymond opened the first Victoria’s Secret
store in Palo Alto. The store was meant to create a comfortable environment for both
men and women with wood-paneled walls, Victorian details, and helpful sales staff.
Instead of racks full of lingerie with every size, Victoria’s Secret featured single styles
hung on the wall in frames. After men picked out the style, sales staff would pull the
correct size out of the back inventory.
In 1982, just five years after the first store opened, Raymond sold the
Victoria’s Secret company to The Limited. At the time of the sale, Victoria’s Secret
had six stores, a 42-page catalogue, and grossed $6 million a year. The Limited
rapidly expanded Victoria’s Secret into U.S. malls during the 1980’s. Victoria’s
Secret started offering a wider range of products including shoes, evening wear, and

4. perfumes through its catalogue, which was issued eight times a year.
By the early 1990’s, Victoria’s Secret was the largest American lingerie
retailer and sales reached $1 billion. Victoria’s Secret gained notoriety in the 1990’s
when they started using supermodels in their advertisements. The Victoria’s Secret
Fashion Show began in 1995 and was broadcasted on primetime television. The
annual show has elaborate custom lingerie, music, and set designs. Celebrities and
entertainers attend the show every year.
In 2007, Limited Brands sold 75 percent of The Limited clothing chain to Sun
Capital Partners in order to focus more attention to Victoria’s Secret and Bath &
Body Works, which accounted for 72 percent of revenue in 2006. As of January
2013, there were 1,019 Victoria’s Secret stores in the United States.
Situation Analysis:
Although historically the lingerie industry has been a very resilient sector both
for brands and retailers, its revenue fell during the recession in 2008 as consumers
started to purchase less expensive basic lingerie items or shopped from discount
retailers, mass merchandisers, and e-commerce retailers.
In the years since the recession, however, the lingerie industry has begun to
recover it had an estimate 3% revenue gain during 2012
Over the next five years, conditions are set to improve for the lingerie
industry. By 2017, the lingerie industry is estimated to be worth $30.55billion. From
2012 to 2017, the unemployment rate is expected to slowly trend down, reaching
6.1% by 2017. With more favorable employment trends, per capita disposable

5. income is expected to rise at an average annual rate of 2.3%, allowing consumers to
increasingly splurge on higher-end lingerie items. The industry will, however, face
increasing external competition from discount retailers, mass merchandisers and ecommerce retailers that are expected to continue expanding their lingerie lines.
Currently, Limited Brands Inc. dominates the industry with its established
brand Victoria's Secret and absorbs about 42.7% of the market. Frederick's of
Hollywood, the second largest operator and another established lingerie brand, trails
far behind, absorbing about 1.0% of the market.
S.W.O.T. Analysis:
Strengths
o Strong brand presence with over 1,000 stores across the United States
o Established and well-known brand
o Victoria’s Secret offers higher quality products than most of its
competitors
o Well-executed advertising and marketing strategies

Top notch models as brand ambassadors, Victoria’s Secret
“Angels”, help brand to stand out among other intimate apparel
brands

Annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show helps create brand
awareness
o The company’s sub-brand Pink targeting teenagers and young adults
has been a great success among such audience
o Strong online presence: they have active blogs, social media profiles,

6. and catalogues to create awareness about their product lines;
o Their catalogue has been around for many years and it helps the brand
to reach men, and consumers living in more isolated areas of the
country; as well as create a more intimate relationship with the
consumers.
Weaknesses:
o Limited size selection
o High priced
o Their product selection is not offered at all locations; some locations
have very limited choices
o Association with top notch models (Victoria’s Secret Angels) causes
many women to feel intimidated by not having the “perfect” body to
wear Victoria’s Secret
o Company has limited lines of products
Opportunities:
o Introduction of plus size line for their products
o Extension of its portfolio by foraying into different lines to expand its
offering
o Stronger involvement on social issues such as anorexia, body
dysmorphia, and negative self image in women to show consumers
that VS cares about the women’s health, and that one doesn’t need to
be as skinny as the VS Angels to be beautiful or to wear their lingerie
o Expand its presence on mobile:

7. 
Improve its current app by making it more interactive and
friendly;

Possibly launching an exclusive app only for the VS Fashion
Show, so consumers can interact with the brand before, during,
and after the show
Threats:
o High marketing clutter
o Intense competition in the category
o Many competitors offer lower price for similar products
o Several competitors and low-involvement purchase decision may
cause consumers to switch brands frequently
o Fake imitation and replicas
Competitors:
Frederick’s of Hollywood
Department Stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.)
Sara Lee
Chain clothing stores (Aerie by American Eagle, Gap Body by Gap, etc.)
Target Audience:
Demographics
o Adults (61% female, 39% male)
o Aged 18-49
o Middle and Upper-Middle Class

8. o 70% Caucasian, 13% Hispanic, 9% African-American, 7%Asian, 1%
Other
o 51% Married, 44.1% Single, 4.9% Separated/Divorced
o 58.8% Have one or more children, 41.2% Don’t have children
Psychographics
o High brand loyalty
o Heavy shoppers
o 66% consider themselves impulsive buyers
o High TV, Internet, and magazine involvement
o Conscious about their body and physical appearance
o Engaged in some sort of physical activity; 69.2% exercise regularly
o Prefer mixed drinks
o Favorite season: Summer (44%)
o VALS: Experiencers
Budget:
$300 million
Reach:
75%
Frequency:
4.0

9. Geography:
Top 20 Spot Markets
Nationally
Media Mix:
Must Use
o Television

VS products are very visual. Lingerie is much more appealing
when you can see how it would look like when you put it on.
Thus television is a medium that offers a great visual aspect for
the product.

With television you can advertise directly to your target
audience by choosing a program with the same target audience

TV has a low cost per thousand (CPM) exposures
o Magazines

Magazines allow the consumers to view the product for as long
as they want.

Print is high quality which allows consumers to see the colors,
the style, and take a more detailed look at the product

High ability to select audience of ads and align with target
audience

10. 
Long shelf life with high pass along readership, good for
multiple exposures
o Internet

VS audience is relatively young and very savvy with societal
trends

Internet allows VS to engage in a more personal, friendly
conversation with consumers

It is a way for VS to stay young and up to date

Internet will help VS to be a part of its consumers daily life
o Direct Mail

Very exclusive and personal, helps consumers to relate to the
brand in a meaningful way

It is a way of getting consumers to go to the stores even if that
wasn’t one of their priorities at the time

It is a way to stay in touch and generate brand loyalty
o Outdoors

VS target audience exercise regularly and participate in various
social activities

Their income allows them to own cars and drive to school,
work, the mall, anywhere, everyday

Outdoors are a way of getting their attention as they perform
such activities
Must Not Use
o Newspapers

11. 
VS target audience is not the type that would read newspapers
regularly

Newspapers are very expensive and would not be very effective
for selling and advertising lingerie
o Radio

Radio would not be an ideal medium to advertise intimate
apparel

Not appropriate for the type of products VS offers
Media Vehicles:
Television:
o Networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC

Special programs such as VMA’s, AMA’s, Macy’s Thanksgiving
Parade, etc.

The Big Bang Theory, SNL, Sunday Night Football, The Voice,
Dancing with the Stars, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy
Kimmel Live!, etc.
o Cable: A&E, AMC, E!, Comedy Central, TNT, USA Network, SHO,
Telemundo, Univision, ESPN, FX, TBS, HBO, and Fuse.tv

WWE Entertainment, NFL Regular Season, Walking Dead,
Chelsea Lately, E! News, How I Met Your Mother, etc.
Magazines:
o Men: GQ, Playboy, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, ESPN Magazine

12. o Women: Bride, Cosmopolitan, Everyday with Rachel Ray, Essence,
First for Women, Glamour, Intouch Weekly, Marie Claire, Modern
Bride, More, O The Oprah Magazine, Ok! Weekly, Real Simple, Soap
Opera Weekly, Vogue, W Magazine, Women’s Day, Women’s World,
Working Mother, Lucky, Star, Soap Opera Digest, Elle, Women’s
Health
o General:Entertainment Weekly, People, Fitness Magazine, Health,
Metropolitan Home, New York Magazine, Seventeen, Vanity Fair, TV
Guide, US Airways
Internet
o VS target audience uses the internet daily because they are on social
media
o They visit fashion and beauty sites, celebrities pages, social media,
and blogs
o From searching the web to browsing, VS ads will pop-up in keyword
searches, banners, and sponsorship.
Direct Mail:
o Direct mail will be sent twice a month, every month, all year long
o VS has the budget to do so, and if they happen to not get the some
consumers on the first mail, they might get them on the second
Outdoor:
o 50 show

13. o Outdoor ads will be displayed in billboards and bus shelters
strategically located in shopping areas
Media Objective/ Strategies:
Objective:
o To reach 75% of American adults with a frequency of at least 4.0 from
ages 18-49. These adults will be exposed to Victoria’s Secrets
advertisements all year long (12 months) using a combination of
multiple media vehicles
Strategies:
o I used a continuous ad campaign throughout all 12 months of the year
o VS has a very high advertising budget which allows it to stay present in
the market all year long without any need for a break
o Intimate apparel is something that people use everyday and may buy
all year long, so it makes sense for VS to stay present in the market
since it has the budget to
January – February:
o During these two months VS will highly advertise for Valentine’s Day. A
time of the year when most of their target audience, men and women,
of all ages, go spend on lingerie to impress their significant other.
March – May:
o VS advertisements during these three months will be targeted to two
important times of the year to buy intimate apparel: Mother’s Day and
Wedding Season.

14. o Almost 60% of VS target audience have children which means that
their significant other will be spending money on presents
o VS target audience are at an age range that either they will get
married, once 44% are single, or they will have a friend’s or relative’s
wedding to attend.
June – September:
o The warmest months of the year
o VS sells bathing suits as part of their product lines, so these four
months are the time for them to intensify their advertisements
o Most VS consumers prefer warm weather, 44% say summer is their
favorite season
o Many consumers are out of school or on vacation so they have more
time for shopping
October – December:
o The last three months of the year are very important for VS’ target
market because the Holidays as well as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion
Show that is hosted annually in December, are coming up
o American adults get very excited to shop for the Holidays so it is crucial
to intensify advertisements for this time of the year
o The VS Fashion Show also attracts many eyeballs and get consumers
very excited about the brand, thus it is a great time for VS to advertise