3. Start small and maximize brand moments.
From its humble beginning at the New York Plaza Hotel in 1995 to today’s globetrotting celebration, the Victoria Secret Fashion Show has come a long way from its startup roots. Victoria’s Secret launched its e-commerce website without publicity, weeks before Christmas in 1998. Before the New York event hit TV in later years it was broadcast via the Web.
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In 1999, during Super Bowl XXXIII, Victoria’s Secret announced a 72-hour countdown to the Internet webcast of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, which resulted in over 2 million internet viewers of the show. While your budget may not support national scale, consider high reach, low-cost platforms to connect with your local market.
In short, the show went from a hotel, to the web, to national and international TV viewership. It is a testament to small businesses everywhere – leverage the resources available to you and maximize the moment.
4. Create a snowball effect.
How does a social media post get people talking about your brand? How does your trade show attendance impact other success metrics? Remember: conversations spark awareness, and when people are aware they are more likely to recall your brand. This indirectly supports conversions.
For example, according to analysis by Crimson Hexagon a social monitoring and analytics firm, “While the Semi-Annual Sale seemed somewhat successful, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show proved to be by far the most effective marketing tool to get people talking about Victoria’s Secret on social media. The peak in conversation about the show also spurred conversation about the store and the brand.” The company’s marketing efforts are keeping underwear on the minds of consumers during a key sales and gift-giving season.
5. Think 360 integration.
Victoria Secret has created a “360-degree” brand. The retailer successfully connects the dots between its retail, catalog, and web sales. “Across all channels—catalog, stores, Internet—the same products are launched at the same time, in exactly the same way, with the same quality, and same positioning.”
This symphonic-like marketing harmony is accomplished by long-range planning. You don’t have to pull together a 12 month marketing calendar just yet; start with a quarterly marketing plan that supports business goals. And most importantly, execute in unison across your company website, social media channels, email campaigns, retail stores, etc.
Make sure the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. Take a look at your efforts and ask yourself, “Is our brand experience consistent whether a customer visits our website, clicks on an email newsletter, or follows us on Instagram?”
Women (most women) wear bra’s and can literally buy them anywhere, but they buy from brands that caters to a larger, aspirational picture of who they are and who they want to be. As you look to market with more brand appeal remember: think bigger than product, brand build, maximize moments, launch a snowball effect, and think 360.
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