We see these things on billboards, we watch these things on TV, and we can even see them occupy large spaces in the news papers that we read. We are surrounded by thousands of ads every day. Trying to inculcate the symbolic commodity and reach the audience effectively, the dominant theme in advertising imagery must be creative and meaningful to capture the audience’s attention.
There are many different strategies used in advertising to impel us. Advertisers strive to persuade us to buy a certain product and they are likely to mislead our needs. Jib Fowles in the article, “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals,” says “Human beings, it is presumed, walk around with a variety of unfulfilled urges and motives swirling in the bottom half of their minds.” Instead of providing us with information about the products they try to convince us to buy, advertisements often present pleasant imagery, sexuality, image of beauty, concept of perfection or an idyllic lifestyle to appeal to our desires and tastes to provoke our purchase motivation. A good example of this is the Victoria’s Secret print ad for their new lingerie line, “Angels.”
Victoria’s Secret’s Angels lingerie line is a collection of sheer, seamless undergarments made with a “heavenly fit” – and this is what their print ad tells us. The ad shows supermodel Heidi Klum in pink undergarments and a pair of angel’s wings. To give a more heavenly appeal, the model seems to be propped in a bunch of clouds. This visual comes with the tagline “good angels go to heaven; Victoria’s Secret angels go everywhere”.
The Business plan on Financial Analysis of Victoria Secret
INCOME STATEMENT ANALYSIS Victoria Secret appears to be a profitable company. Victoria Secret is part of L Brands whose operating income was at $ 211 million, up by $24 million from the last quarter. Specifically at Victoria’s Secret, sales increased by 4% to reach 5.4 billion but operating income decreased by 6% to 1.71 billion. It appears that Victoria Secret’s major expense was ...
The most obvious element of advertising in this Victoria’s Secret ad is the appeal to the need for sex. At first glance, the viewers’ attention would immediately be directed at the center of the ad: the barely-clothed Heidi Klum with angel wings. It does not necessarily mean that the ad urges the viewers to have sex with the supermodel.
According to Jib Fowles, this appeal would also invoke the need to be looked at, just like the model shown in the advertisement. Aside from the titillating and sexual appeal (which is mostly towards the male audience), it could also imply being the center of attention of you are wearing one of their Angels lingerie. The ad invokes their viewers, especially the females, to falsely associate wearing of the lingerie to the attention being drawn by model Heidi Klum. Instead of paying for the actual perks (if there is any) of the new lingerie line, the audience is fooled into thinking that they would be as attractive and as sexy as the one wearing it in the advertisement.
Another important element that appears on this Victoria’s Secret ad is its reference to angels. We regard angels as celestial beings which are basically good, almost perfect creatures, as they dwell in the heavens, way above our earth. According to Ingham, “advertisements are largely created to appeal to the irrational aspects of our psyche; using emotional appeals, playing on our fears, our need to belong”. Deep inside our mind, we associate angels with perfection and beauty, and most importantly, goodness or the absence of mischief. With the tagline, “Good angels go to heaven, Victoria’s Secret angels go everywhere,” it suggests that these angels are not the usual celestial goody-goodies. Going back to our initial impression of these angels, we create an image of perfection and beauty, plus the mischief, all in a Victoria Secret angel. This could be again another appeal to the need for sex, or an appeal to the need to escape.
This ad suggests that anyone can be an angel, as long as they are wearing the Angels lingerie. By wrongly associating wearing of the lingerie to being something close to an angel, this advertisement again persuades the viewers to buy their product. Surely, who wouldn’t want to be as good looking and as sexy as that Victoria’s Secret angel? As for the males, who wouldn’t want to be with someone as beautiful and as perfect as that? Again, this advertising element subconsciously encourages both men and women to buy their products.
The Business plan on Victoria Secret Marketing
... with an emphasis on glamor. As of now, Victoria’s Secret specializes in lingerie, swimwear, beauty products, sleepwear, hosiery, etc. This has helped the brand ... Gisele Bundchen and Miranda Kerr as their face for “Victoria’s Secret Angels. They are very selective on who they choose to be ... an Angel (model) for them. They choose models that are beautiful and have great bodies that appeal to woman ...
The Victoria’s Secret advertisement for its Angel lingerie is a good example of an ad that tries to sell their product not because of its actual use, but because of what the viewers think it would do to them. It appeals mainly on their buyer’s emotions, instead of showing them the practical side of buying the product. This approach has proven to be an effective way of selling luxury products such as these expensive undergarments. In order to sell their products, they must first create a need for their customers to buy such items. Beauty and perfection are just some of the baits being used by these advertisements to catch their unknowing buyers.
