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>Hi B. J., > >Thanks for joining us. >First a disclaimer- This is a controversial topic. I >know some prefer lingerie not be made for displaying >female beauty. Since some of it is, I'm dealing with >reality. This isn't meant to offend or insult anybody. >I think I understand why some are defensive about >this. Even those, who don't agree with this gender >issue, can still learn something valuable. >I hope I answered your questions & implied questions >among the rest of what I wrote in this multi-part >post. I didn't answer them individually because other >issues relate to the issues you submitted. > >If I remembered the title of the book I got this >information from, I could check it for clarification. >Part of my answer is higher on my Marketing Nuggets >web page under the subhead - "Pick A Good Niche You >Know Well And Have A Passion For." >A focused passion is powerful. If you don't have it, >find something you have or can have a strong passion >for - then focus on it. >http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/Marketing-Nu >ggets.html >I'm not using a reference to passion as a pun, though >it may be tempting. >According to Stephen R. Covey, breakthroughs are >usually break-withs, somebody breaks with conventional >wisdom & does something different. >Many times those who step around conventional wisdom >find better ways to do things. Often those are >outsiders or people in the field who aren't accepted >by other insiders. >Victoria's Secret was started by Roy Raymond, another >man. >Let's think about who is a target market. >Raymond shopped for lingerie as gifts for his wife. >The body-language of female shoppers & store >salespeople seemed to suggest he was an intruder. >I experienced some of this when I passed through a >Montgomery Ward lingerie department (as an employee) >to get to a store room of men's clothing. >Raymond thinks those stores were either excessively >frilly or blandly conservative. Wexner figured >lingerie should be displayed better than department >stores did it. Though neither invented lingerie, they >both innovated. Innovations don't have to be major >changes. Major changes can be harder to market. >Was Roy Raymond part of the lingerie target market? >Yes, as a gift buyer & I suppose as somebody who >appreciated beauty. Since lingerie is more than >underwear, some of it is made for more than female >physical comfort. A wife can guess what her husband >would like her to wear. A husband hopes to buy things >his wife likes & is willing of wear. Lingerie is for >both of them. >Reality- Other than basic, functional underwear, >what's the purpose of lingerie? It's not all for the >women wearing it. >A lingerie store owned by a man doesn't seem so >farfetched. He can still have input from women >(employees & customers). For women who want lingerie >appealing to men, a male company owner can represent >part of the male side of the issue. > >Leslie Wexner rarely used advertising when he started >his clothing businesses. He used exposure to customer >traffic in malls. I've seen Victoria's Secret >advertising lately. Wexner used to think his stores >were too specialized to justify advertising. He >figured the big anchor stores, with many product >lines, needed to advertise to bring in enough people >to buy things from the multiple store departments. >If you read between the lines, you may think Wexner >relied on other mall tenants to advertise & attract >customers. But some of those other tenants also offer >lingerie. >Apparently, relying on general customer traffic wasn't >enough. Just because people walk past a store in a >mall or drive past a free standing store, it doesn't >mean they'll notice. Even if they notice, it doesn't >mean they'll automatically know what the store sells, >unless they take a closer look. But how would they >know if it's worth looking at? > >Branding requires matching a name & identity with >product/service line. It requires sufficient exposure. >This is a simplistic model but it fits - >Product/Service + Brand Name + Promise/Benefit >Statement + Sufficient Exposure = Branding >Whether it's a specialty or department store, its >success depends on enough members of a target market >knowing what it sells. It's easier for a specialty >store to establish this, because stocking "anything" >or "everything" to sell to "anybody" or "everybody" is >a hard identity/brand to establish & maintain. It's >also hard to keep enough of "everything" in stock to >sell enough "anything" to be profitable. It's too >expensive to reach "everybody" with a message that has >enough meaning for each person to make an impact on >"anybody". >This begs the question - What does Sufficient Exposure >=? That's something to test. For a national brand in >the USA, it could mean billions of dollars &/or many >years. It depends on how much desire & perceived need >there is for the product/service. The level & >sophistication of competitors matter also. The number >of competitors doesn't matter as much as ability & >willingness to market. > >Victoria's Secret is so specialized, it needs the >exposure of consistent marketing messages. Examples- >1) When a wife shops for lingerie in lingerie >specialty store, she's not apt to tell her husband, >"I'll meet you in the men's wear department when I'm >finished." 2) Somebody, who goes to a store to buy a >vacuum cleaner, probably won't see lavish night gown >displayed in a lingerie store. > >If Victoria's Secret owned the top spot in lingerie, >it could afford to promote lingerie to build the >category. If it was done well, it would increase VS's >profits even if it didn't increase market share. 40% >of the lingerie market is more profitable when total >sales of the category increase. > >I think this could be a good basis for promoting the >category- "Lingerie is make-up for your body & a lot >easier than make-up to put on the right way." A >possible double entendre (controversy) could be added >- "It's also easier to take off." >This could be adapted to promote a brand or a >locally-based store. >Smaller companies can't afford to promote a category >as much because their share & profits aren't big >enough. Others, in a category, end up promoting >themselves as alternatives (better for some consumers) >to the top company(ies). > >Dennis S. Vogel >thrivingbusiness@email.com >How long is "too long" to wait for sales from your >marketing efforts? >It depends -- when do you need the results? >When will you need the profit? >If you need it now, let's get started. >http://web1.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ >http://www.voy.com/31049/

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