Victoria’s Secret a Little Too Eager To Please Consumers in China?

On May 10, Victoria’s Secret announced three new “brand friends” for the China market: Zhao Xiaotang, Yang Tianzhen, and Chen Man.

Who are they? Zhao Xiaotang (赵小棠) is a singer and dancer who became famous from a contestant show called Youth With You Season 2, and she is the representative of idols in the young generation. Yang Tianzhen (杨天真) is best known for her past identity: a top celebrity agent. Over the past year, she has become a celebrity in her own right after launching her own plus-sized clothing brand. And Chen Man (陈漫) is a successful photographer that many celebrities want to work with.

What message does Victoria’s Secret want to deliver through the campaign?

Three women in different fields. The combination shows great variety. The campaign is telling consumers to be themselves and be confident, regardless of jobs, labels, and their bodies.

The most mentioned ambassador in this campaign is Yang Tianzhen, and her name shows up in many articles. This is because her body doesn’t fit the traditional image of a Victoria’s Secret model. I think this is the same with VS’s decision back in 2019 when it had a plus-size model to present its products in the look book. It is saying that the brand is open to all bodies and there is no need to be anxious about your body.

But has Victoria’s Secret itself become anxious?

The anxiety began in 2017, when the audience rating of its always-popular Victoria’s Secret fashion show started to drop. In 2018, the number of people watching the show fell to 3.2 million. The number was way fewer than its golden age: 10.3 million audience in 2010.

A frequently mentioned phrase when people are commenting Victoria’s Secret’s decline is: too sexy. I can see Victoria’s Secret is trying to get rid of the traditional definition of sexy by hiring Zhou Dongyu (周冬雨) and Yang Tianzhen as its ambassadors. Opposite of Yang Tianzhen, actress Zhou Dongyu is very skinny and has a boyish figure. She was never linked with sexy before. Her image in the Victoria’s Secret China lookbook looks like a teenage girl with her hair tied up, instead of having long, wavy hair like other Victoria’s Secret’s models do.

It may seem like adding variety to the definition of sexy is a smart move for Victoria’s Secret. However, it feels like the brand is trying too hard to please consumers. If it hired plus-size models before the scandal discriminating them in 2019, it may have gained more trust from consumers. But the brand didn’t fix this problem until consumers critized it, which make those collaborations seem insincere and performative.

Victoria’s Secret Shouldn’t Shy Away From its Sexy Image in China

Victoria’s Secret can still maintain a sexy image. After all, it is something that the brand has been building for years, and consumers know it, that Victoria’s Secret equals being sexy. Consumers walk into Victoria’s Secret’s stores with the expectation to look for sexy lingerie, instead of seeking something like Ubras’ or NEIWAI’s products.

And in fact, it is important for Victoria’s Secret to emphasize its sexy image. There are many lingerie brands emerging in China and it is necessary to have your own uniqueness. Ubras has its one-size-fits-all bras, NEIWAI is known for its inclusiveness of different bodies (thanks to its “NO BODY IS NOBODY” campaign), and Victoria’s Secret is known for its sexy products. What the brand can do is to find different, more subtle ways to interpret the definition of sexy, instead of simply hiring plus-size models. What’s wrong if you want to look sexy, whether it’s to please someone you like or it’s to please yourself?

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