Donna Block
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The Victoria’s Secret supermodels, objects of fantasy for millions, are at it again. This time, in May, from the playground of the rich and famous, Cannes.
The lingerie company’s next fashion show and live webcast of buxom beauties strutting their stuff will be on a runway in the midst of one of the glitziest events of the year, the Cannes Film Festival. But this is more than just another fashion extravaganza; it is an experiment that will kick-start the world-famous lingerie company’s use of the Internet to move into the global marketplace.
On February 3 1999, millions of Americans flocked to their computers in an effort to see the most talked-about fashion event in the world. Not only did demand for a peek at the lovelies in their unmentionables bring the Internet site to a standstill, but traffic on the company’s fledgling website was getting five times the normal volume.
Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, Intimate Brands, is hoping the same excitement that was generated in the US will happen across Europe.
After the May 18 webcast next year, Victoria’s Secret will launch a major marketing campaign to promote its name and silky under-things to European consumers.
Intimate Brands, which is a publicly held company and trades on the New York Stock Exchange, is a leading retailer of women’s intimate apparel and personal care products through 2 000 Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works shops. It also sells apparel through its famous Victoria’s Secret Catalogue, which mails over 400-million copies a year and serves as a socially acceptable “girlie mag”.
The webcast and sales generated via the Internet will be instrumental in determining where the company will set up physical stores in European markets.
More than 24-million people are online in Europe, with the Internet audience expected to reach more than 53-million by 2001. The CEO of Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, Les Wexner, told the investment community that his vision for the company is to be a global company with sales of $10-billion. That’s a lot of knickers.
Using the Internet to reach the European buying public will be fast and the costs will be relatively low in comparison to traditional marketing efforts.
According to one New York analyst, the company will be able to “test the waters” through its web sales and thus reduce the risks involved in global expansion. However, the company does concede that it does not convert as many web browsers as other online retailers, which presumes that a lot of online browsers do just that, browse and don’t actually buy.
Nonetheless, Internet events, such as webcasts, are fast becoming a way for companies to garner a lot of publicity for little money. According to a recent study from Jupiter Communications, a New York Internet research firm, a burst of online buzz can generate one-time traffic spikes that translate into permanent growth, if the marketer is savvy enough.
However, one of the biggest problems arising from these events is that the event doesn’t live up to the hype surrounding it. In the case of Victoria’s Secret’s webcast earlier this year, the show was reportedly set up to handle approximately 250 000 to 500 000 simultaneous logins and when almost 2-million people tried to log on, many were disappointed. That webcast cost Victoria’s Secret nearly $7-million and the Cannes show is expected to cost at least that much.
The problem? The website’s servers could not handle the sheer mass of viewers, no doubt attracted by the marketing blitz the company lobbed at consumers. Victoria’s Secret even advertised the happening during the male- oriented Super Bowl two days before the event. From that point on, it was reported that the website was deluged.
To make sure that the Cannes fashion show doesn’t have the same “crowding” problems, Victoria’s Secret has quadrupled its bandwidth and the company says it will be able to serve almost 10 times the audience it did in February.
If the marketing strategy is successful, Victoria’s Secret’s stores will soon be dotting Europe. Who knows, perhaps next year the show will come from Clifton Beach.