Why Victoria's Secret got whomped by JD Williams

Failing to understand the new rules of “how to be a brand” comes with a heavy price. This week, Victoria’s Secret had to pay the bill in full.

When Victoria’s Secret launched its #PerfectBody bra campaign it probably wasn’t expecting a social media smackdown at the hands of a little-known plus sized retailer JD Williams and a petition from three women from Leeds. 

And the fantasy megabrand certainly didn't anticipate being forced to drop its campaign message in an embarrassing public turnaround, or to give way to voices that, until now, it has always been able to ignore.

Not everyone wants to be told that this is perfection.

Why would it? As the go-to lingerie brand for women dating sugar Daddies and hedge fund managers, Victoria’s Secret appears virtually unassailable. It has become a global lifestyle juggernaut with nearly five million followers on Twitter, six million on Instagram and 26 million on Facebook.

The brand has ploughed millions of marketing dollars into building a breathless sub-culture around “Secret Angel” ambassadors like supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio (1.1 million Twitter followers), to whom millions of women clearly aspire.

Only last week La Ambrosio was busy launching the VS Fantasy Bra (a compex bondage-to-beadcraft contraption that promises eye-watering discomfort to anyone trying to have fun). Along the way, she was credited with Angel-style insights into modern femininity, including “how to do a hair flip like a sexy, sexy boss.”

Victoria’s Secret is keen to democratize the notion of female achievement with posts like “Who needs a cap & gown when you can wear wings?” and runs hashtags like #WhatAngelsREALLYWant alongside pictures of underpants printed with the world “Boo-ty.”

In other words, launching a new bra line fronted by hair-tossing, size zero Amazonians in skimpy knickers is not merely standard fare for Victoria’s Secret, it is the template on which a gigantic brand has been built.

But a digital smackdown is exactly what the megabrand got when Frances Black, Gabriella Kountourides and Laura Ferris launched a petition on change.org https://www.change.org/p/victoriassecret-apologise-for-your-damaging-perfect-body-campaign-iamperfect  

Body-shaming the millions of women who are not size zero is not cool, the petition pointed out, calling on Victoria’s Secret to “apologise and amend your irresponsible marketing.” Thousands of supporters signed within hours. 

Then, in a smart piece of brand marketing, JD Williams - part of the Manchester-based N Brown group, picked up the baton. Headed by former Asda executive Angela Spindler, N Brown champions women from sizes 12 to 32 (http://www.nbrown.co.uk/brand_news). 

JD Williams ripped-off the Victoria’s Secret photo, posing the shot with its own fuller-sized models and launched it into the Twittersphere with the hashtag #PerfectlyImperfect.

Have you spotted the JD Williams difference yet?

Speaking on behalf of its own tribe, JD Williams was clear about its brief: body confidence is the right for women of all sizes and shapes, not just the super-thin. “We have a responsibility as a retailer to promote positive body image to our customers,” its spokesman said.

JD Williams is a minnow compared to Victoria’s Secret. It has fewer than a thousand Twitter followers while the uber-brand has a social media footprint the size of a developing nation. But JD Williams won this fight because it has a far better understanding of its cause. The pillar of its social media strategy is not a hard sell on its products. Rather, it has been to engage with bloggers and customers to champion how to make women feel fabulous, regardless of their size. When it came to taking on Victoria's Secret, JD Williams was speaking from the heart.

For its own part, Victoria’s Secret tried to ignore the mounting clamour. Its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds kept their tin hats on throughout, pushing out useful tips like “#BeScandalous No.32: never underestimate the power of a black lace bustier,” while the controversy went on. 

Not exactly, but at least the sentiment is in the right direction

By the time almost 30,000 people had signed the petition, however, Victoria’s Secret knew it had to change. In the mother of all airbrushing stunts, the #PerfectBody campaign was mysteriously renamed “A Body for Every Body” with #LoveEveryBody” as its new tagline. 

While the message might fail even the most basic Advertising Standards Association test of accuracy, it at least indicates a degree of awareness that was long overdue. 

The Victoria’s secret climbdown is a Harvard Business School case study on how to go from #success to #fail in the world of social media. It’s a walk-of-shame that other brands will be forced to tread for as long as they refuse to recognize the new reality: power has moved from the brand to the community. Brands who insult the community do so at their peril.

Whether they recognise it or not, brands are now judged by how they treat the rest of the community, not just the customers who make up their sales. Arrogance and exclusivity can quickly become radioactive qualities. Efforts to make the world a kinder and more accepting place, on the other hand, can develop brand capital in a way that has never before been possible.

Failing to understand the new rules of “how to be a brand” now comes with a heavy price. Victoria’s Secret won't be the last to pay the bill in full.