Victoria Secret's

Purpose of the Brief and Relation to Phase 2

The topic to be discussed is Enhancing the marketing strategy of Victoria Secrets for a wider market share and competitive advantage. This study will mainly focus on the low targeting issue as Victoria Secret’s has acquired success but has not been able to address the market as a whole (West, Ford, & Ibrahim, 2010). This research brief proposes that a study should be conducted on Victoria Secret’s company to investigate and deliberate on the competition and low market targeting faced by the organisation.

Introduction and Background of Research

Victoria’s secret is a fruitful clothing and lingerie store and despite the fact that it is classified as successful with the limited market that it does it marketing to persuade it has not catered for the market as a whole. This research will be conducted in order to establish strategies or ways in which Victoria secret should act differently to capture a wider market share, increase its earning and enhance its brand image. This research is significant because it will help the organisation in situating itself strategically in the market for competitive advantage.

Research Questions

1. How can Victoria Secret’s attain sustainability and competitive advantage?
2. Is the company’s marketing inclusive?
3. What should the organisation do differently for a more strategic positioning?

Aims and Objectives

1. To determine how Victoria secrets can attain sustainability
2. To establish the competitive advantages of the firm and things that it should do differently to overcome the intensifying competition
3. To determine how it’s marketing can be enhanced to address the needs of the market as a whole

            Literature Review

            It is without a doubt that Victoria Secret has risen to be amongst the most popular lingerie company across the globe. According to Alkhafaji & Nelson (2013) Initially the primary objective was to design more attractive, easy and comfortable settings where men would shop for their women an aspect that has changed overtime as the sores are more utilized by women themselves. The company conducts its marketing while demonstrating some slender ladies which demonstrate the fact that the firm is discriminating when it comes to consumer targeting and segmentation. In reference to business success it is essential for the primary business targets to be identified early for increased gains. The companies that focuses on this aspect are associated with the highest gains in general. There are other firms that do not consider the aspect and normally takes the whole populace into account. For instance Wal-Mart is the most suitable example. In that the company does not choose on specialising on gender, ethnicity or race for its consumers. Instead the company mainly targets the populace in general without the application of any discrimination and it is through this specific strategy that the company has become a multi-billion global firm (Ferrell & Hartline, 2008). In addition, the company has not only attained competitive advantage in general but also the ability to sustain its position while asserting on its major values being convenience, affordability and quality.

            Based on Peng (2013) while focusing on the impacts of companies that are more assertive on consumer’s discrimination, it is apparent that the strategy leads to decreased revenue and sustainability. Victoria’s secret’s target on a reduced portion of consumers particularly those of slender bodies as their advertisements fails to cover the whole populace of women and men in need of lingerie the population of its targets has been decreased. The thought that is rising behind the market discrimination approach is that when a firm mainly focuses on targeting a reduced portion of the consumers market, then the company only acquires minimal benefits from its focus. In that by restraining the target populace the result is mainly a decline in the acquired revenue and sales in general (Ferrell & Hartline, 2008). This therefore implies that if the company is centered on targeting an extensive populace this strategy is likely to attract even more consumers which will in turn result in increased sales and revenue.

            Victoria Secret’s is mainly focused on a single kind of consumers even though they incorporate both men and women. In that, their main focus lies on slender ladies thus failing to account for the bigger and obese consumers. It is estimated that the normal sizes that the company mainly targets only incorporates 17 percent of the lingerie consumers which them best demonstrate that the company is wasting a huge opportunity (Alkhafaji & Nelson, 2013). It is worth noting that the company having operated for years and established a competitive position has the highest financial capability of incorporating the needs of the consumers in general. In addition, it has created a recognized and popular brand globally which makes it operation easier. However, with its current strategy it is evident that the competitors are likely to outweigh it in regard to revenue generation and market share. In today’s competitive market there is a necessity to focus on the wider populace without incorporating any form of discrimination. In addition it is through this approach that Victoria Secret’s will be able to sustain its convenience, comfort of shopping and quality values (Peng, 2013). There is also the need to incorporate affordability as a means of overcoming competition.
            Methodology

            The study will utilize a mixed methodology of both qualitative and quantitative strategies under the descriptive research design. This methods were selected based on their ease of use, convenience, cost efficient and capability to generate maximum information (Lim, 2013). An inductive approach will be followed as well which mainly incorporates the use of observation in order to make assumptions to be utilized in the investigation.

Proposed Research Methods

This study will utilize a descriptive research study. A mixed research study will also be utilized incorporating both qualitative and quantitative studies. These methods were mainly selected based on their ability to provide maximised information to support the paper’s research objectives and answer all the questions. Qualitative data will be acquired from primary sources based on the use of questionnaires and survey while quantitative data will be acquired from a review of literature from secondary sources. The questionnaires will be distributed randomly to participants through email.
                Sampling

            The study will mainly utilize purposive sampling mainly the simple random sampling technique. In that the approach is essential given that it works in elimination of biases as well as ensuring that the acquired findings are factual and adequate (Lim, 2013). In addition, through this the research will ensure that the study is not only accurate but also reliable for practical application by the company.
                Research Philosophy

            The research will mainly use the positivism research philosophy in generating findings and developing of suitable recommendations. In that this philosophy is related to operating under observable social realism which then provides grounds for generalizations. In that the philosophy is suitable for the research given that the study is mainly concerned with facts that are related with the operations of the company. The research will utilize structured survey and interviews on the target populace to acquire real facts that are not associated with biasness and will result in the generation of maximized data. This will work to ensure that the researcher does not deviate from the actual objectives of the study leading to faulty results.

Project Plan, Budget, and Timeline

This study will begin by understanding the issue as faced by the company through research. The research will mainly be conducted within two weeks or less basically to collect, summarize and analyse the gathered data. The budget will be limited to about £300 to enable the researcher to conduct primary and secondary research.

Timeline	Week 1		Week 2	Week 3		Week 4		Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8
Activity	Review of literature and defining the research questions	Develop Interview and questionnaires tools		Selection of respondent’s samples	Distribute questionnaires		Distribute questionnaires		Organize and analyze data	Write Report	Submit Report

 

Issues to be considered

Ethical issues such as Confidentiality, budget, and timeline are some of the primary issues that need to be considered. In that, all those participating in the primary research should fill in a consent form to understand their role, study’s objective and confidentiality issues. The study should work within the timeline and budget.

Potential use of the research findings

The research findings can be useful in designing the most effective strategies for the organisation to adapt to transition in the ever-changing market. In addition, it can be utilized in understanding the current market and how sustainability and marketing can best be carried out.

 

Conclusion and recommendations

Victoria Secret’s should adopt the non-discriminative targeting approach in order to attain high revenue generation as well as the capability to sustain its competitive positioning. It is evident that Victoria Secret’s is the most successful lingerie and clothing store in the UK and across the globe. However, in order to sustain its positioning, there is a need to strategically cover the market as a whole. I would recommend that the organisation should utilize more inclusive marketing that covers beyond its limited target to increase its share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Alkhafaji, A. & Richard A. Nelson. (2013). Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control in a Dynamic Environment. Routledge Print.

Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. D. (2008). Marketing strategy. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

Lim, W. M. (2013). Research methodology: A toolkit of sampling and data analysis techniques for quantitative research. Place of publication not identified: Grin Verlag.

Mike W. Peng. (2013). Global Strategy. Cengage Learning.

West, D. C., Ford, J. B., & Ibrahim, E. (2010). Strategic marketing: Creating competitive advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.