Problem Brand Analysis: Victoria's Secret - Ethical and Sustainability

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Victoria's Secret, a prominent brand in the clothing and fashion industry, focusing on its ethical and sustainability issues. It examines the impact of the company's performance on environmental, economic, political, cultural, and social aspects, highlighting concerns related to sustainability, labor practices, and ethical conduct. The report also addresses issues such as fat phobia, homophobic comments by the ex-CEO, and allegations of inhumane work conditions. Furthermore, it discusses the company's limited efforts in carbon emission control and the lack of transparency in its supply chain. The report concludes with recommendations for improving the brand's image and performance, including embracing inclusivity in modeling, promoting diversity, and implementing robust carbon-neutral plans. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments and study resources for students.

Problem Brand
Analysis of Victoria
Secrete

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ......................................................................................................................................3
Impact of company performance ...............................................................................................3
Company overview.....................................................................................................................4
Ethical issues...............................................................................................................................4
Corporate sustainability issues....................................................................................................5
Recommendation........................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The modern business landscape has been very kind to companies which have managed to
establish their own identities and it has also led to the increase in market success that can be
obtained by firms which focus on generating a positive brand perception in the eyes of their target
customers. This is especially true in the clothing and apparel industry as it is entirely customer
oriented and the sales and public perception of the clothing retailers which have dominated the
world has been exceptionally clean and ethical which has allowed them to remain competitive in
their market segments for a long time (Grose, 2019). However on the opposite end of this spectrum
lies brands such as Victoria's secret who despite being extremely successful has been in the center
of controversy many times and has been the subject of intense debate several times in the past
decade. This report will highlight the various issues present within the brand by presenting a
comprehensive view of the brand's controversial operations and practices.
MAIN BODY
Impact of company performance
Environmental issues – In terms of sustainability, company is not opting any activity realed to
sustainability. It do not have any evidence that proves that company is sustainable or not. It do not
have any policy to minimise impact of microplastic. In addition to it, it do not have any procedure
to recycle plastic waste while manufacturing product. It do not focus on greenhouse effect and
global warming which is affecting environment condition. The labour rating is not good nor its
supply chain. This makes company low profitable as it do not comply with eco friendly procedure
to conduct its procedures. It do not have any health and safety or labour standard rights to workers.
Economic issues – The company is not following any compliances of government. Along with that,
it do not have any sustainability concerns and highly impacts on other factors. The major issue that
company is facing is its sales do not boost in non season because of low demand. For that reason, it
affects overall performance of company and faces loss continuously. But in case of season, its sales
double up and makes profit. It do not have working capital to meet day to day requirements as it
have a vast stock of products ready for season. It sells its products on online also that makes it more
profitable in season (Luo and Kaul, 2019).
Political issues – Due to political instability it makes it difficult for company to operate business
and due to change in laws and legislations it makes difficult to manage business operations. Due to
pandemic, company have affected its business badly and it suffers great loss. All the buisness

operations have been shut and company cannot operate business due to social distancing and
lockdown.
Cultural - Many people belongs to different countries and they have different culture and tradition
which makes it difficult for company to identify needs and wants in order tor provide them with
exact product. They have unique perception about products and perceives in a different way. So it
makes difficult for company to understand needs of company (Meneroud, 2020).
Social issues – There are many people who are poor and cannot afford expensive products and
Victoria Secrete is a premium brand which everyone cannot afford and makes it difficult for
company to limit its growth. It is made for high end customers and can be opted by them only.
Many people are homeless and they cannot afford products of this company. Company targets for
premium customers. This makes company to limit its resources and cannot attract larger number of
customers.
Company overview
Victoria's Secret is an American brand which is known to be a major player in the clothing,
beauty and fashion industry with is major world dominating success being recorded in the field of
women's lingerie's which it is the largest retailer of and the firm is also famous for supplementing
its marketing efforts with an extensive and extremely attractive product catalogue and a range of
scantily clad models which are dubbed as angels. The company was found in 1977 by Gaye and
Roy Raymond which was then sold to Leslie Wexner who made the brand turn to a multi million
dollar business and a household name. Over the years, the brand has seen in many controversies and
ethically sensitive events in which its approach towards marketing has been criticized along with
the way they use models to display their clothing (Moreno, 2019).
Ethical issues
The company has been very successful for the last few decades but that does not change the
fact that Victoria's Secret has been in its fair share of controversies which have been rather
dampening on the company's public image. Some of the most major concerns is that the company is
very fat phobic as they do not provide the platform for females with plus size bodies which make up
for more than half of the world's population which is unacceptable in today's socially aware world.
Another major issue that the brand is suffering from is that the ex-CEO of the brand, Leslie Wexner
has also made openly homophobic comments which has also made the company lose a lot of

goodwill on social media as being a brand that is loved all over the world, the firm must protect
marginalized communities such as transgender people. The company has also been hit with the
allegations of subjecting its workers to inhumane work condition in its various factories and also
accused of supporting child labour in its production and supply chain operations which is a very
serious ethical violation of business code which the company says that it abides by and must be
addressed with urgency (Stamboulakis and Sanderson, 2020).
Corporate sustainability issues
The sustainability effects of the company have also been rather poor and not at all suitable
for a company of the size and stature of Victoria's secret which is a very shameful thing indeed. The
company has set targets for the control of harmful emissions which it has also acted upon by
obtaining a 3% reduction in carbon footprints but it is nowhere near ambitious or effective of a
market leader that Victoria's secret is. The company also has a rather flimsy sustainability plan as it
does not have any major future plan laid out to become completely carbon neutral and it has no
policy to control or regulate the use of microplastic in the manufacturing of its various clothings and
lingeries. The firm has also had a very poor track record of establishing frameworks which enable
smart sourcing of the raw material need of the clothing company and there are no reporting or
statistics which are made public by the company in relation to the sources of supply chain logistics
and procurement networks that it uses for its operations which is a major step backwards when it
comes to sustainability. Its textile and factory based cloth production has also not been regulated
with measures meant to control emission of greenhouse gases (Woodsand Butler, 2020).
Recommendation
Victoria's Secret might be a powerhouse player of the clothing and lingerie market but it is
no doubt that the company's profits have been falling and their public image has been severely
dented which is why the following recommendations have been listed herein to improve the firm's
brand oriented performance.
 The first thing that the company must do is make immediate changes in its modelling policy
to start including both plus size models and women with various different body shapes to
make the brand more inclusive which will not only help in increasing profits but will also
help the firm in regaining its lost goodwill.
 The firm must ensure that they include models belonging to minority races and skin colour
to bring some much needed diversity to the brand which has been sorely lacking and it will

allow the company to become more socially relevant
 Victoria's secret must also ensure that there are robust plans in place to become carbon
neutral in future which should include measures to ensure that the supply chain is regulated
for instances of child labour
CONCLUSION
The above concluded report went into detail regarding the complex processes involved in
managing a brand's rich legacy over the years by balancing brand performance and public
perception of the company especially in the clothing sector which is a consumer oriented industry.
The report went into detail regarding the various issues faced by leading clothing companies in
term,s of their environmental, social and cultural impact and there was also discussion on the ethical
and sustainability issues of the company. It was concluded from this report that in order to be
successful, firms must ensure their public image is as positive and ethical as possible.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Grose, L., 2019. Lynda Grose Keynote-Fashion and Sustainability: Where We Are and Where We
Need To Be. Fashion Practice, 11(3), pp.291-301.
Luo, J. and Kaul, A., 2019. Private action in public interest: The comparative governance of social
issues. Strategic Management Journal, 40(4), pp.476-502.
Meneroud, A., 2020. Emotional Branding and Experiential Marketing Play a Role in the Consumer
Behaviour and Loyalty: The Case Study of Victoria Secret (Doctoral dissertation, Griffith
College).
Moreno, A., 2019. Political cleavages: Issues, parties, and the consolidation of democracy.
Routledge.
Stamboulakis, D. and Sanderson, J., 2020. Certifying Biodiversity: The Union for Ethical BioTrade
and the Search for Ethical Sourcing. Journal of Environmental Law, 32(3), pp.503-528.
Woods, R. and Butler, B.N., 2020. Social issues. Human Kinetics Publishers.