Visible Means of Support
In May, Victoria’s Secret began a mailing to existing customers for one of its house-line bras. The company based its marketing decision on an earlier, successful undergarment promotion that ran in fall 2001.
While the lingerie marketer didn’t release the number of recipients, in the program’s first wave 9% of them showed up to claim the premium that was being offered. Bra sales rose 35 percent, resulting in an additional $1.6 million in sales and $1 million in profits.
The current effort touts selections from the Body by Victoria collection. The promo was mailed to a very small percentage of the customer file. They received a 5-1/2-inch by 8-1/2-inch glossy postcard offering a free pair of panties, and $5 off a Body by Victoria bra.
There have been several waves since the program was launched, with non-respondents getting follow-up mailings.
Alliance Data Systems manages the customer files for Limited Brands, which includes The Limited, Henri Bendel, Bath & Body Works and other properties, as well as Victoria’s Secret. While the company is based in Dallas, it fell to Jeff Quick, vice president of marketing services in Alliance’s Columbus, OH retail service division, to oversee the campaign.
In selecting segments for this project, Alliance relied on transaction data from the retailer’s 2001 panty program. The marketing information from that effort was so rich that Victoria’s Secret didn’t buy any overlay data when it rolled out the current effort.
The campaign’s initial wave included a number of tests. While Victoria’s Secret has used discount mailers as prospecting mechanisms, this promotion went out only to customers. Extra selection weight was given to those who had responded to the earlier effort, or had purchased bras other than the retailer’s targeted brand.
This program depends solely on traditional mail, although the company has gone with e-mail for other customer-focused promos. Additionally, data analytics are being employed more extensively this time. The 2001 promotion used overall recency, frequency and monetary information.
The new effort delves deeper into each individual item purchased, which should eventually allow the company to perform shopping cart analysis.
Victoria’s Secret’s customer file was built through a combination of private label credit card, point of sale, mail order buyer and bank card data that was added before July 2001’s Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act restricted the use of such information.
