Tutorial with Neil Sahni

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This week I was given the opportunity to have a one-to-one tutorial with brand development expert Neil Sahni, to talk about this project. I felt this was an excellent time to ask how I can make this advertising campaign more innovative and original in terms of layout, and the way the new collection and the different themes are translated to customers in a way that is clear and precise, but still eye catching and desirable. When explaining my project to Neil and describing my aims and objectives for this project which are to create an advertising campaign for Victoria’s Secret beauty that is on the same scale as their advertising campaigns for their lingerie. In turn highlighting and promoting Victoria’s Secret beauty as a larger aspect of the brand than it currently is, as well as showcasing the new collection for 2014. Neil suggested I look at this campaign from different standpoints and explore different strategies such as writing a proposal than entails how the new collection would look in the London stores, to think about the merchandising, where the products are placed in store, what the display will look like and how the associates interact with the customers to sell the products. It was also suggested that I talk about the customers experience when purchasing the makeup, offering samples in store and looking into the distribution strategy, such as offering incentives with purchases. Initially, I was unsure about this idea because I felt it was going slightly off task to what my main aims for this project are. However, upon reflection of this idea I feel it will be very beneficial to include because instead of just focussing on the promotional advertising campaign it will allow me to better communicate and illustrate my vision for the Victoria’s Secret beauty collection and in turn it further promotes the collection by offering incentives and samples. Another idea suggested was to propose an event to launch and promote the new beauty collection, that will take place in the London’s flagship Victoria’s Secret store in Bond Street and then write a press release for the event that would go in magazines and on websites. Again, I was unsure about this idea because I wasn’t sure where it would fit in with the advertising campaign or how I would present it in the final production of this project. However after given further thought I feel that a press release is something that will benefit the project and fit in very well. By doing the press release and doing more in terms of the PR side of advertising rather than just focussing on the creative and promotional material it allows me to create a launch for Victoria’s Secret 2014 beauty collection rather than just an advertising campaign. I also feel that it rounds of this project, rather than just focussing on one aspect which is the advertising, it looks at all aspects, as any brand would do when launching a new collection.

When explaining and showing Neil my concepts for the different themes that will be shown throughout the advertising campaign such as Very Sexy, Dream Angels, VS Pro, Grecian Goddess, Hindu Goddess and Galactica, Neil said it was to confusing to have all these different concepts shown throughout the advertising campaign, especially in just one look book. This is something I agreed with, and so to overcome this issue Neil suggested as having Very Sexy, Dream Angels and VS pro as the core themes in the look book, they can also be split up into daytime and evening looks. Then for the additional themes that I have developed from research on upcoming trends, can be limited addition ranges for each season. For instance, the Grecian Goddess theme will be the summer’s limited edition range, the Hindu Goddess theme will be the spring limited edition range and Galactica will be autumns limited edition range and a new theme will be developed for the winter limited edition range. This idea is defiantly something I will include in the look book and feel it fits in perfectly with the Victoria’s Secret brand as they have offered limited edition ranges in their perfume lines before. This concept of offering limited edition ranges also enables me to communicate all the themes throughout the look book in a simple and clear format for consumers, which is key when creating a look book. The idea of limited editions also offers a sense of newness, which the Victoria’s Secret customer loves. The fact that it is limited and will be available for that season only, urges customers to purchase the products because it generates a feel of exclusivity, which is desirable, as each one is specific to a season it tells customers that those colours are also on trend, which will encourage them to buy.

This tutorial was extremely useful to me and has given me more clarity on the direction of my project and the layout of my look book and the components of the advertising campaign. Hearing the perspective and opinion of a brand development expert has been extremely beneficial because it has opened my eyes to the PR and marketing side of this project, rather than just the creative side. Neil’s advice and opinions on this project has allowed me to view it from a different perspective, not just as an advertising campaign, but also as a launch for the Victoria’s Secret 2014 beauty collection. In turn this meeting has given me new ideas in developing this project and has allowed me to progress my research and development for the look book and how I will promote the new range, with a clearer concept and direction.