Victoria’s Secret 2021 ‘Feminist’ Rebrand: Goodbye Angels And Hello Activists

I first spoke out about the need for Victoria's Secret to rebrand in Business Insider in 2015. I believed the brand was in real danger of losing its relevance by promoting dated, damaging and single-minded images of female ‘perfection’ with their ‘Angels.’ The message struck a chord, and over the years, I agreed to do several more interviews on the brand's increasing irrelevance.

So when Victoria's Secret finally announced their VS Collective rebrand last week—including ditching their Angels and championing soccer player Megan Rapinoe, transgender model Valentina Sampaio, and South Sudanese refugee Adut Akech—you would expect me to breathe a sigh of relief. 

Not quite. 

Rebrands are never as easy as swapping out angels for activists—or shunting one group of women for another for that matter—especially after a disastrous few years that saw sales slump, people jumping on the criticism bandwagon, and a Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

Who on earth is going to believe your new mission, to become "the world's leading advocate for women?"

Here's what we can learn (what not to do) from Victoria's Secret's rebrand.

Firstly, the power of your brand is in its believability, and rebrands must be believable. David Ogilvy said it best. "Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience cause they'll come back to bite you in the behind" (yep, I added the last part myself.) 

Remember the Pepsi and Kendall Jenner ad? The soda brand tried to jump on the topical cultural conversation of race relations to sell more soda. Nobody believed it. The tactic trivialized the Black Lives Matter movement, was labeled tone-deaf, and Pepsi pulled the ad and provided an apology. 

It's tempting for brands to try and regain relevance by championing a cause, but please don't do it. You have to lay the groundwork in advance and build trust with your consumer on the issue you want to support. You have to show that the cause is indeed part of the DNA of your organization. 

Which brings me nicely to my next point. 

Brands must match their marketing changes with organizational changes. So how are you internally branding your organization? Victoria's Secret employees are their most prominent brand ambassadors—not the hotch-potch of celebrities they've brought on board for their new campaign idea around the VS Collective. 

And yet, Victoria's Secret's leaders have kept a surprisingly low profile. So who are they, what do they believe, and why are they hiding?

In all fairness, the brand has promised to change the organization with a new board that will consist of seven directors, six of these will be women. But most unfortunately, the brand still hasn't expanded its limited size range (although it claims it is "leaning into" larger sizes, and that will happen eventually.) 

I won't hold my breath.

Last but not least, Victoria's Secret's recognition that sexy women don't just come in size zero is laughably late. Research shows while Victoria's Secret models have shrunk, American women have grown to an average dress size of 16-18. 

So why did the brand hold on to their dated and damaging beauty stereotypes for so long? Does the brand really believe in the new women it's promoting, or has it created the VS Collective as a last-minute attempt to save the business from going bust? Today's audiences are far too savvy not to ask these questions and will see right through your marketing. 

I've always believed that rebrands need to be organic and authentic. Not deliberate and calculated. And, I'm baffled by how Victoria's Secret thinks they can champion inclusivity when their products still cater to a limited size range. What sort of a collective is that?

Come on, Victoria's Secret; Five years later?! You can do better than this. 

Named Esquire's Influencer Of The Year, Jeetendr Sehdev is a media personality, international speaker, and the author of the New York Times best-selling book, "The Kim Kardashian Principle: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do It Right)." Follow him on Twitter @jeetendrsehdev, Instagram @jeetendr_sehdev.