g, LOW COST SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, ETC) Victoria's Secret has been very successful due to first the excellent execution of their branding strategy that stresses the values of being feminine, sexy, sophisticated and products of quality has worked very well for the company. In addition, the ability to quickly and successfully launch new products has greatly contributed to the company's success, in addition to the front-line strategies that are shown in Figure 3, Focus at the Front Line, (Marketing Leadership Council, 2002).

Figure 3: Focus at the Front Line

What underscores and supports all these initiatives however is a very strong orientation on the customer, specifically tracking customers' needs through the use of an enterprise-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that tracks and handles all relevant data on the company's customers. The CRM system is an integral part of the company's ability to stay connected to customers and generate very high levels of loyalty with existing products, and successfully launch new products through an extensive catalog the company produces.

QUESTIONS # 6- MAKE an OVERALL ASSESSMENT of the COMPANY'S STRATEGY. DO YOU THINKS ITS STRATEGY IS SUCCESSFUL and POSITIONING the COMPANY for the FUTURE? WHAT ELSE MIGHT the COMPANY DO or DO DIFFERENTLY?

Victoria's Secret has grown to 1,001 stores, and as Figure 3 illustrates, all are designed to support a try-before-you-by approach to retailing, in addition to direct links to the company's CRM system to capture useful information about customers in real-time. This data will be later used for loyalty campaigns and additional marketing programs. When one considers the effort and insight that Victoria's Secret places into the retailing experience, it is...

The addition of Pink, a store chain designed for college-age women, will undoubtedly be successful as it will capitalize on the company's ability to launch products. With these factors in mind, Victoria's Secret appears to have execution and market momentum on its side. In terms of capitalizing on future growth, the company needs to concentrate on resolving its supply chain issues and getting better at managing seasonality of demand for raw materials. The most critical area of the company that needs to be fixed today is making the supply chain much more demand-driven, focused on the store requirements. All customer-facing strategies seem to be working very well; what is needed is a more effective distributed order management and supply chain management system.
References

Investor Relations (2007) - Frequented Asked Questions of Limited Brands Investor Relations. Accessed from the Limited Brands Website on May 30, 2007 at http://www.limitedbrands.com/faq/company.jsp#faqlink4(Marketing Leadership Council, 2002) - Insights Into How Victoria's Secret Harnesses Customer Requirements. Marketing Leadership Council. Corporate Executive Board. Accessed via EBSCO Host on May 30, 2007:

Porter (1979) - Harvard Business Review. "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy" in Harvard Business Review 57, March - April 1979, pages 86-93.

Securities and Exchange Commission (2007) - Form 10Ks and Annual Reports for the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Accessed using EBSSCO Host and also Limited Brands website on May 30, 2007 from location:

http://www.limitedbrands.com/investor/financial_performance/sec_filings.jsp

Figure 1:

Porters' Five Forces Model