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Strategy History of LaSenza
Strategy
La Senza, on the other hand, always set out to be a less sexualized version of Victoria’s Secret. La Senza provides customers with outstanding SHUVRQDO VHUYLFH ZKLOH FRPELQLQJ TXDOLW\ ͤW and value. So says the website, but visit the online store and you get far more sexy than service. The corporate positioning may have allowed La Senza to penetrate conservative markets like the Middle East with more success than Victoria’s Secret, but obvious attempts to be sexy dilute that stated strategy and undermine brand positioning. Just like Victoria’s Secret, La Senza uses high SURͤOH PRGHOV WR SURPRWH WKH EUDQG 7KH\ KDYH included Lauren Gold, Isabeli Fontana, Daniela Pestova, Sophie Anderton, and Rebecca Romijn. But for using British B-list celebrities
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including Tess Daly, a TV host, ex-soap actress Gemma Atkinson and model- cum-football pundit’s wife Danielle Lineker, it loses out. Despite a brand strategy of being less overtly sexy than Victoria’s Secret, La Senza has come XQGHU ͤUH IRU LWV PDUNHWLQJ HIIRUWV DQG SRVL tioning. The company launched LaSenza girl in 2008, which was aimed at 5 to 12 year old girls. Critics said it was sexualizing children, but the brand said it was simply designing colourful underwear for them. The brand was also sued by Victoria’s Secret for copyright infringement in 2006 after launching a new bra, and by Eva Herzigova after refusing to pay for a photoshoot on the grounds she had cut her hair and lost weight. In 2005, La Senza has provoked controversy after launching the La Senza Girl brand, which is aimed towards 5-12 year old girls. Outdoor store signage advertising "La Senza Girl" as a "store in a store" was eventually added to many stores. Parents and critics claim that the line sexualizes children, despite the fact the company argues the line was designed to offer young girls "coverage" before they are ready for a training bra. David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth, Wales UK, claimed La Senza was "willing to PDNH SURͤWV DW WKH H[SHQVH RI SXEOLF PRUDOLW\ but yet we allow things like porn, because that is OK. If you sexualise children at a young age,
they tend to have children at a young age, often in unstable circumstances where they are unable to take care of the child in a responsible way." La Senza released a statement denying that they were sexualising children and that their intentions were to create fun and colourful underwear for children. The outdoor store signage for "La Senza Girl" was removed from stores by 2011. It is unclear whether or not the brand is still being sold, but it is no longer advertised.
no longer a shareholder, and in WKH 6SULQJ RI VHW XS WKH QHZ OLQJHULH ͤUP Boux Avenue. 2Q 'HFHPEHU /D 6HQ]D 8. ͤOHG IRU administration citing "trading conditions" as one of the conditions for closure. The company stated that it had 2,600 UK staff at 146 stores and 18 concessions, and announced plans to close 80 stores.
In 2006, the company faced a major law suit with major competitor Victoria's Secret. La Senza launched the ITEC bra, which claimed to be "the world's most technologically advanced bra" because its one- piece design eliminates tags and seams. After the launch of the ITEC, Victoria's Secret sued for patent infringement claiming the ITEC was a knock off of their popular bra, the IPEX. Despite the controversy, the La Senza shares ZHUH XS 86 IURP DQG LWV SURͤWV PRUH than doubled from the previous quarter. Businessman Theo Paphitis bought the United Kingdom and Ireland franchise, called La Senza UK, and began expanding it, eventually with sub-franchises in parts of the European Union. In July 2006 Paphitis sold the company to private equity company Lion Capital, for a reported £100m. Paphitis left the board and is
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