Victoria's Secret is unstoppable.Victoria's Secret stores' $6.1 billion in 2015 sales shattered records.One reason for thebrand'smassive success is its brilliant marketing strategy.The company is very careful about who it selects to be its models, which the brand calls Angels.Victoria's Secret's advertising team choosesmodels they believe female customerswill relate to (and if not, relate, then at least like and follow on Instagram.)"The merchants drive the decisions on the Angels. They [Victoria's Secret] try the girls out, and certain girls sell product. They're women that appeal to other women. And they're special because they never appear in men's magazines. Once you start to do that, they become threatening [to potential female customers]," Richard Habberley ofDNA Model Management told Women's Wear Daily.This strategy is evident. The company famously parted ways with Miranda Kerr, and there was speculation that it was because she was threatening to women. And althoughVictoria's Secret featured photos of Kate Uptonin acatalog (without her permission), Victoria's Secret's casting director Sophia Neophitou told The New York Times said the company "would never use" KateUpton because she wastoo flashy for the brand.The women who have stuck around to becomesuccessful veteran Angels include Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, and they bothhighly publicize how important their families are to them. Having Angels who are mothers also helps hook older consumers, not just young girls. Story time '''''' #NoahPhoenix #myboy #dreamplayroom ' by Uncle @stewartshining A photo posted by @alessandraambrosio on Feb 24, 2016 at 2:45pm PSTon Feb 24, 2016 at 2:45pm PST Additionally, many women who start out as PINK models become Angels. Angels Sara Sampaio, Taylor Hill, and Elsa Hosk all walked the runway for Victoria's Secret's younger sister brand before getting tapped to be an Angel, as though testing to see how young girls feel about their personalities.Recently, Victoria's Secret hired former PINK model Josephine Skriver to become an Angel.Skriver is notable because she was born IVF and has two sets of gay parents; she has been an outspoken activist for gay marriage, giving her apersonal platform."When people look at me and know that I'm an IVF kid, I hope they see a person, a human being, just like anyone else. You get so many,'She's not made the natural way, she shouldn't even be here,' but I am not a science experiment, I am not synthetic, I am just as real as you are," she said in avideo interviewwith i-D. so overwhelmed with every happy emotion right now! I don't even know how to be in my own body! It still feels so insane the day is finally here! #NewestAngel #AngelJo thank you so much to the incredible team of @victoriassecret @ed_razek @nikibaratta @michellepriano and all the rest! Thank you for making me part of the VS Family!!! Flying on happiness right now!!!!! ''''' A photo posted by Josephine Skriver (@josephineskriver) on Feb 19, 2016 at 2:00pm PSTon Feb 19, 2016 at 2:00pm PST Companies like Adore Me are trying to compete with the lingerie behemoth, but they have a long way to go. Victoria's Secret controls 61.8% of the lingerie market, according to IBIS World, and the sales speak for themselves.SEE ALSO:Victoria's Secret supermodel reveals everything she eats in a dayJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Model Gigi Hadid got rejected twice by Victoria's Secret
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