Victoria’s Secret took young women by storm in the 2000s when it launched PINK, a new apparel brand that grew quickly by appealing to teen girls and college-aged women. 

But what happens when your customers start to demand more from your brand? 

A new generation of consumers is raising the bar, they’re calling on retail and fashion brands to do more when it comes to aligning their business goals with social outcomes. PINK had been relatively quiet in sharing their social impact work, leaving a lot to be desired among an audience that had high expectations of brands. They sought a clearer position for its social impact work in order to drive meaningful and lasting engagement among collegiate women.

So, PINK came to DoSomething Strategic (DSS) with a question: How do we identify a social impact platform that matches our internal values - focused on women, education and sustainability - while speaking to what Gen Z cares about?

We know brands that stand for more than what they sell will outgrow and outlast their competitors. Employers who prioritize employees as ambassadors of their purpose will also attract and retain top talent. PINK had the incredible opportunity to launch a social impact platform that supercharged their brand among an employee and consumer base increasingly prioritizing purpose done right. Here’s how we were able to develop PINK’s social impact platform (and how we can do the same for you!)

We set out with simple goals:

1. Identify a clear & resonant social impact platform that separates PINK from the noise. 

2. Craft a message framework and activation strategy to launch the platform both internally and externally, and bring its purpose to life in a meaningful way.

We began with a Brand Purpose Audit where we pinpointed the most relevant, authentic and high-impact white space for PINK to own. This included an organization assessment where we looked at their history, values, offerings and employee workforce strategies in order to identify where to dig in as well as any risks that might need to be addressed. We explored past and current engagement initiatives, communications, campaign materials and programs for their consumer base. We followed that with a landscape analysis to explore causes areas relevant to PINK. Lastly, we spoke to and surveyed Gen Z to see what they had to say about the social issues that were top of mind for them. 

DSS identified three areas where we felt strongly that PINK could build a social impact platform around: young women’s career advancement, sexual health and education, and mental health. However, there were a few insights we uncovered that led to PINK’s decision.

• Gen Z is a vulnerable group with soaring rates of anxiety and depression

• Fashion brands were not commonly claiming mental health as a cause platform

• Recent events had heightened the public’s awareness of long-term mental health effects among Gen Z

Equipped with this knowledge, PINK and DSS agreed that mental health was the most important issue facing their employees and consumer base. We designed a social impact platform strategy and campaign that communicated how PINK was taking action to support the mental health and well-being of its employees and consumers.

Together with PINK, we launched PINK With Purpose, a platform with evidence-based ways for navigating mental health. We then worked with them to set up a yearly competition where individuals can submit their mental health projects that PINK will support with a $25,000 grant. This transformational approach to mental health puts young people in the driver’s seat to create solutions that will promote youth mental health in their own communities. They’ve since distributed over $1 million in funds to projects led by young people that focus on mental health, community and sustainability. PINK with Purpose was simply the start of a journey to activate their social impact platform. There was more work to be done.

Following PINK with Purpose, DSS supported the PINK brand by launching the Press Pause and #IAmEnough video series which garnered hundreds of thousands of views, while thousands downloaded self-care toolkits — all powering a new way for PINK to connect in a more meaningful way with its consumer base. As a result, PINK saw a 12-point lift in consumer brand perception.

Outside of PINK’s own programming, they recognize the power of good partnerships. PINK collaborated with nonprofit organizations including the JED Foundation, Campus Pride, Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective, BEAM, and Sad Girls Club — giving them $850,000 in 2022 to fuel their work in support of providing teens and young adults access to mental health resources across the country.

When PINK engaged DSS in 2019, neither of our companies could have dreamed the partnership would be so successful. Outside of developing their focus on mental health, we were their eyes and ears on how to navigate the ever-changing social impact landscape. Our conversations ranged from how to support AAPI communities to enriching LBGTQ+ employee support groups. By the end of our work together in 2022, PINK had turned their dreams of a social impact platform into an embedded part of their corporate DNA and culture.

If your company is interested in building or reimagining your own social impact platform, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be here to help.