At the same time that practically all millennial-minded marketers are using Snapchat, Line, Kik and every other social and mobile platform out there to get in touch with teens, Victoria's Secret has rolled out its own chat feature within its Pink shopping app.
The lingerie brand is the first marketer to use a chatting feature from a mobile messaging app called Frankly.
After opening the chat feature, app users can talk about predetermined topics like holiday gifts or school. Because this is Victoria's Secret (and millennials are fickle) the public chats are customizable with different shades of pink backgrounds and branded emojis. There's also the usual crop of smiley face emojis that app users can play with, much like a text message.
On Dec. 9, the chat function will be used to push out exclusive content during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London. The retailer recently used the app to announce that singer Ariana Grande was performing at the show.
There is also a button to download the stand-alone Frankly mobile messaging app.
With a demographic that’s highly skewed toward millennials, mobile is important for Victoria’s Secret. This summer the brand launched an augmented reality feature within its app, in addition the the usual games and content, to keep people engaged.
Frankly claims to have been downloaded 1.5 million times, which is small potatoes compared to most messaging apps. Earlier this year, Forrester Research published a report showing that WhatsApp has 500 million users and Line has 420 million.