The retailer has launched a four-week campaign that encourages consumers to snap pictures that represent the brand on Instagram and through the brand’s mobile application. The initiative targets Victoria’s Secret Pink Nation loyalty program members.

“Photo sharing is a very popular activity with smartphone consumers, so it makes sense for retailers like Victoria’s Secret to offer promotions in this area,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism, New York.

“Instagram had a large and engaged user base and brands are interested in tapping into this customer base to build brand awareness and sales,” he said.

Mr. Buckingham is not affiliated with Victoria’s Secret. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Victoria’s Secret did not respond to press inquiries.

Mobile sweepstakes
Each week of the campaign, consumers are encouraged to take a picture of a letter from the word “pink.”

Consumers can submit their photos via Instagram with different hashtags each week.

For instance, the first week of the campaign encourages consumers to upload pictures of the letter “p” with the hashtag #GimmeP.

Victoria’s Secret will then judge the entries based on creativity, photo quality, originality and consistency with the brand’s image.

Four winners will be chosen each week for a total of 16 winners. Each winner will receive a $500 shopping spree.

Additionally, Victoria’s Secret has rolled out the promotion to its iPhone, iPad and Android apps, where the campaign is promoted under the “Pics” tab. Via the app, consumers can customize their photos with branded photo filters.

Including its own apps in the promotion also helps Victoria’s Secret build its loyalty program through app downloads, since the app can only be used by Pink Nation members.

Victoria’s Secret is then plotting the pictures out on a microsite – http://pink.victoriassecret.com/pinknation-summer-of-pink – where consumers can view all of the photos and mark their favorites.

The campaign runs through May 26 and was announced via an email and SMS message that was sent to Victoria’s Secret’s Pink Nation members.

The campaign is also promoted on Victoria’s Secret’s Web and mobile site.

Share on mobile
Victoria’s Secret has actively been building up its Pink Nation program with mobile in the past year.

Most recently, the brand launched an iPad app to serve as a hub for loyalty information (see story).

Additionally, a commerce-enabled mobile advertising campaign last year promoted sales of a new pant style (see story).

Instagram is quickly becoming a social media star for brands to incorporate their social and mobile initiatives.

Often times though, Instagram is used for one-off campaigns and is not set up for longer-term relationships with consumers.

By stretching the campaign out over four weeks, Victoria’s Secret is able to bring users back repeatedly and is also aimed at helping boost the brand’s loyalty program.

“Instagram will continue to become an increasingly important marketing channel for brands as its audience grows,” Mr. Buckingham said.

“Given Instagram’s ownership by Facebook, marketers will be keen to link the two platforms and have their Instagram promotions flow over to Facebook as well,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York