Un-Retouched Women: What Lingerie Can Teach Marketers Everywhere

While it seems like it ought to be screamingly obvious by now — at least for anyone who’s ever watched one of the billion or so Dove-inspired “real-women” videos
— women are actually real. (All of them! Not just the ones in the videos!) And they like it when marketers show them women who look real, too.

But a quick scan of the 10-most
read stories in the retail and fashion beats this year makes us think that “This is what women really look like!” concept is still kind of newsy. So let’s start with the most-read
story, about a beautiful ad campaign for a new line of Lane Bryant lingerie,
an unapologetic launch for plus-size women.

Although some two-thirds of adult American women are overweight, it has long been treated as a niche market. So it’s no surprise
that the campaign, which features a collection of glamorous and decidedly sexy models who aren’t ashamed to strut in their dainties, was read and shared so much.

A little more
surprising, though, is that two more of the year’s most-read stories are about an entirely different demographic trying to capture that sexy-confident swagger: Aerie, the lingerie brand of teen
retailer American Eagle, timed a new #AerieReal bikini campaign to spring break,
but instead of the predictable Girls Gone Wild vibe that has made millions of young women feel bad about their bodies, it opted for a social-media effort that asked women to upload “body
positive” photos. It even included a publicity stunt billed as the world’s largest un-retouched selfie. The campaign was so body-positive, in fact, that it earned a first-ever “Seal
of Approval” from the National Eating Disorders Association, also generating one of the year’s most read stories.

And the real fitness needs of women trying to become
stronger, fitter and faster also fueled a piece about how — and why
— sports apparel challenger Under Armour is trying to reach women through digital channels and connected fitness.

It’s also clear that readers are eager to learn more
about the ways retailers and brands can work together to use mobile more effectively, including a piece about Forrester Research’s take on the way mobile is emerging as an anti-channel, how Walgreen’s, Home Depot, L’Oreal and Sephora are acing mobile, and how Target is using mobile to change its relationships with both Millennials and
Hispanics.

Finally, readers were also intrigued with a massive freebie
day used by Planet Fitness, as well as a study showing that college kids
are stepping away from once-favorite brands like Ugg, Timberland and Michael Kors.

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WATCH: Close to bare ladies struggle in Lingerie Preventing Championships

Fans of UFC babe Ronda Rousey will love this… er… “disciple” – in which hot women stripped down to just their skimpies put the “mmmmmm” in MMA.

The feisty fighters punch, kick and wrap their smooth, supple legs around each other in the new three-minute ad.

Some even pull off unorthodox moves – such as smothering each other with their boobs.

BABE: One of the Lingerie Fighting Championships ‘fighters’ enters the ring

FLOORED: Her opponent slams her onto the mat

“Many of our fighters were college athletes”

Lingerie Fighting Championships

Las Vegas fashion model Roni Taylor set up the crowd-pleaser.

Critics have slammed the championships, saying they set back female MMA by 20 years.

But – perhaps unsurprisingly – shows keep selling out.

Similar criticism was hurled at the – in which female players get their kit off and play with balls in their underwear.

HOT: The girls pose for the crowd before entering the ring

FIGHT CLUB: Women fighters grapple in the ring

The girl-on-girl action in LFC looks somewhat… er… “stiff” – leading to claims it is all faked.

WWE has been fighting off similar attacks for years and blokes still keep queuing up to see muscly chaps in y-fronts grapple.

If women now want a piece of the flesh-flashing pie, we are all for supporting sexual equality in this issue.

CHEST PRESS: One girl smothers another with her boobs

HEADS DOWN: One girl wraps her legs around another’s head

Hitting back at the haters, an LFC spokesman said: “The fighters have fun, it’s safer than regular MMA and they get to be on a TV series viewed by millions of people.

“And many of our fighters were college athletes so they did stay in school.

“They just have a better sense of humour than you.”

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