????在數碼時代，一個品牌要想獲得知名度，在社交媒體上攢人氣是個非常好的方法。從這個角度來看，大碼女裝零售商Lane Bryant公司正走在成功的路上。

????Lane Bryant公司主營加大碼女裝，最近該公司發布的一則廣告成為美國社交網絡的熱門話題。在這則廣告中，一排“微胖界”女模特穿著清涼內衣，熱辣出鏡，矛頭直指內衣品牌“維多利亞的秘密”2014年的廣告“天使”。

????琳達?西斯里是Lane Bryant公司的CEO兼總裁，她之所以推出這則名為“我不是天使”的廣告，就是為了利用時下正在興起的“身材正能量”活動，以提振低迷的品牌形象。

????社交媒體分析公司Engagor創始人兼CEO福爾克?勒邁特雷表示，在短短一天內，“我不是天使”就在Facebook和Twitter上被提到了3萬次，其中85%的評論都是正面的。該公司在Twitter上的粉絲一天就上漲了4%。80%的回應者是25到44歲的女性，出現頻率最高的詞就是“重新定義了身材形象”和“祝賀女性”。

????廣告中出現的四名超模身穿Cacique系列內衣，暗示性地低聲說出“親愛的，你看見了嗎？”。這針對的是“維多利亞的秘密”的“完美身材”廣告，后者一經推出就遭到不少網民炮轟，甚至有人請愿要求將其撤下。而“我不是天使”中的超模們人人腰間都綴著“游泳圈”，一名模特的腹部甚至還有卵巢癌手術留下的疤痕。

????CEO西斯里在一份媒體聲明中驕傲地宣稱：“我們的品牌已經開始轉變人們對美的傳統觀念。”

????Lane Bryant公司的總部位于俄亥俄州哥倫布市。自2013年就任CEO以來，西斯里先后為公司帶來了幾個“子品牌”和運動女裝。（Lane Bryant公司是Ascena Retail集團的子公司，在全美擁有767家商店和7900名員工。）幾十年來，一直有許多人嘲笑該公司銷售的低檔老式胸罩。不過西斯里對行業雜志《Racked》表示：“現在我們已經是一家全新的Lane Bryant公司了。”在此前Lane Bryant供職于“維多利亞的秘密”的母公司Limited集團期間，她還推出過一個名叫Eloquii的平價女裝品牌，親民的價格與Zara有些類似，只不過它也是專門針對微胖界的大碼產品。

????廣告公司YARD的聯合創始人露絲?伯恩斯坦認為，抓住“身材正能量”運動的機會進行宣傳，是Lane Bryant公司走出的一步好棋。畢竟如今大碼女裝的市場正在增長。且不說Forever21、H&M和Wet Seal等品牌都開始做大碼女裝，就連Calvin Klein、拉夫勞倫、Tommy Hilfiger和Michael Kors也開始進入大碼女裝市場。其他一些知名品牌，比如Saks Fifth Avenue，則退出了大碼女裝領域，它的專業大碼女裝品牌Avenue也宣告破產。

????美國其實并不缺女胖紙：根據美國疾病控制與預防中心的數據，64%的美國婦女都不同程度的體重超標。零售分析公司NPD集團的數據顯示，半數美國女性都穿14碼以上的衣服，她們的服裝購買力占全體美國女性的三分之一，約為每年175億美元。在過去兩年里，瞄準這個小眾市場的公司的銷售額增長了31%。當然這也離不開一些做大碼女裝的網絡紅人推波助瀾，一些網絡紅人還有自己的大碼服裝品牌。

????Lane Bryant公司的CEO也注意到了這一點，她對《Biz Journal》表示：“我喜歡看博客網站，她們每天都在教我應該怎樣考慮這件事。”以美國的博客達人加比?格雷格為例（她自己就是個女胖紙），她推出的“肥基尼”（即肥版比基尼）曾在2013和2014年紅極一時，上架不到一小時就被搶購一空。

????“肥基尼”和“我不是天使”只是“身材正能量”運動的最近一次發力。女權主義者幾十年來的研究早已表明，媒體大力宣傳的那種超瘦的“麻桿型”身材是有害的。多芬公司2004年推出的“真正的美”廣告將身材正能量運動帶入了主流，這則廣告讓非專業模特穿著內衣上鏡，最終在YouTube上收獲了6500萬次的點擊量。

????不過，擺在Lane Bryant公司前面的路也許依然不好走。研究顯示，大碼女裝并不會令女性感覺更好。有些微胖界人士也對Lane Bryant利與“維多利亞的秘密”勾心斗角表示遺憾。大碼女裝博主薩拉?康利就表示：“我不認為作為胖女人，我們必須與主流的審美理念作斗爭。”

????Lane Bryant公司能否利用此次社交媒體上的良好反響擴大銷量，目前還有待觀察。Engagor公司的勒邁特雷認為：“消費者的確被這則廣告吸引了，但結果還要看該公司能拿出什么產品。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????審校：任文科

????In the digital age, one way for a brand to make itself relevant is to get social media traction. By that measure, plus-size retailer Lane Bryant Inc. is succeeding.

????Lane Bryant Inc., which sells women’s clothing size 14 to 28, became a hot topic in social media after the company released an ad campaign featuring vamping, slightly-large supermodels in slinky lingerie, a not-so-subtle jab at Victoria’s Secret 2014 ads where ultrathin “angels” wore wings.

????Hashtagged #ImNoAngel, the salvo from Lane Bryant’s CEO and President Linda Heasley aims to revitalize the flagging brand by cashing in on the growing “body-positive” movement.

????In one day, #ImNoAngel garnered 30,000 Facebook and Twitter mentions, 85% of them positive, according to Folke Lemaitre, CEO and founder of Engagor, an analytics firm monitoring social media. Twitter followers were growing 4 percent a day. Activity was 80% women 25 to 44. The terms used most often: “redefining body image,” and “celebrates women.”

????The ad’s four supermodels, wearing the Cacique lingerie line, suggestively whisper lines such as, “I mean honey, have you seen all this?” It aims at Victoria’s Secret’s “Perfect Body” campaign, which sparked petitions opposing the images. #ImNoAngel ads show some small rolls of flesh, and one model’s abdominal scar from ovarian cancer surgery.

????“Our brand has begun to change the conversation of traditional notions of beauty,” CEO Heasley crowed in a press statement.

????CEO of the Columbus, Ohio-based company since 2013, Heasley has brought a few designer “sub-brands” to Lane Bryant, and chic athletic wear. (Lane Bryant is a unit of Ascena Retail group, with 767 stores and 7,900 U.S. employees.) For decades, Lane Bryant was derided as a down-market mall staple selling outdated, stretchy, dowdy coverups. “It’s a new Lane Bryant,” Heasley told industry journal Racked. Previously at the Limited, she added Eloquii, a fast-fashion, runway-inspired line similar to Zara’s, in large sizes.

????Capitalizing on the the “body-positive”movement is a good move for Lane Bryant, contends Ruth Bernstein, co-founder of YARD advertising agency, whose clients include Henri Bendel and Banana Republic. The campaign, after all, arrives as the the plus-size market is growing. Trendy, new entrants include Forever21, H&M, and Wet Seal. Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors license their names to plus-size lines. Yet other big names, including Saks Fifth Avenue, have exited; plus-sizebrand Avenue went bankrupt.

????The problem is not a lack of large women: 64% of U.S. women are overweight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Half of U.S. women wear size 14 or larger, and they hold about one-third of women’s overall apparel purchasing power—about $17.5 billion a year, says retail analysts NPD Group. Small niche companies addressing this market have seen sales rise 31% in the past two years, helped by a tidal wave of plus-fashion bloggers — some with branded clothing lines.

????Lane Bryant’s CEO has noticed. “I love going on bloggers’ sites,” Heasley told Biz Journal. “They teach me every day how we should be thinking about this.” And perhaps selling like this: curvy blogger Gabbi Gregg’s “fatkinis” – large two-piece suits — went viral in 2013 and 2014 and sold out in an hour.

????Fatkinis and #ImNoAngel are the latest wave in the body-positive movement, built on decades of feminist researchshowing the harmful effects of media images of rail-thin women. Dove’s landmark “Real Beauty” campaign, begun in 2004, took it mainstream, posing non-professionals in their underwear, eventually getting 65 million YouTube views.

????Still, Lane Bryant might have a tougher road. Studies show, for instance, that larger models don’t actually make womenfeel better. And some in the curvy community bemoaned the cat fight aspect of the campaign. “I don’t believe that as plus size women we must be pitted against mainstream ideals to be seen as beautiful,” plus-size fashion blogger Sarah Conley said.

????It remains to be seen whether Lane Bryant can parlay this social media buzz into sales. “Consumers are intrigued,” says Engagor’s Lemaitre. “But it will be up to the company to deliver.”