Victoria’s Secret is influencing its millennial demographic to come into its bricks-and-mortar stores through a special Snapchat freebie, in an adapted version of its iconic coupons.

Snapchat’s experience still has a cool factor for its users, allowing brands to share fun and interesting call-to-actions that require consumers to directly participate. Victoria’s Secret is rewarding users who screen shot its Snapchat coupon with a giveaway.

“Consumers are most apt to participate in campaigns where opting in is virtually effortless, particularly when a true benefit is offered,” said Laura Sossong, manager at BRP. “For this reason, screen shot technology is certainly an innovative sector to explore. Victoria’s Secret stands to benefit, as they can gauge relevance and traction of screenshot based promotions to impact future initiative planning.”

Modernizing freebies
Customers of Victoria’s Secret are familiar with its giveaway cards in which shoppers bring in stores to redeem for a free product. The lingerie brand is modernizing its experience through Snapchat.

Followers of Victoria’s Secret Snapchat are being prompted to bring in their smartphones to redeem a coupon for a free Showstoppers bra with any purchase. Users screen shot the coupon on Victoria’s Secret Snapchat story.

The brand warns and entices users about the deal with a few precursor snaps such as text reading, “Hey, Snapchat want a free surprise,” “love it, mean it,” “shine bright,” “screengrab the offer.” Users can screen shot the actual coupon, which resembles its traditional mail-in cards but on the mobile screen.

Shoppers show their smartphones with the screen shot coupon to request the free product along with purchase.

L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, also recently announced its decision to eliminate the lingerie brand’s catalog, reflecting a desire to save printing and mailing costs as its target audience of millennials spends more time browsing on mobile.

The company announced during its recent earnings call that the catalog will cease production for all brands. The commitment was likely derived from its younger audience’s tendency to shop or search products on mobile devices, and from research that showed the catalog had a lack of impact on sales (see more).

Death of the coupon
Victoria’s Secret is one of many brands taking this route, hoping to appeal to consumers in a more modern way. The cool experience and immediate call-to-action atmosphere of Snapchat helps keep brand sentiment and engagement high.

Traditional paper coupons are fading throughout the industry with many retailers.

For instance, after years of being a coupon-cutter’s dream, Bed, Bath & Beyond announced earlier this month that it would drop coupons in favor of a subscription loyalty-based system called Beyond+, which gives a permanent 20 percent discount.

The move suggests a larger shift in the retail world away from one-time coupons and brand interactions to more long-term relationships as mobile keeps consumers increasingly connected to other brands. Bed, Bath & Beyond is following this trend to keep customers on their side (see more).

“By providing consumers with a simple means by which to receive free, trend-right merchandise, Victoria’s Secret is building positive perception and brand affinity for their products,” Ms. Sossong said.