Victoria's Secret Waved Farewell to Its Angels. Was It a Mistake? Building up your brand takes years, which is why Victoria's Secret's marketing decision to shelve its Angels was a shock.

Since its inception, Victoria's Secret was the standard-bearer when it came to lingerie. That's why it came as such a shock to learn that it had decided to say goodbye to its Angels, a stable in its marketing strategy for the past 25 years. Will it prove to be a devastating marketing mistake, or will it be a stroke of genius?

To answer that question, let's take a quick look at Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola lost $4 billion when Ronaldo moved two Coke bottles off to the side of his table at a news conference for the European Championship. This was on the back of the company's anti-racism training in which it asked employees to "try to be less white."

There's an expression that has gained some traction recently: Get woke, go broke. The difference between Coca-Cola and Victoria's Secret is that Coca-Cola is ubiquitous in its industry. Victoria's Secret, on the other hand, built itself around the notion of drop-dead gorgeous bombshells. Will its decision to move away from its unique selling point towards a group of accomplished women entrepreneurs, activists and athletes pay off?