Sydney Sweeney and the Four SYRNs

Sydney Sweeney has officially entered the lingerie business.

In a widely anticipated move, Sweeney has launched SYRN (pronounced "siren").

The company is reportedly backed by centi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, which may explain why Sweeney was at his wedding.

As a man who has never purchased or worn women's undergarments, I'll freely admit I'm not an expert on the category.

But as a marketer, I have three big questions.

1. Why launch four different lines at once?

In an Instagram post, Sydney Sweeney explains there are "four SYRNs: Seductress, Romantic, Playful and Comfy", and posted photos of herself modelling each of the different styles. You don't need to be a category expert to see the differences in each immediately.

But as anyone who has launched a product can attest, successfully executing a major launch requires significant time, energy, and money. So why would Sweeney and her team choose to effectively launch four different products at once before she's built any credibility in the category at all?

Today, Nike plays (and wins) in a large number of sports and sports apparel categories, but the company didn't compete in every category at launch: they launched with running shoes. And then, after they had established credibility there, they expanded from their core.

On a somewhat related note...

2. Does Sweeney have any credibility in "Romantic" and "Comfy"?

If you've ever seen anything Sweeney has done -- her films, her controversial ad campaigns, or her red carpet appearances -- you'll likely agree she has established some credibility in Seductress.

And if you've ever watched one of her interviews (or any of her social media marketing efforts, such as the video below), you might also agree she can authentically own Playful.

But Romantic? Comfy?!?

Sweeney may very well be both of these things in real life, but Romantic and Comfy aren't part of the public persona she's built.

So why develop these lines, which may be viewed as less authentic than Seductress or Playful, when launching even two lines (instead of four) simultaneously is likely to prove a challenge?

3. Did Sweeney miss an opportunity for inclusion? (Or was that intentional?)

Victoria's Secret used to be the undisputed queen of women's lingerie.

But, over time, the company made a series of marketing and product decisions that made many women feel like the company was out-of-touch with what women really wanted. And that opened the door for more inclusive competitors such as Savage X Fenty, Skims, Thirdlove, and Knix to thrive.

As a marketer, I usually celebrate the idea that a brand should NOT be for everyone, but I usually mean that from a psychographic perspective.

If a woman wants to feel like a Seductress, I'd imagine Sweeney could have made a wide range of sizes available for that. And yet, I've already read online that Sweeney's lingerie does not offer a range of sizes that would fit larger body types.

This means SYRN won't be for everybody. And while it's certainly possible that Sweeney is trying to capture the exclusive (and exclusionary) space left vacant by Victoria's Secret, I don't see the benefit of intentionally replicating Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's "some women’s bodies just don’t work for it" gaffe.

Here's what I predict will happen with the SYRN brand in the next 12 months:

1. The SYRN launch will generate a lot of buzz.

Like, a LOT. Whether or not you're a fan of Sweeney's films, acting abilities, or politics, it's difficult to deny she's fantastic at earning attention.

And if you follow Sweeney on Instagram and have seen the content she's produced thus far to promote this launch, there's little doubt the SYRN launch will get noticed.

Whether SYRN can maintain that attention over time when Sweeney has other projects to promote (and thus isn't focusing the vast majority of her social media efforts on the SYRN brand), however, remains to be seen.

2. The Seductress line will do well.

Very, very well.

Part of this will be a self-fulfilling prophecy: since the launch, I have yet to see a single SYRN-related post on social media where Sweeney is wearing anything other than lingerie that clearly belongs to the Seductress line.

That might be because it's the line Sweeney likes most. Or perhaps it's because that line is more profitable. (I have no way of knowing for sure if this is true, but it could very likely be the case given there's clearly much less material required to manufacture it.)

I think the most likely reason, however, is that the company understands that, even as they're trying to launch with "the four SYRNs", the Seductress line is how SYRN can most differentiate itself against an already saturated women's intimates market.

3. A single SYRN will survive.

(And yes, I do love a good alliteration.)

If everything I wrote above turns out to be accurate, Sweeney and her team will see the sales figures for each line and realize the Seductress line is what's selling the most.

Then someone will point out that, in adherence to the Pareto Principle, they can likely maintain 80% of their revenues with only 20% of their SKUs, and that reducing the number of products they sell will result in far fewer operational headaches.

But that single SYRN isn't going to just survive; it's going to thrive.

It'll do so, in fact, for as long as Sweeney remains in the public eye.

And I don't expect she's going anywhere any time soon.

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UPDATE: At the end of launch day, Sweeney posted the image below to her Instagram feed, so it appears SYRN is off to a solid start.