{"id":10625,"date":"2020-02-11T13:07:34","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T18:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/burberry-founded-1856-164-years-old-or-phoenix-in-the-digital-world\/"},"modified":"2020-02-11T16:44:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T21:44:15","slug":"burberry-1856-est-164-years-old-or-phoenix-in-the-digital-world","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/burberry-1856-est-164-years-old-or-phoenix-in-the-digital-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Burberry (1856 est.) -164 years old or phoenix in the digital world?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was in 2006 when Burberry\u2019s new CEO, Angela Ahrendts[i]<\/a>, faced the challenge of fading identity of this iconic brand which was once well known for its fancy trench coats. Rapid rise in licensing agreements in the last decades led to having the brand name on literally everything from hand-bags to belts, throw pillows, boxer shorts, cookies, fragrances, liquor, stuffed toys and watches. There were even co-branded VISA credit cards that displayed the Burberry logo.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 1:<\/strong> Burberry\u2019s iconic design print started to appear everywhere<\/p>\n

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Ahrendts recalled \u2013\u00a0\u201cWe had 23 licensees around the world, each doing something different. We were selling products such as dog cover-ups\u00a0and leashes. In luxury, ubiquity will kill you. Burberry needed to be more than a beloved old British company<\/em>\u201d[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

#1: Techie\u2019s voice for branding<\/strong><\/p>\n

To bring back control on designs, Ahrendts first appointed a \u201cbrand czar<\/strong>\u201d,Christopher Bailey, a techno-enthusiast who hired people from gaming companies and coders along with traditional designers.[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

#2: Where can you find millennial? On the screens!<\/b><\/p>\n

While fast-fashion brands such as H&M and Zara thought of millennial as \u201ccheap\u201d, Ahrendts and Bailey saw these millennial as potential buyers for their luxury goods. They figured that to talk to these 20-somethings, they needed to communicate in their language and that language was digital<\/em><\/strong>.[v]<\/a> They declared that they wanted Burberry to become \u201cthe first fully digital luxury company<\/em>.\u201d[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 2:<\/strong> Burberry\u2019s strategy to entice millennial with luxury<\/p>\n

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#3 Social media as the way to go<\/strong><\/p>\n

2006 was early to think about digital. iPhones and Instagram did not even exist back then! But Burberry was thinking ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

Burberry\u2019s digital transformation started with investments in technology, particularly a multi-year effort to consolidate its systems and make its global operations transparent.[vii]<\/a> Having a foresight of where the world was heading, Burberry was one of the first luxury brands to join Facebook in 2009.[viii]<\/a> Over the years Burberry was active on all social platforms \u2013 Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Polyvore, Vine, Weibo, YouKu, WeChat<\/strong> and others.[ix]<\/a> By 2012, Burberry spent 70%<\/strong> of its marketing budget on digital media.[x]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 3:<\/strong> Burberry actively engages with its consumers through all social media platforms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Burberry used these platforms to connect with its fans by sharing their runway shows, updates on new collections and gathering feedback. Its high activity (5 posts\/day on Twitter, and up to 10 during London Fashion Week[xi]<\/a>) and initiatives such as Tweetwalk<\/strong>, enabling followers to see images of its collections before they went down the runway[xii]<\/a>, Tweet-activated cameras<\/strong> during catwalks, partnership with Japanese messaging platform \u201cLine\u201d to live stream the show<\/strong> for Line\u2019s 180 million active monthly users appealed to millennial and kept them engaged.[xiii]<\/a> In 2014, it pioneered a new \u201cBuy now\u201d button<\/strong> to sell directly from Twitter.[xiv]<\/a> It was equally engaged on other platforms. E.g. Burberry\u2019s Spring\/Summer 2013 campaign video gained over 1 million YouTube views<\/strong> in just 48 hours.[xv]<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2009, it delved into crowd-sourcing<\/b>\u00a0by introducing its website \u201cThe Art of the Trench\u201d, inviting everyday people to post their photographs in Burberry coats.[xvi]<\/a><\/p>\n

# Seamless omni-channel experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

Realizing that the millennial seamlessly traverse through the online and offline worlds, Burberry opened its first tech-enabled flagship store<\/strong> in London\u2019s Regent Street in 2012. This 44,000-sq. Ft. space boasted the tallest indoor retail screen in the world, a digitally enabled gallery, 500 speakers, 100 screens, mirrors that instantaneously changed into screens, RFID-tagged apparel that enabled bespoke multi-media content based on what customers touched and store staff equipped with iPads. [xvii]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBurberry Regent Street brings our digital world to life in a physical space for the first time, where customers can experience every facet of the brand through immersive multimedia content exactly as they do online,\u201d said Angela Ahrendts. \u201cWalking through the doors is just like walking into our website.\u201d<\/em>[xviii]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 4:<\/strong> A timeline of Burberry\u2019s digital journey, Source: Sull, Donald, Stefano Turconi, and Sanam Zanjani. \u201cA Case Study by London Business School,\u201d n.d.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Angela Ahrendts\u2019 ability to tap into the latest generation (gen Y and Z) of digital consumers who use online media to follow trends, engage, socialize as well as make purchases helped Burberry stand apart from its peers and steadily grow over the years.<\/p>\n

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Figure 5:<\/strong> Burberry\u2019s stock prices (2002-present), Source: Yahoo Finance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smooth road ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Burberry\u2019s entry into the nascent digital world made it an endearing brand among its young, loyal customers, it could face significant challenges ahead. Higher pace of innovation and new revelations about what\u2019s possible in the digital world has helped its luxury peers (e.g. LVHM and Gucci) catch up. Burberry needs to continue being ahead of the curve to reap the benefits of being the digital winner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, I want to leave you with one of my favorites of their digital initiatives \u2013 Burberry Kisses. In partnership with Google<\/strong>, Kisses was launched in 2013, aimed to “humanize technology” through emotive digital experiences – taking the lip contact from your real-life kiss and transforming it into a digital kiss print and sent to anyone in the world<\/strong>.[xix]<\/a><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it beautiful?<\/p>\n