About – The Burberry Story

Established in 1856 and headquartered in London, England, Burberry Group Inc is a

British luxury lifestyle fashion house founded by Thomas Burberry. The company
designs, manufactures and sells products under the Burberry brand. The company
specializes in ready-made apparel, accessories, fragrances, cosmetics and sunglasses.
And, it’s merchandise is known for its signature check patterns. The brand has dressed
notable celebrities from diverse fields.
The brand is synonymous with its tan Gabardine raincoat pioneered 145 years ago.
Founder Thomas Burberry was not particularly pleased with the then popular rubberized
mackintosh raincoat. Gaining inspiration from the country folk’s loose smocks; Thomas
designed a breathable weather proof fabric, which was then trademarked as “Gabardine”,
a Shakespearean term meaning shelter from inclement weather.
The rain coat was first exported to Japan during World War 1 and brought glory to brand.
The coat later came to be known as “Trench Coat” due to the pervasiveness and
endurance it offered during trench warfare.
The ‘Burberry Check’ was first introduced as a lining to the trench court. The Paris store
owner using his dexterity turned up the hem of one of the coats to highlight the checked
lining and repeated the ‘check’ for the umbrellas. The idea was a runaway success and it
made & sold hundreds of umbrellas. The experiment led to the introduction of the
checked cashmere scarf, a perennial bestseller.
Burberry has branded stores and franchises around the world and the brands first store
opened its doors to the public in 1891 in the Haymarket region of London, while the first
overseas store opened in 1910 in the city of Paris. Presently, the brand has more than 500
stores in more than 50 countries.
Burberry Group Inc is listed in the London Stock Exchange and CEO and Chief Creative
Officer Christopher Bailey has been at the helm of affairs of the since 2014
Business Objective – Why go for Digital Marketing?
About a decade ago, Burberry was struggling and the luxury brands performance was not
at par with its peers. In 2006 the then CEO Adriana Ahrendts decided to reinvent the the
brand and attract younger customers.
Ahrendts prime objective was to make Burberry the first company to go fully digital and
to build a social enterprise. She quoted to the Harvard Business Review “The number
one strategy that came (from our first meeting) was all centered around the brand. We
want to purify the brand message and how we were going to do that; by focusing on outer
wear, by focusing on digital, by targeting a younger consumer”.
Broadly Ahrendts wanted to develop a well-defined and modern brand identity and
design excellent customer service.

Strategy – How they did it

The brand has employed a strong social strategy in order to reach out to its target
audience in the digital space. The bulk of their campaign has centered around social
media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The fashion house has maintained
a steady theme across different platforms but has optimized the content to suit each
platform. For example it has used Facebook for live streaming and exhibiting products,
Instagram for visuals and Twitter to incite user engagement and interaction.
Apart from the social media platforms Burberry has also leveraged Burberry.com in a big
way to engage with customers.
1. Art of the Trench Campaign – First Launched in November 2009, it was Burberry’s
first major campaign after is foray into the digital space. In order to enhance the
appeal of the campaign Burberry joined hands with Scott Schuman also known as The
Sartorialist after his fashion blog. The team created a micro site wherein existing
customers could post snaps wearing their own trench courts. Users could comment,
like the content and share the snaps on Facebook, Twitter and E-mail. The idea was to
transfer the limelight on to customers and make them feel special. It enhanced the
aspirational value of the brand and at the same time enhanced brand loyalty
by establishing a connection with customers. The same year, the Spring/Summer
2010 show was streamed live, giving the world free access to exclusive ramp action
for the first time. Within a year, Burberry’s Facebook page had more than a million
followers, the largest at the time for a luxury brand and Burberry recorded a 50%
growth in e-commerce sales year on year. In 2014 the campaign was rebooted to give
it a global footprint. The reintroduction video has more than 1.4 million views, while
the micro site has about 25 million views till date. Kudos!
2. Acoustic – Launched in June 2010 Burberry Acoustic is a set of exclusive videos
showcasing young local UK music artists wearing Burberry outfits. The idea is to
promote fresh local talent and at the same time engage with consumers and initiate
consumer discussion. The campaign helps Burberry establish a greater connect with
the millennials and provides a platform to exhibit its products subtly. The initiative
has resulted in greater traction across micro sites and social media channels and has
created a buzz about Burberry products. Nice!
3. Kisses Campaign – In June 2013 Burberry launched its kisses campaign in
collaboration with Google. The initiative was used to market Burberry’s cosmetics,
specifically lipsticks now popularly known as Burberry Kisses. The website would let
users send out virtual kisses in the colour of their favourite Burberry Lipsticks using
their webcam or by just kissing the screen of their touch screen devices. Users also
had the option of adding a personalized message to the post. Google Street View
using its 3D landscape then enabled users to actually follow the journey of their kiss
to the recipient. It was an engaging and fun campaign that enthralled people from all
parts of the globe. There were more than 250,000 searches on Google during the
campaign and people from 13000 cities participated during the first 10 days of the
campaign. Sweet!
4. Tweetwalk – Burberry in collaboration with Twitter launched its Tweetwalk
campaign in September 2011. The fashion house shared backstage visuals of its
unreleased Spring/Summer collection 2012 with its fans even before the collection
made it to the ramp. To add to the excitement Burberry fans were given an
 opportunity to buy products from the latest range before it was made available to the
general public. The idea was to celebrate the brand with its customers. The campaign
took Twitter by storm with 50000 views and #Tweetwalk & #ChristopherBailey
trended on Twitter. The ramp show was then streamed live on the Burberry’s
Facebook page. Further, Burberry decided to hand over control of their Instagram
account to the brands most followed user, Mike Kus. Kus live streamed ramp day
visuals with #Burberry #LFW #MikeKus thus increasing Burberry’s fan base & also
his own. Masterstroke!
5. Burberry.com – Burberry’s internet home burberry.com is one of the most impressive
fashion sites available on the net. It is optimized to suit all platforms and provides a
smooth user experience. It is visual appealing, rich on content, quick to load and has
readable URLs. Navigating through the website is a breeze. It’s a one stop solution
for all that concerns Burberry. The website facilitates e-commerce sale and customers
can avail the latest and expansive Burberry collection right with a click of a button.
Burberry offers free shipping and a 30 day return policy depending on the customer’s
location. For any queries relating to the brand customers can use the Live Chat and
instant Call Me Back facility. Moreover, the website has links to a host of other
digital content such as look books, Art of the Trench and Burberry Acoustic etc. It’s
brilliant!
6. The Flagship Store – The Burberry flagship store at Regent Street, London is no less
than a digital marvel. It is technology packed and is inspired by the site map of
burberry.com. The layout and architecture replicates that of the website and the store
has 100 screens and 500 speakers spread across the building showcasing digitized
Burberry content. Radio-frequency Identification Technology (RFID) chips have been
fitted in certain products. Chip fitted products when taken into changing rooms or in
front of screens display ramp visuals and other filmed footage of the product. Genius!
7. Burberry Bespoke & Burberry Scarf Bar Campaign – These two initiatives center
around the customization feature offered by Burberry. Using the Bespoke feature
customers can choose from a host of combinations that range in thousands to
personalize trench coats. Customers can choose from different cuts, collars, cuffs,
linings, belts, epaulets and can even have their initials monogrammed onto the
court. Similarly, the Scarf Bar campaign allows customers the option of selecting
from a range of 30 scarf colours and shades of thread. Like in Bespoke customers can
get their initials monogrammed onto the scarf. These exhaustive features are all
available on burberry.com and customers can do all the customization online with the
help of a tool, which gives users suggestions as well. Thereafter, customers can check
the preview and order the product online. Smooth!

Results Achieved
Burberry went through historic transformation between 2006 and 2014 under CEO,
Adriana Ahrendts. It transformed from a tepid luxury brand selling trench coats to one of
the leading voices in the fashion industry. It is easily one of the most coveted and
aspirational luxury brands in the world. The company’s revenue skyrocketed from 743
million pounds in 2006 to 2523 million pounds in 2015.
In 2011 the fashion house was named the 4th fastest growing brand worldwide by
Interbrand (after Apple, Google, and Amazon) and WPP/BrandZ (after Facebook, Baidu,
and Wells Fargo). In 2012 it was the fastest growing luxury brand on Interbrand’s index.
Today Burberry is one of the most digitally innovative brands in the world and the most
popular brand on social media. It has more than 17 million likes on Facebook, 6.7 million
followers on Twitter and 7 million followers on Instagram.

Learnings – What we take home

1. Target Audience – In 2006 when Burberry started rebuilding the brand, it knew it had
to target the younger demographic group in order to leverage growth. The average
middle-aged man probably already owned a trench coat and by targeting the middle
aged Burberry would have probably continued with the 2% growth norm. Breaking
tradition and moving out of its comfort zone has enabled the company to scale
growth.
2. Right Medium – Once Burberry knew who its target audience was, it was important
to choose the correct medium to effectively reach out to customers. It’s a digital
world and then CEO Ahrendts was confident that the medium of interaction was
going to be digital social channels. Burberry designed a coherent theme for its pages
on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and actively
engaged with its fans on these mediums.
3. Content is King – Burberry maintained a consistent sense of sophistication
synonymous with its brand across all its social platforms. The company shared rich,
high quality, innovative and engaging content, with its fans through these channels.
The content is well synchronized and updated regularly.
4. Engage with Customers – Engaging and interacting with customers is one of
Burberry’s prime objectives. Burberry has been successful in creating a long,
everlasting bond with is customers and fans through its digital pursuits. Specific
campaigns like Tweetwalk and Kisses have put greater emphasis on customers, hence
have helped build brand image.
Image Credits: Burberry
STRATEGY
In November 2017, we set out our multi-year plan to re-energise our product and our customers‘
experience of our brand to deliver sustainable long-term value. The strategy will be delivered
through a combination of superior organic profit growth and continued strong cash generation, as
well as through our commitment to our capital allocation framework. The six pillars of our
strategy consist of four revenue drivers – product, communication, distribution and digital, and
two enablers – operational excellence and inspired people.

PRODUCT
To re-energise the brand and win with fashion-forward influencers, we are evolving our product
offer to signal change and attract the attention of luxury consumers. Transforming leather goods
will be a key part of this. We will continue to be unconstrained by the traditional calendar,
offering regular newness. We will also focus on creating full outfits for the customer, adding
innovation at every price point to recruit new customers to the brand.
COMMUNICATION
We are evolving our communications to be led by product and made for social media. Placing
our products at the centre of our communications, we will leverage our digital and social media
reach to convey new energy. We will reignite brand heat and change customer perception, using
bold consumer engagement, reinventing editorial content and increasing our focus on
experiences, using pop-ups and capsules to continually engage consumers with the brand.

DISTRIBUTION
Our aim is to operate a distribution network that is consistent with our luxury positioning. To
support this change, we will rationalise our non-luxury wholesale and retail doors, with an initial
emphasis on the US and then EMEIA. We will also transform our in-store experience by
refurbishing our retail stores and enhancing customer service. Together, these actions will
enhance our luxury distribution network, supporting our refined brand positioning.

DIGITAL
We are revolutionising our digital proposition by displaying highly curated product assortments,
personalised stories and editorialising our website to enhance consumer engagement. We are also
improving the omnichannel experience to allow customers flexibility over payment and delivery
options, switching seamlessly between physical and digital. We will also strategically grow and
strengthen our digital partnerships with brand-appropriate partners.

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
To deliver sustainable growth, we must increase our agility and efficiency, enabling us to better
respond to the rapidly changing environment in which we operate. Our ambition is to adapt our
supply chain to deliver true luxury products, power the organisation through technology and to
work in a simple and efficient way. Operational excellence is an important foundation as we
strengthen our Company and re-position our brand. By working differently and more effectively
we can remove significant waste. We have accelerated and extended our cost saving programme
to deliver £100m of cumulative cost savings in FY 2018/19, and £120m of cumulative
annualised cost savings by FY 2019/20, which in total represents 15% of our addressable cost
base.

INSPIRED PEOPLE
Our Inspired People programme is designed to deliver the organisational and people elements of
our strategy. Work is underway to deliver on our commitments of fostering a dynamic and
inclusive culture to engage employees, empower our leaders, strengthen capabilities, expand our
talent plans, simplify how we work and drive positive sustainable change across every part of our
footprint.