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Ella Crabtree200773447
To what extent did Social Media and Digital Marketing have an
effect on the re-building of Burberry’s brand image and
performance?
This dissertation will look at how the use of social media and digital marketing proved crucial for Burberry’s transformation from a brand associated with the
‘chav’ status to a major competitor in British fashion.
“This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Marketing”
The School of Design, University of LeedsThursday 17th March 2016
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to look at what effect digital marketing can have on a
brand’s image and performance. Burberry was a brand that in the early 21st
Century needed to change their marketing strategies in order to repair a
damaged reputation and give the company and advantage over other big brands
in the luxury market.
This study will examine how Burberry’s use of digital marketing contributed to
the success of the brand’s turnaround, as well as considering other changes and
influences on the brand since the time of the crash, and what impact these had.
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Contents
Introduction:
Defining Digital Marketing 3-4
A History of Burberry 4-5
Burberry’s Position in the Market 5-6
Methodology 6-7
Chapter 1: The ‘Chav’ Reputation and the Crash of the Burberry brand.
1.1 The ‘Chav’ Reputation 10-11
1.2 The Crash of Burberry 11-15
1.3 Burberry’s Recovery 15-18
1.4 A Summary of Burberry’s Key Problems 18-19
Chapter 2: Burberry’s Social Media Performance and Strategies
2.1 Burberry’s Digital Marketing Strategies 22-25
2.2 Burberry’s Advances in Digital Marketing 25-28
2.3 Burberry’s Social Media Platforms and Ratings 28-31
Chapter 3: Where Burberry is today
3.1 Burberry Currently 33-34
3.2 Digital Marketing’s Influence on where they are now 34-36
3.3 Other Influences on Burberry’s Current Situation. 36-39
Conclusion 40-42
References 43-47
Bibliography 48-51
Appendix 52-57
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Introduction
This study will set out to examine Burberry’s use of social media and digital
marketing to transform the brand from being associated with the term “chavs” to
a major competitor in the luxury market.
It will explore to what extent the brand’s development in social media was
responsible for the company’s turn around and where the business is at
currently, or whether other influences had more of a crucial impact.
Defining digital marketing
Digital marketing means achieving marketing objectives through the application
of digital technologies. In practice digital marketing includes managing different
forms of online company presence including company websites, social media and
online communications (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).
A social community describes the channels of social media that focus upon
relationships and the common activities people participate in with others who
share the same interest or identification (Tuten and Solomon, 2015). Social
networking sites are online hosts that enable site members to connect and
participate using various services the site offers. The use of digital marketing in
business is proving to be necessary in order for them to stay in touch with their
consumer and compete successfully in the market. The incorporation of digital
marketing into their business plan and structure is becoming more regular and
more important.
Zarella (2010) supports this in her discussion of the traditional methods of
media. She states that the more traditional methods of media which include
television, newspaper, radio and magazines are one-way static broadcast
technologies. These methods of communication distribute expensive content to
consumers, that doesn’t allow feedback or an instant connection with the
company. This suggests that in order to receive meaningful responses from
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consumers, they must ensure they conduct digital marketing that allows for
direct feedback from consumers, allowing a stronger channel of communication.
New technologies on the web have allowed the distribution of information to be
considerably cheaper. The use of the Internet in marketing and business have
been transformed since the first website went live in 1991. Chaffey and Ellis-
Chadwick point out that it is common knowledge that in order for businesses to
succeed in the future they must employ marketers that have up-to-date
knowledge of how to apply digital media to their marketing strategies. It is
becoming clearer that in order for a business to survive the success of its digital
marketing is crucial.
Phan et al. (2011) support the idea that digital marketing is crucial to the success
of a brand; social media content facilitates the storage and sharing of media
between users, enabling them to stay in contact and communicate with each
other. They argue that social networks have never been more prominent in the
world of marketing; they allow businesses to shape and enhance consumers
perceptions of a brand. Social media can fuel a reaction from customers who can
influence other individual’s perceptions, they are the most important
communication skills of the 21st Century (Phan et al., 2011). Businesses can now
use social media to gain feedback and communicate instantly and directly with
consumers. The data and extensive use of social media is a valuable tool to all
businesses, it can help shape their brand image.
A History of Burberry
Thomas Burberry founded the Burberry brand in 1856. Soon after, he created
gabardine, the waterproof fabric that revolutionised rainwear at the time. In
World War 1 the war office commissioned him to design the ‘trench coat’ worn
by officers; this was an early case of celebrity endorsement (Ostler, 2014). Many
individuals adopted this as more of a trend after the war. The iconic check print,
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commonly associated with the brand, was introduced in the 1920’s and was
initially used as the lining of the trench coat. The brand was an individual brand
until 1955 when it was taken over by Great Universal Stores (GUS), a British
retail conglomerate.
Originally the brand was so versatile it was seen on a wide variety of
demographics, appealing to different ages. The Burberry trench coat, for
example, became such an iconic item for the brand and in the 1980’s it was seen
on individuals such as celebrated British artist David Hockney, as well as Prince
Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. The image the brand created with their
luxury trench coat, appealed to different consumers, providing them with the
same feeling of exclusivity. Over the years, however, it lost this sense of allure
and began to be seen as a ‘stodgy nonetity’ (Collins, 2009, p.77). In her article for
Harvard Business Week Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry, noted that in the
early 2000’s the brand needed to do more than be a beloved British company
(Ahrendts, 2013). In practice, this meant the company was not innovating in a
way that allowed it to compete with the other brands in the luxury market. They
weren’t acting on their British heritage enough and their British heritage was not
enough alone to preserve the company’s reputation. The brand first began to
experience a period of great difficulty in 1997 as Rose Marie Bravo, former Saks
Fifth Avenue executive, was appointed CEO. Bravo looked to take the company
back to the original values that had been set by Thomas Burberry at the very
beginning of the brand; to protect, explore and inspire.
Burberry’s position in the market
Burberry is a fashion brand that is associated with the luxury sector of the
fashion industry. Its reputation of high-end garments and accessories is one that
they aim to maintain through their marketing strategies and the type of
consumer they market to. Throughout its existence it has done well to represent
heritage British fashion with a strong theme of the Burberry check that is still
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easily associated with the brand. Since World War 1 this trademark has been a
iconic part of British culture, the check pattern was one of the brand’s leading
marketing strategies.
There was a time, however, where the reputation of Burberry was damaged by
the adoption of the brand and the check by a group of working class individuals
labeled by society as “chavs.” This forced Burberry away from being associated
with a prestige, luxury brand and heavily damaged its reputation and how
consumers perceived it. The brand had to make strategic marketing decisions in
order to restore the luxury status it previously had. The brand had become
hugely popular with the cultural group based in the UK, who was most
commonly associated with brash, loutish and antisocial behavior (Phan et al.
2011). Moore (2006) puts forward the argument that the negative connotations
that came with this reputation had rewritten what the brand represented and
stood for. The brand had to fight back against this phase to restore and reinvent
what the iconic British label stood for. It explored a variety of different methods
and alterations to the business structure and strategies to modernise and reform
their luxury brand status, steering it away from the many negative associations
that had come with the brand’s new undesired consumer group.
Methodology
The case of Burberry and its crash and recovery is a topic recognised by
academic and wider sources that are readily available. For this dissertation
therefore the use of desk research has been favoured over field research. Desk
research involves the analysis of information already collected, meaning there is
no need for the information to be created and collected first hand. After
consideration, this method of data collection seemed the most suitable and
accurate for the study. Because this dissertation sets out to analyse the case
study of Burberry that has already happened and is already recognised by many,
it proved to be beneficial to analyse data and information that was collected at
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the time. This would provide the most reliable and accurate insight into how
Burberry performed and reacted over the period of time studied. The
information has been reported by individuals from inside and outside of the
industry, has a more first hand experience of the problem; providing opinions,
data and information that is accurate for the period of time studied.
Content analysis into academic books provided a deeper understanding into the
benefits that social media has to offer a business and how the use of these can
benefit a brand’s performance. Chaffey and Ellis Chadwick’s ‘Digital Marketing:
Strategy, Implementation and Practice’, provides a detailed understanding of
what digital marketing is and the importance of the utilization of these strategies
in order for a business to succeed in the future. Zarella’s ‘The Social Media
Marketing Book’ further highlights this, mentioning the benefit of two-way
communication available with digital marketing.
Content analysis has also been used on journal articles such as the Journal of
‘Global Fashion Marketing’ by Phan, Thomas and Heine and ‘Burberry’s Working
Class Hero’ by Collins, which proved to be considerably useful for their
discussions of how the negative reputation of Burberry in the early 2000’s had
an effect on the brand reputation. The journal article written by Phan et al.
provides an insight into how Burberry used social media amongst other
strategies in an attempt to reposition the brand. The journal provides an insight
into how social media had a part to play in this, as well as providing a basis for
analysis into what extent this was done. Journals have been particularly useful as
they are often backed up by other sources; provided a more reliable account.
The content analysis of magazine and newspaper articles at the time and during
the rebuilding of the brand, have proven to be important. They provide the
opinions of the media and society during the crash and recovery process. These
include fashion specific papers such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, that comment
on the ways Burberry have utilised their luxury brand status with social media
platforms to redefine themselves. Newspaper articles from sources such as the
Guardian and the BBC provide a useful means on content analysis when
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reporting on the crash of the brand’s reputation in the early 2000’s, depicting the
changing opinion of society and how the brand was seen in and outside of the
fashion world. There have also been many online, business sources used such as
Marketing Week and Business Today; these provide an alternative angle of the
fashion industry, reporting on how successful the actual marketing of the
Burberry brand is. Ritsons’ article ‘Being chic for chavs is not the end for
Burberry’ has proved to be a particularly important source, as it clearly
highlighted the key issues Burberry was experiencing at the time of the crash. He
provided a basis for discussion and analysis surrounding these issues.
Visual analysis has been used on campaigns published in magazines to depict
what image the brand wishes to display of themselves at different periods of
time. For example, magazine adverts seen in 2004 saw Burberry’s brand image
displayed in an entirely different fashion to campaigns seen in 2015. These were
available online and in paper form, illustrating how the brand had to adapt their
image to move away from their damaged reputation.
In addition to this online videos posted by Burberry to their Facebook page, have
allowed analysis of how the brand connects with their business. Posts by the
brand allow for a first-hand experience of creative director Christopher Bailey
and his plans in motion for the future of the brand. Analysis of these videos has
allowed an indication as to how the Burberry brand has developed their
communication strategies over the past decade.
Data analysis has been crucial when looking at how Burberry performed on
social media platforms. In order to make an accurate conclusion, the study of
their current social media statistics provides information for analysis of how
effective this is for the business. For example, the study of their Facebook page
and the number of active followers proves how the company has grown in is
digital presence since the time of the crash.
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Chapter 1: The ‘Chav’
Reputation and the Crash of the
Burberry brand.1.1 The ‘Chav’ Reputation
1.2 The Crash of Burberry
1.3 Burberry’s Recovery
1.4 A Summary of Burberry’s Key Problems
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1.1 The ‘Chav’ Reputation
The term ‘chav’ was considered the buzzword of the year in the UK in 2004
(Carter, 2004: Bennert, 2013). Owen Jones’ book ‘Chavs: The Demonization of
the Working Class’ defines ‘chav’ as a derogative term, he states that it is an
insulting term and is used to describe against the working class (Jones, 2011).
Jones comments that the term ‘chav’ is driven by the perception of a group of
young people motivated by brash, loutish and antisocial behavior. Jones as a
political writer, writes from a left wing point of view meaning his view on how
the rest of society perceived the group of individuals may be biased, however he
provides a general understanding of what the term meant in society. Bradley &
Blythe (2013) explain that the press describe low-income social groups, which
were often obsessed with brand names, cheap jewelry, and football. The vast
amounts of press coverage and information on the subject allowed for a typical
idea to be formed of the new ‘chav’ culture.
Tungate (2012) discusses the lack of clarity surrounding the term ‘chav’ stating
that the definitions range from the Romany world for ‘child’ to the
straightforward acronym of ‘Council Houses and Violent’. The media, adopted
the term to describe a certain type of consumer that was considered down-
market. It was this consumer, which would soon become associated with the
Burberry brand. Arguably the problem with the term ‘chav’ was the image and
the negative press that has been created by the media. Arguably there was no
consideration for what a ‘chav’ really was, or the upbringing or background from
they came. The media had created a perfect image for the public to degrade
anything associated with the term to be nothing else but a derogative term not to
be associated with.
Walker (2005) notes that culture had become widely associated with branded
sportswear, excessive jewelry and loud appearance. The signature check became
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distinctive with the ‘baseball cap’ image that was created at the time. The
connotations of hooliganism and trouble that came from the group of individuals
was a reputation that bars and clubs did not want to be associated with, thus
meaning they also wanted to disassociate themselves from the Burberry check.
Bennet (2013) adds that ‘chavs’ are often seen as a representation of
incompetence and poverty in society. There had been a stereotypical image
formed by the British media of what was expected from this new trend; the
connotations provided bad press and unwanted attention for brands associated
with it. Burberry was not the only brand whose reputation had been taken up by
the ‘chav’ culture. Brands such as Henri Lloyd, Stone Island and Aquascutum
were also adopted by the UK trend, which decked themselves out in designer
labels to aspire to a celebrity status (Marketing Week, 2004). Burberry became a
label that could be aspired to by the young working class of Britain. The original
British heritage that once captivated the UK market in the early 20th Century was
beginning to be diminished by the association with the derogative term and the
‘wrong’ target market. The brand had attempted to modernise their classic ways
to become more competitive in the British luxury sector and to act on the
strengths of their bold prints and strong British nature. Instead the ‘chavs’ had
adopted their new modernized style, creating counterfeits of designer products
to create an illusion for their celebrity status aspirations.
1.2 The Crash of Burberry
Burberry was applauded for its ability to get itself back on track during the
nineties. As discussed in Marketing Magazine in 2011, the brand had often been
seen as irrelevant and a financial liability. New CEO Rose Marie Bravo wanted to
instill a more modernized brand to adapt with the changing fashions on the
British public. Marketing Week (2004) explains how Burberry was at first
credited for the use of British Icon Kate Moss in their adverting; she was often
seen kitted out in the distinctive check bringing vast amounts of attention to the
plaid pattern. Figure 1 is an example of a Burberry advert shot by Mario Testino
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in 2005. The image is of model Kate Moss posing with a check printed Burberry
handbag, which is the center point of the image. Dodd (2005) illustrates that it
was this same year when the model was caught snorting cocaine, forcing the
brand to sever their links with Moss. With the checkered print already beginning
to have a poor reputation, the news of Moss’ cocaine encounter caused further
negative press to be associated with the brand. Though she was a perfect
example of ‘British Youth’ like Bravo wanted, her perceived media attention at
that time was not a reputation Burberry needed to be associated with.
This new look was an alternative attempt by the brand to diversify their status
and target a younger market. The brand wanted to be viewed as youthful and
catch the attention of more hip and fashionable individuals. This however had a
reverse effect when such adverts and patterns would catch the eye of other
aspirational mainstream consumers (Marketing Week, 2004). The brand’s
attempt to revive itself was allowing it to be accessible to the wrong type of
consumer, meaning negative press and an unwanted reputation would come
along with it.
Ritson argues that the iconic check print was the most visually recognisable
element the Burberry brand had. Ritson (2005), explains in his article for
Marketing Magazine, that this recognition acted as a weakness for the brand,
damaging it in two ways: the pattern attracted the ‘chav’ in the first place, they
were drawn to the brash display of taste and the attachment to the trend. This
made it very clear to other individuals that the ‘chav’ was indeed wearing the
brand. Arguably the brand was almost too visual; their iconic check print had
created them an image that would be hard to dismiss any connotation associated
with it. In 2004, FutureBrand brand consultant Magli Tardy notes that
consumers were playing with class to create an idyllic image for themselves.
Poorer, younger individuals were dressing as if they were rich and vice versa.
She also adds that it was through obvious badging such as the Burberry check or
memorable brand logos that provided individuals as an opportunity to show off
the brand and that is very much part of the appeal (Marketing Week, 2004).
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Ritson (2005) also argues another weakness Burberry had was their position in
the luxury sector. They operated at the middle tier of the luxury market, meaning
their presence in the couture market was relatively weak in comparison to other
brands. Its collection’s accessibility by high-street stores made it harder to
maintain a healthy luxury brand status. The success of its exhibitions of
ostentatious creativity in comparison with less accessible luxury brands was
limited (Ritson, 2005). Burberry’s position in the luxury market seemed less
exclusive than other brands, their style and patterns were easily accessible by
the high street store, meaning their brand was seen attractive by consumers of a
lower disposable income. This proposed a threat to the business, as their styles
were easily adaptable and began to be associated with an unwanted target
market.
Ritson (2005) comments on the weakness in the brand’s public relations around
the time of the crash. They did little to protect or defend the brands named, and
it later slipped that the UK was Burberry’s weakest performing market,
performing considerably worse than in other markets abroad. This proved to be
detrimental for the brand; they were a label that prided themselves on British
heritage. Their lack of public relations arguably allowed their problem to worsen,
as there was no defending the brand to the public. They simply worked behind
the scenes to minimise the impact of the brand, without addressing consumer’s
opinions of the brand directly.
The company had arguably become a victim of its own success; the attention of
the brand’s products had made it much more recognisable and popular amongst
many young individuals associated with the ‘chav’ culture. Phan et al. (2011)
supports this, stating that it had turned into a brand of choice for British football
hooligans. The Youtube video ‘chavs in me Burberry’ illustrates how it was
commonly known that the Burberry check could be associated with the ‘chav’
culture. The video, that logged over 130,000 views on the site, saw an animated
sketch of a stereotypical ‘chav’ dressed in the distinctive check pattern singing
that it was the choice of Burberry advert that made him fit the ‘chav’ description
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(KinglouisXV11, 2007). It was a mockery of the brand and those who associated
themselves with this British culture to create this well-known ‘chav’ image. The
video is almost laughing at what the brand had become and the check prints
iconic visual connection to the ‘chav’ culture. It was an association that had been
recognised across multiple channels of communication.
Bothwell (2005) in his article for the BBC states that the distinctive beige check,
once associated with A-listers had now become the uniform of a group of
working class people carrying a poor reputation. UK sales had fallen and
Burberry was seen to be becoming a laughing stock in their own backyard. Label
conscious football fans started to adopt the distinctive check as their
stereotypical signature look. They became a national tabloid joke as soap star
Danniella Westbrook was pictured in head-to-toe Burberry check. The brand was
ridiculed by the media for being so closely associated with individuals that were
so far away from what the brand originally wanted their brand essence to be.
Bothwell comments that five years previous to this dip in reputation, the brand
was the ‘darling of fashion’ and envied by many (Bothwell, 2005). This change in
the perception of the brand provided a platform for tabloid jokes and ridicule by
the media.
Moore (2006) states that in this period these ‘chavs’ rewrote what the brand was
originally recognised for. The effects were shattering to the company’s
reputation; the brand image had been completely warped by the media and
negative press associated with it. As a consequence of this, Burberry
discontinued the cap and cut back on the obvious use of its check print, by 2004
the brand had reduced the appearance of the check print from a fifth of their
products to less that 5% (Bothwell, 2005). However the associations had already
been made with the ‘uncultured working class’. It was something Burberry was
going to be unable to forget and escape. Power & Hauge (2008) commented that
the hype didn’t actually provide any profitable benefits for the brand, as most of
the fans had lower disposable incomes meaning they were happy to settle for
counterfeit products (Phan et al. 2011). The established associations with British
hooliganism proved to be a hard obstacle for the brand to overcome. It would
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take extensive work from in and outside the business to be able to revive the
brand to where it is today. As a luxury brand, Burberry did not wish to sit within
this reputation, as the negative press and media would provide difficulties in the
brand’s ability to market themselves at this sector of the industry. It needed to
recover and reposition itself to regain the luxury brand status that had begun to
get lost amongst the ‘chav’ phenomenon.
1.3 Burberry’s recovery
The brand managed to start to turn around their reputation thanks to the newly
appointed CEO Rose Marie Bravo, who resorted to aggressive communication
strategies to change the image of the brand (Phan et al. 2011). She respected that
Burberry had a need to modernise their brand, but her priority was to ensure the
revitalization of the damaged brand image. New advertisement campaigns were
shot by one of the world’s most important fashion photographers Mario Testino
and shot “aristocrats (Lord Frederick Windsor), models (Kate Moss), and
aristocrat models (Stella Tennant)” (Collins, 2009, p.77). This could be seen to
refer back to some of the more original marketing strategies of the brand used in
the 1980’s, who aimed to appeal to a broad target audience. The use of
aristocrats can be seen to help restore their more luxurious reputation, as often
these are considered to be of the highest social class, with specific titles.
Arguably Burberry was making an attempt to diminish the negative associations
with individuals such as Danniella Westbrook by using individuals to help to
restore the once luxury, respected status. Despite the contrast between this and
the continued use of models such as Kate Moss, it reiterates the diversity of the
brand and its desire to be a youthful, modern brand that still respects its classic
British heritage. Images were distributed over social media platforms to grab the
attention of young women, as it is said to be one of the key influences amongst
women’s purchasing decisions (Kinley, Josiam & Lockett, 2010). This decision
helped to emphasize the brand’s ability to modernize its marketing strategies
without losing touch of the luxury status it wants to achieve by the use of the
selected individuals.
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Christopher Bailey was a crucial player in the revitalisation of the brand. His
hiring allowed his idea of luxury to match the ideas and spirit that society felt at
the time. He noted that a lot of luxury brands feel they have to embrace a cold
and arrogant attitude in order to retain a luxury status, he wanted Burberry to
act against this (Collins, 2009). In addition to this there was launch of “Burberry
Prorsum” a high-end range of the brand’s portfolio, driven by Bailey. With this
he emphasized the British heritage of the brand in international campaigns and
put craftsmanship at the heart of the collection (Kopnina, 2007). Bailey has since
been noted for the turnaround of the business, through this decision alone,
arguably reinventing and inputting fresh excitement into what British fashion is.
The launch allowed for a new creative side of Burberry to be revealed, one that
was more cultured. This helped to steer it away from the misleading typically
‘British’ image that had damaged it originally. He made it this launch that would
help celebrate the craftsmanship of British fashion and design. This was his
attempt to reinvent what it meant for Burberry to be a brand that celebrated
their British heritage. This fresh insight was what Burberry needed, to constantly
evolve and become innovative in its marketing decisions, to create a brand that
was modern but with their ideal target market.
Additionally, Burberry reconsidered the distribution and licensing strategies,
ensuring the licensing partners they had had solid experience and its reputation
was considered (Phan et al. 2011). This included the Safilo Group, who also
produces eyewear for Dior and Gucci (Power & Hauge, 2008). This allowed the
company to have a better responsibility of its quality control. Furthermore, it
focused on opening more directly operated stores, to gain full control over
merchandising and product assortment in each store.
Rupert Neate (2013), a writer for the Guardian, argues that it was the takeover
by Angela Ahrendts that really helped turn around the reputation of the brand.
She has been responsible for the association with highly credited A-list
celebrities such as Eddie Redmayne and Emma Watson. These individuals in
particular provide an ideal representation of what the brand wants to be; unique
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and modern with a British heritage and luxury status. Whilst the brand has
always been keen to use traditionally British models in their campaign, the use of
such well-respected, young individuals gives off a modern, classic image. Her
selection of models contrasts with Bravo’s previous selection of models, giving
off a completely different, varied image of the brand. Whilst Ahrendts still
included the use of young model Kate Moss, the inclusion of individuals like
Watson and Redmayne provided a different, arguably more sophisticated image
of the British brand. The aim to reinvent a much more youthful brand by Bravo is
still supported here, but in a less risky manner, which proposes less of a threat
for the brand to be associated with negative connotations. Neat (2013)
comments that Ahrendts would attempt to take the company back to its original
roots.
Ahrendts, spearheaded digital initiatives until her departure in 2014, to ensure a
transformation in the brand’s reputation. In her past ten years acting as CEO of
the business, she has made it a priority to digitalise the brand, making it a major
competitor in the luxury fashion market. Ahrendts wanted to create a brand that
had consistency all over the globe, making her a fitting candidate to restore the
traditionally British brand. Ahrendts (2013) writes for Harvard Business Review
that she decided to target the luxury customers of the future: the Millennial’s. It’s
important to consider that this article, written from Ahrendts own account, may
be subject to bias. However she well supports her statements with statistical
figures; making this a more reliable source. Ahrendts believed this was the
‘millennial’ consumer group that was often ignored by competitors, giving
Burberry an advantage over other luxury brands. This is arguably why the
company diversified so much, creating stronger digital strategies, to target the
young, technological consumer.
Social media helped Burberry to reach its younger fan base to attract them to the
featured items in store. It allowed them to portray the new brand image it hoped
to achieve. Undeniably one of Burberry’s key success factors today is its decision
to be the first luxury brand to invest in digital communications, especially social
media. Social media platforms are successful in the fact they address a new,
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younger consumer that is often hard to target through other traditional
advertising methods.
Business Today (2011) discusses how Burberry had gained a competitive edge
by providing an enhanced customer experience, in store and online. They used
cutting edge technology allowed the reinvention of a luxury brand that was
highly desired and admired by luxury shoppers, who admired their ability to mix
classic British style with modern technology. As already identified by the trade
journal Marketing Week (2004) the brand had made it their aim in the early
2000’s to revive the brand to appeal to hip and fashionable individuals. Despite
the crash it experienced, it used social media and digital marketing to regain its
luxury reputation whilst still ensuring the business continued to modernise.
1.4 A Summary of Burberry’s Key Problems
As highlighted by Phan et al. the Burberry brand had been experiencing some
difficulties throughout the 90’s in terms of their ability to modernise with the
rest of the luxury fashion industry. It was during this time that the brand became
closely associated with the ‘chav’ phenomenon as discussed that was damaging
to the brand reputation. As Blanks (2015) discusses in his article for Wall Street
Journal, when Bravo arrived at the brand in 1997 she recognised that the brands
‘Britishness’ was their most effective calling card. Bravo recognised the need for
the company to modernise, to bring them more in line with the 21st century
luxury fashion market, so they could be more competitive.
Arguably Bravo instilled some strategies that helped aid this; bringing iconic,
young British models to the face of the brand. However, it appeared that maybe
due to the negative reputation of individuals such as Moss, that the brand was
made accessible to the ‘wrong’ type of consumer. Burberry needed to be more
creative in their methods of modernizing the brand, incorporating its iconic
British nature into its marketing strategies. They needed to have more control
over who could access and incorporate their brand, and how they displayed the
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Burberry brand to the public eye. If the brand wanted to modernise, they needed
to consider who they wanted to target and what the most effective
communication method to do so was. Ahrendts had identified the ‘millennial’
group were a target market that may open many doors for the brand; Burberry
needed to carefully market to this consumer group. The brand needed to find a
way to establish themselves in the luxury market in an innovative and
competitive way which would allow them to compete and distinguish themselves
from the bigger names in the industry.
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Chapter 2: Burberry’s Social
Media Performance and
Strategies2.1 Burberry’s Digital Marketing Strategies
2.2 Burberry’s Advances in Digital Marketing
2.3 Burberry’s Social Media Platforms and Ratings
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Phan et al. (2011) implies that the appointment and teamwork of CEO Angela
Ahrendts and Creative Officer Christopher Bailey was the beginning of
Burberry’s digital future. Swire (2014) discusses how the pair made it their
priority, in 2006, to create a ‘social enterprise’ for a company that was ‘fully
digital’. The pair seemed to have acknowledged that Burberry needed to
modernise to reinvent itself to restore back the brand’s reputation. In the past
ten years Burberry has successfully managed to combine luxury British heritage
with cutting edge technology to reposition themselves as a luxury brand, instead
of creating products for the masses (Swire, 2014). This arguably, makes their
brand much more refined with a heavy influence on their luxury nature. This can
be seen as Burberry using technology to make their brand less accessible to
individuals who to have negative implications on the brand (Chavs).
Habashy and LaCalle (2011), in their article for the Huffington Post, comment
that Burberry’s embrace of the Internet goes further than e-commerce. The value
that it created for their business comes from their close connections with
consumers through social media. Since the crash, the investment in social media
has allowed them to receive instant feedback from consumers and followers to
help it successfully craft strategies to create a strong brand image (Habashy and
LaCalle, 2011).
New Media Age (2010) reports that it is Burberry, many believe, that has set the
agenda for luxury brands, as they use digital marketing to supplement offline
sales and develop their revenue streams in order to appeal to a new generation
of new, young consumers. This is evident through the increase in expenditure in
digital media; the brand made a considerable increase from 1.5% of total
expenditures in 2008 to 40% in 2010 (Women’s Wear Daily, 2010). Burberry
had allowed themselves to reach a younger, more modern audience without
having to change their brand essence too much. Unlike in the early 2000’s the
brand was reinventing itself to appeal to a modern target market in a way that
they hadn’t done before; through the use of digital marketing.
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2.1 Burberry’s digital marketing strategies
Business Today (2011) notes that during Burberry’s recovery they prioritised
their own branded boutique outlets over multi-brand stores. These were
restyled to combine traditional Burberry designs and classical British style with
modern technology such as touchscreens and iPod docking stations (Business
Today, 2011). This allowed a mix of superior customer experience, identifying a
strong mix between today’s luxury shoppers who value traditional designs but
wish to also be part of the modern technological lifestyle. This allowed an
appreciation of tradition in luxury fashion brands but also awareness and the
acceptance of developing modern. In terms of social networking the brand was
the first to build a social presence, with an attempt to recover and modernize the
brand, and in 2011 had more fans on Facebook than any other fashion brand
(Business Today, 2011).
In 2011 Macdonald, for Drapers Online, states that Burberry allocated 60% of its
budget to digital marketing. This happened when the company released its latest
fragrance ‘Burberry Body’ through Facebook as it main method of advertisement
as opposed to traditional magazine advertising. This shift demonstrates the rapid
speed that the fashion sector is moving away from print advertising in order to
widen a brand’s opportunity to connect with more consumers (Macdonald,
2011). This decision made by Burberry was a huge contributing factor to it often
being highlighted as a brand that is ahead of the curve in terms of social
marketing. It was using the channels of social media, to target their younger
target audience, who were more active on social media websites. The brand had
full control over what content was posted on the site, allowing them to
manipulate what brand image they portrayed for themselves, preventing a
negative reputation that they had experienced in the past to arise again.
One key strategy, which has helped to drive this change, is the launch of
Burberry’s own social media site, called the Art of the Trench Coat that was first
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seen in October 2009. It was in this year that Greive et al. (2013) recognised that
the site encouraged the sharing of pictures of individuals wearing the brand’s
iconic trench coat (Phan et al. 2011). Burberry now chooses particular pictures
to feature on the front page of the site, providing an array of images that display
personal styling of the Burberry garment across the globe. Habashy and LaCalle
(2011) comment that Burberry allowed the consumer to reinvent the classic
trench instead of forcing a style upon them. The consumer can become the
designer, and this allows a sense of creativity and personality about the brand,
drawing individuals in, to interpret the brand the way they want.
The incentive behind this move was to create an opportunity for individuals to
feel as if they are closer to the brand and what it stands for. The ability to
contribute to the company’s website provides a sense of place and belonging to
the brand. Werdigier (2009) notes that this type of social networking is one that
all luxury brands are keeping a close eye on, because the future of successful
branding could be solely down to personal relationships formed on social media.
This can be seen to arguably put the brand in a vulnerable position. At the time of
the crash the brand struggled to control how their garments were being worn
and who wore them. This saw the Burberry check print be abused and
misrepresented. Arguably giving consumers the chance to style their trench
coats their own way could allow a poor or unwanted image of that item. The
difference now however, is that although the brand is giving full control to how
the coat is worn to the consumer, they have full control over what is seen and
what is featured. This allows the brand to ensure the image that is created is
inline with the brand’s essence and nature.
Burberry also created a Tumblr account that is directly linked and connected
with their website. This allows them to reach out to a wider audience, posting
more pictures and allowing more individuals to feel as if they are involved with
the brand. Burberry still maintained the control of the selection of what the
public saw, it allowed them to prevent any unwanted connotations and
associations being made with it. It instead focused solely on an iconic piece that
connects British heritage with a luxury status. If you compare the reputation
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Burberry received from this bespoke line to the reputation it had in the early
2000’s it displays a huge change in how the brand is seen. The brand had used its
historical grounds and product to create a much more modernized approach. Its
key attribute (the trench coat) had provided it with a platform to reach out to
more consumers and re-establish themselves in luxury British fashion. In 2015
Hagan a marketing assistant for King Content comments that user-generated
content had accumulated 2.5 million visitors so far (Hagan, 2015). This provides
evidence that social media can be used by a brand to create a successful image of
how their traditional products, styles and associations should be perceived.
Arguably if Burberry had had digital marketing strategies like this at the time
around the crash, they could have had more control over how the Burberry
check was interpreted. It could have offered more of an opportunity to rebuild its
reputation at the time, by counteracting the negative connotations with a more
direct, positive brand image on the social media platforms.
Sat within the main Burberry website is a feature named Burberry Acoustic,
which showcases brand new music talent from British bands. Again, this is
another feature that helps to reiterate the importance of the traditional British
legacy associated with the brand. The section can be seen to feature a wide range
of acoustic bands from Keane and Port Isla, performing their songs whilst
wearing Burberry attire. Barton (2013) talks of how the introduction of this idea
was very much down to creative director Christopher Bailey, who had been
eager to combine fashion and music since arriving at the company. It was at the
same time of the introduction of Burberry Prorsum that the idea of the Burberry
Acoustic first took off. The launch of the Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter
2010 collection was at Kensington Gardens where British singer-songwriter Tom
Odell performed alongside the catwalk. Since his arrival at the label in 2001
Bailey has made it a priority of the brand to successfully merge British music
with British fashion; a combination of different art forms that represent the
nation. When Ahrendts first arrived at the brand, she identified that a key
weakness of Burberry’s was that they did not utilize fully their historic origins
and proud British nature (Ahrendts, 2015). At the time of the crash the UK
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market had become the brand’s weakest performing market. This could be seen
to have occurred due to not enough incorporation into British fashion and art.
Pilkington (2010) Research Manager at Wave Matrix comments on how this
project allowed the company to connect with consumers that are not directly
related to their field of expertise. In the introductory video to Burberry Acoustic,
which was posted on YouTube and Facebook, Bailey quotes that the campaign
showcased ‘young British bands that Burberry believed in’ (Bailey, cited in
Burberry, 2010, 0:32). This engages and attracts consumer discussion and
attention, by linking different artists to fashion shows and collection pieces.
Wave Matrix, a website set up to help business understand online
communication and conversation, analyzed the effects of using social media to
promote and publish Burberry Acoustic had on the brands reputation. After
monitoring responses and comments made about the brand it was clear that the
idea has positive implications for the brand. Many thanked Burberry for sharing
quality music and commented on their appreciation of the products as a result of
this (Pilkington, 2010).
It demonstrates that since the time of the crash the brand has used digital
marketing to persuade consumers that the brand has gone back to its original
British roots, whilst inspiring and modernizing luxury fashion; something which
the brand identified needed to happen to keep Burberry a successful luxury
brand.
2.2 Burberry’s Advances in Digital Marketing
Since the crash Burberry has strived to be a key competitor in innovating the
way that fashion and social media can connect to reach a wider audience and
interact with different consumers. Habashy and LaCalle for the Huffington Post
noted that Burberry refused to be tied down by its historic roots, and instead
used these to their advantage by making innovative digital marketing decisions
(Habashy & LaCalle, 2011). This has shown the importance of social media to the
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recovery of the brand. It had transformed itself from a company associated with
a derogative ‘Chav’ label to being an innovator in transforming the fashion world.
In 2010 Burberry reinvented what it was to be innovative in fashion; they used
the Internet to stream their Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2010 show live
from their London show. Bailey was the first to announce this and used Facebook
and Youtube to do so. Bailey talks personally to his followers explaining the
excitement and the hard work in which the brand has put in to make this
possible (Bailey, cited in Burberry, 2009). Amed (2010) for Business of Fashion
commented that it was the world’s first truly global fashion show which beamed
live to five global cities as well as being streamed to the rest of the globe through
73 websites, including Vogue, Grazia and CNN (Amed, 2010). The article stated
that it was without a doubt the most widely distributed fashion show by a luxury
brand yet, potentially reaching an audience of more than 100 million users
(Amed, 2010). The brand was using social media to reach a much wider audience
than other traditional advertising methods. On the Facebook video Bailey is sat
on a rooftop in London, portraying the British heritage of the brand. The
importance with Burberry’s social media is the image that the brand creates for
themselves. This provides an indication of what the collection will consist of and
the type of reputation that the brand wishes to have. The brand was innovating
itself, allowing it to capture the attention of the millennial generation and a
digital audience, providing a competitive advantage that no other brand had
explored before. Burberry’s creative decision to do this, allowed them to create
an image for themselves as an innovative brand that was able to combine what it
was to be a modern brand with the luxury fashion market. The brand have
carried on reinventing themselves in this way, in 2015 the brand teamed up with
Periscope to broadcast their show ‘London in Los Angeles’ (Burberry, 2015).
This source has been taken from the Burberry website, so is subject to some
inherent bias. However the nature of the report suggests it has been written on
fairly neutral grounds, as it only reports on exactly what is happening, as
apposed to using the reporrt as a means of promotion.
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To stress the importance of the use of digital marketing to the brand, they
incorporated their previous success in their digital strategies into their physical
store strategies too. In 2012 they opened a new flagship store in the heart of
their British heritage on London’s Regent Street. It mixed their traditional British
craftsmanship with digital high-tech wizardry to create an innovative retail
experience (Williams, 2012). The brand has built up such a success online that
they wanted to recreate this in their traditional selling techniques. Cartner-
Morley (2012) wrote for the Guardian that the store was a physical
manifestation of the Burberry website or ‘Burberry World’. Customers are
directed to sofas to pay for their purchases, this was done with the idea that the
brand are recreating the experience consumers would feel in the comfort of their
own home. The store also captures Bailey’s passion for music combined with
fashion, with 420 speakers concealed around the main room and a hydraulic
stage for live music. Other features include advanced technology in their
changing room, with mirrors that respond to garments by showing images of
how it was made and worn on the catwalk (Cartner-Morley, 2012). The store
caters for all the reasons consumers find themselves interested in Burberry in
the first place. Figure 2 depicts a screenshot of the Burberry website which
allows the whole world to have a virtual tour of what ‘Burberry World’ is exactly
like. The brand have made their digital strategies a way to be recognised
wherever they are viewed on the globe. Since the crash in the early 2000’s the
brands have built themselves a successful digital image that they are now
continuing in their physical stores. The consistency with the push for digitalizing
the brand makes their brand image strong and allows them to be recognised as a
digitally advanced brand, providing them with their competitive advantage in the
fashion industry; something the brand appeared to lack back in the early 2000’s.
This is supported by the British media; individuals such as Arthur (2015) for
Forbes Magazine referring to the brand as digital pioneers.
The brand identified the importance of maintaining this reputation that they had
begun to build through their digital marketing strategies. At the end of 2015,
Burberry partnered with popular app Snapchat to create an ad in ‘real-time’.
Kirkham (2015) for Marketing Week commented that this move was arguably
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the cleverest piece of marketing in 2015. Burberry launched the first ever 24-
hour fashion campaign, shot by Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer
Mario Testino OBE. The decision involved a risk as the app is rarely used for its
advertising potential. Kirkham argues this could be due to the fact the app was
originally popular with young savvy teenagers, meaning the worth of it for
luxury brands such as Burberry was often under scrutiny. Karmali (2015) for
Hapers Bazaar reported that Testino had commented on the campaign saying
that he and Bailey had high hopes for changing the way the industry traditionally
thinks and treats fashion campaigns. The Snapchat campaign allowed for a much
more genuine and instant reaction. This is an example of how Burberry have
utilised their need to modernise their strategies with social media, to reach out
to a wider audience and grasp the attention from the media and much of the
fashion industry. At the collapse of the brand’s reputation, they recognized that
there was a need to make Burberry more developed within the luxury sector.
And as identified by Ahrendts at her arrival at the business, they wanted to be a
brand that appealed to the young millennial generation. The use of Snapchat is
an appropriate yet innovative way for the brand to reach out to this consumer
group.
2.3 Burberry’s Social Media Platforms and Ratings
Moth (2013) comments for Econsultancy, that Burberry currently invests 60% of
its advertising budget to digital marketing as a reaction to its declining
reputation several years ago. When Ahrendts stepped in in 2006, the company
was only growing at a rate of 2% per year. Her decision to invest in digital
marketing appears to have had a positive effect for the business as the brand’s
annual sales tripled in her first five years working there (Hagan, 2015). As a
result of her hard work the company is now recognized as the best-ranked
luxury brand in the Top Social Network ranking by Famecount in 2011 (Phan et
al. 2011). The Burberry reputation has been drastically turned around from one
that seemed to be outdated and associated with the wrong target market, to a
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successful innovative luxury brand, that helped to redefine what it meant to
operate in the luxury market segment.
Facebook is a free social media site designed to allow registered users to create
profiles, upload content and send messages to other individuals who they are
connected with. Statista, a statistic portal, reported that in January 2016
Facebook was the most used social media site to the date, in terms of number of
active users. It was the first social media side to surpass 1 billion registered
accounts and currently sits at 1.55 billion monthly active users (Statistia, 2016).
It is important to consider that this source may have some limitations, as it has
no direct back up. However the website is closely associated with bigger
businesses such as IBM, Google and PayPal. This data indicates that Facebook is
an effective social media platform for marketers to use as many individuals use
and engage with it.
It seems important to recognise at this point that this was a risky strategy for
Burberry to take, considering a key problem for them in the past was that the
attraction of different unwanted consumer groups. Arguably this ran the risk of
losing control of who showed interest in their brand. It would require careful
marketing decisions to ensure that the content published would serve to protect
and maintain the brand image, without creating unwanted publicity and negative
associations. It is only down to advances in technology and society that has
allowed this jump in digital marketing. It was only in 2007 when Facebook
reached 1 million users (Wood, 2014). Burberry have benefited from the
popularity of the site. As Facebook developed, so did Burberry’s social media
strategies; this helped them to preserve their reputation by communicating
directly with their consumers, to prevent any confusion.
In terms of Burberry’s use of Facebook it reached 15m followers in 2013.
Content is yielded to advertisements and features the brand is currently
promoting. In 2012, Karr, for Women’s Wear Daily, reported that the brand had
leapfrogged over several other brands to become the leading recipient of fashion
‘post likes’ on Facebook. Facebook likes provide a statistically valid picture of
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users’ engagement with a brand (Karr, 2012). This was driven by the brand
publishing images from its spring campaign and from preparations for its fall
Burberry Prorsum women’s wear show. It was this same month that the brand
chose to stream live the show itself. Christopher Bailey provided update videos
exclusively for Facebook fans, answering questions that were posted to him on
the Facebook site. This allowed the brand to create a unique, direct relationship
with their consumers. They were able to provide first hand answers to questions,
to prevent the misinterpretation of information. Previously, around the time of
the crash, the brand had severely lacked public relation strategies, worsening
their problems, as there was no direct attempt to defend Burberry to the public.
The use of social media, such as Facebook, has allowed a method of direct
communication between the brand and the consumer, allowing them to have
better control over how their brand is perceived.
In 2011 Burberry unveiled their new fragrance on Facebook before they made it
available to the general public. Internet Business News (2011) reported that the
business had spent over three times the market average on the marketing of the
product. They also offered the possibility to receive free samples through the
post, as opposed to traditional free samples in magazines. Over 250,000
followers signed up, allowing the business to keep their contact details on a
database (Internet Business News, 2011). Burberry used Facebook to reach out
to consumers on a personal level, answering their questions and thoughts,
creating a much more exclusive and personal brand experience. Despite the risks
involved with how widely accessible the site is, Burberry have done well to
monitor what information is displayed on the site, to ensure a consistent brand
image is kept. In some ways, social media has allowed the brand to have more
control over the way they are perceived by consumers, as previously discussed
Zarella (2010) highlights that digital marketing provides a pathway for two-way
communication.
Burberry also operates on social media site Twitter. In the past few years
Burberry have attempted to be innovative in their strategies on Twitter to yet
again modernize their luxury brand status. Figure 3 depicts that in January 2016
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they had 5.76 million followers on the social media site (Twitter, 2016). The
social media site was only established in 2006, the same year that Ahrendts took
over as CEO. Forrester (2015) wrote for Digital Publishing that the invention of
Twitter has provided an effective platform for fashion brands to develop two-
way conversations with their consumers as well as a means of promotion of their
products (Mortimer, 2013). In 2015 the brand partnered with Twitter to offer
users of the site the chance to capture pictures of its London Fashion Week
Womenswear show live from the runway. Burberry has also helped Twitter to
expand into e-commerce by a collaboration into a ‘buy now’ button. In 2014
consumers were able to buy products they saw and liked directly from the store.
This gave Burberry a chance to turn the relationship formed with followers into
sales. This provides another example into how Burberry have attempted to
preserve the brand’s reputation by constantly partnering with social media
platforms to be innovative in the fashion industry.
Burberry is also active on other social media sites such as Instagram and
Pinterest, where it uses visual images to create brand essence. It combines new
collections, products and their British heritage through images, to reinforce the
brand essence. Platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram allows the brand to
create their own visual identity, through the posting of images. Currently the
brand has 5.8 million followers on Instagram and reports images of celebrities
wearing their brand as well as examples of campaigns and product. For example
in January 2016 it posted an image of actress Naomi Watts wearing a bespoke
Burberry gown at the SAG awards. Watts is a British actress who is culturally
relevant for the ideal image that the brand wants their consumers to see, she
displays sophistication and class, this will reflect on how others see the brand.
The social media site also allows the brand to combine all aspects of the brand,
such as their musical connections, clothing, makeup and beauty.
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Chapter 3: Where Burberry is today
3.1 Burberry Currently
3.2 Digital Marketing’s Influence on where they are now
3.3 Other Influences on Burberry’s Current Situation.
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3.1 Burberry Currently
In the current day Burberry is often viewed as an innovator in British fashion.
Their flourished success over the past decade has restored the once diminished
luxury brand status. Their careful marketing redefined what it means to be
‘Burberry’ and the brand is now recognized by a variety of sources as a digital
leader in the fashion industry (Arthur, 2016).
In 2004 the company’s annual report stated that the share price of the company
was worth 4.5p, and they recorded annual revenue of 675.8(£m) (Burberry,
2005). Their latest report for 2014/15 stated the closing share price of the
company in March 2015 was £17.33 and the brand had a recorded revenue of
2,523(£m)(Burberry, 2015). There has been such a huge increase in the success
of the business, with shareholders now having much more reason to invest in the
company and a completely redefined business purpose and reputation.
In the early 2000’s Burberry was often seen in the media to be associated with
the UK cultural movement of ‘chavs’ that provided negative press and an
unwanted reputation for the brand. Online and tabloid newspapers, such as the
Guardian and the Telegraph, reported on the brand’s decline in UK sales due to
their association with the low-income social group with a poor reputation. Hall
(2004) comments in his article for the Telegraph; that Burberry had been
tarnished by the flourishing ‘chav’ culture of the early 2000’s. The press
surrounding the brand was more often than not negative, damaging the
reputation of the luxury, traditional brand Thomas Burberry had originally
created. As highlighted previously, the brand was commonly associated with
unwanted celebrities such as soap star Daniella Westbrooke that provided
grounds for the media to mock the brand for these associations. The press that
the brand receives in the current day suggests an entirely different story;
highlighting the progress that the brand has made since the crash of their luxury
brand reputation. Online websites such as Forbes and Business of Fashion
regularly discuss the innovative work that the brand produces through their
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collections and their marketing decisions (Amed & Abnett, 2016). It is not only
these fashion-based sources that recognise the success of the brand, technology
blogs and websites are keen to report the success of the brand’s digital
marketing strategies. Milnes (2015) for digiday.com reports that the brand
outdid 82 other brands in ‘digital’, for their mobile platform improvements,
digital microsite, social engagement and brand visibility. The brand have become
recognised across various markets for their contribution to reinventing the
fashion industry as well as their own brand reputation. Arguably the brand
seems completely unrelated to the once rewritten brand reputation in the early
2000’s of being identified by individuals of loutish, anti-social behavior.
In 2016, Burberry has continued to strive to innovate the way the fashion
industry works, by announcing their attempt to align runway with retail. The
brand have announced that they will attempt to shift its fashion week calendar
so it shows in-season in both February and September, making their collection
available to buy immediately after it has appeared on the catwalk (both online
and in store) (Arthur, 2016). Bailey spoke to Business of Fashion to explain the
brands reasoning behind their decision, explaining he deemed it unfair to create
an excitement around a collection at the time of the catwalk and then wait up to
six months for consumers to be able to access it (Arthur, 2016). This connotes
just how much Burberry has reinvented itself in the past decade, by constantly
striving to be innovative whether it be through digital marketing or other
marketing strategies, it has become a company that makes it its purpose to
reiterate the importance of constantly evolving in the fashion industry in order
to remain competitive.
3.2 Digital Marketing’s Influence on Burberry’s Current
Position
Milnes (2015) discusses that in 2006 former CEO Angela Ahrendts and chief
creative officer Christopher Bailey declared they wanted to become the first fully
digital luxury company when they first arrived at the brand. Arguably, this sense
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of direction suggests that to some extent social media is responsible for the
rebuilding of the brand as this is often how they are recognised by the press.
Arthur a contributor to Forbes magazine comments that the brand are a ‘digital
pioneer’ and a ‘renowned digital innovator’ (Arthur, 2016). Milnes (2015)
comments that Bailey, the now CEO and chief creative officer, cited digital
technology as central to the brand’s way of thinking. They aim to make
consumers able to access their brand in ways that have never been possible in
the fashion industry before.
Burberry was one of the first brands to turn user generated content into its own
social media platform with their digital strategy ‘Art of the Trench’ that launched
in 2009 (Milne, 2015). Because the brand is further ahead than other luxury
companies in terms of its ability to think in a new digital way, it was easily
recognisable by individuals such as Milne as being digitally innovative. The
company has used their advances in digital marketing to expand ‘Art of the
Trench’ to have a much bigger reach. The trend, which first began in the UK
market, has expanded to reach all of Burberry’s global markets; the page
received 24.8 million page views in December 2015 (Milnes, 2015). The timeline
in Figure 4 provided by Digiday illustrates exactly how the brand has
progressed in terms of their digital strategies, since Ahrendts and Bailey joined
forces in 2006. The timeline depicts how the company has built on the reputation
that they began to build in 2006, regarding their advances in social media. The
figure shows that in 2015 the brand utilised live visual social media platforms,
such as Snapchat and Periscope, to provide their customers with a first hand
personal experience.
The brand has used Periscope to expand on their innovative marketing decision
to stream their fashion shows lives. Periscope is a new live streaming platform
owned by Twitter, launched at the beginning of 2015. Burberry (2015)
announced that it would be using the visual platform to broadcast their Los
Angeles show in April 2015. The brand was the first to have their own Apple
Music channel in 2015 also (L2, 2015). Statt (2015) comments that the brand
used Apple Music to post live and upcoming British music. Bailey has been
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consistent in attempting to combine music and fashion together, to really
reiterate the proud British roots of the brand. They are consistently the first
brand to attempt to use different social media platforms in their marketing
strategies. When the brand experienced difficulty in the early 2000’s, it was
recognised by Ahrendts and Bailey that the brand needed to be creative to
modernise and compete in the luxury fashion market. Arguably the brand’s
development in their digital marketing strategies has allowed this progression to
happen.
The utilization of social media platforms in Burberry’s marketing decisions was a
strategy that carried a relatively high risk when Ahrendts took over in 2006. The
brand had been susceptible to a change in reputation by consumers having so
much freedom over how they wore and displayed the brand. The braveness of
strategies such as ‘Art of the Trench’ gave a lot of control to the consumer,
prosing a threat of another fall in reputation. The brand, however have
successfully over come this risk by providing consistency in their digital
strategies and platforms. Arguably the success of Burberry today was reliant on
these changes in their digital strategies as it helped the fashion industry to forget
the negative associations with the brand in the early 2000’s.
3.3 Other Influences on Burberry’s Current Situation
There have been many other changes since the time of the crash which has
contributed to the brand being redefined within the fashion industry and
rebuilding their reputation. At the time of the crash, the brand fought back to
protect it’s image and try to prevent the damage that had been done by the ‘Chav’
reputation from worsening. The brand took over control of their licensing
strategies so they had greater control of the choice of merchandising and the way
their stock was displayed.
The brand quickly removed the iconic check print from their garments reducing
the number down from a third of their products to 5%. The way they chose to
market their check print had to connote a completely different message from
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here on in; to prevent the negative media attention that it had began to gain. The
brand have been so successful at rebuilding their image that the iconic print can
still be seen on their garments and in their advertisements. Figure 5 is an image
from the brand’s 2015 Christmas ad campaign, featuring British model Rosie
Huntington Wiley and British singer songwriter James Bay. Both individuals can
be seen in the classic trench wearing a scarf with the Burberry check print.
Arguably because the brand have done so much to rebuild their reputation, very
few would view the advertisement and be reminded of the ‘chav’ phenomenon in
the early 2000’s. This illustrates just how far the company has come since they
began to rebuild their brand a decade ago.
Griffiths (2013) argues that it has been the appointment of a creative director
that allowed the company to blossom since the time of the crash. Bailey
recognised that the brand needed to develop to fit the spirit of the fashion
industry and society as a whole at the time. Banks (2015) supports this
commenting that despite the extensive history that the brand has, Bailey was the
real founder of the Burberry brand: he is the DNA of what the company is today.
Bailey was hired by Bravo in 2001, promoted to creative director in 2004, then
to chief creative officer in November 2009. When Bravo’s successor left Burberry
in 2014, Bailey assumed her position as CEO as well as maintaining the role of
chief creative officer (Banks, 2015).
It is evident that his impact on the way in which the business runs was crucial to
where the brand is today. Banks notes that individuals from the industry such as
Natalie Massenet, executive chairman of the Net-a-Porter Group, consider Bailey
as the founder of what the true Burberry brand is. Banks notes that Bravo
understood that Burberry’s “Britishness” was its most effective calling card,
which needed to be utlilized and emphasized in their business and marketing
strategies. At the time when Bailey was welcomed to the business, Bravo wanted
to welcome the brand to the 21st Century, and Bailey was about to provide the
“360 vision the brand needed” (Banks, 2015). Bailey recognised the crucial
British history and introduced strategies such as Burberry Accoustic that worked
together to combine British music and fashion, a new innovative method of
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displaying the brands typically British nature. To some extent, it was the brand’s
exploration into digital marketing strategies that allowed Bailey’s creative ideas
to flourish, the combination of technology and his creative input has allowed for
the British brand to excel.
Roberts (2013) comments that Angela Ahrendts, former CEO, turned the
Burberry brand into a digital forerunner in the fashion world. Figure 6 provided
by Harvard Business Review depicts how the brand has progressed since her
arrival at the brand in 2006, revenue had risen from $1.19 million to $3 million
in six years. Ahrendts (2013) in an article for Harvard Business Review
comments that, she first of all noticed the brand was becoming ubiquitous, a
dangerous place to be for a luxury brand, Burberry needed to be more than a
beloved old British company. Ahrendts made it her aim to ensure the brand was
consistent wherever in the world it was experienced, she introduced lots of
changes to reinvent the failing brand in 2006, to the brand it is today. Neate
writes for the Guardian that her relentless focus was to revise Burberry’s
heritage to the digital “millennial” generation (Neate, 2013). Arguably this focus
provided by Ahrendts has allowed the brand to reinvent itself as the recognised
digital company it is known for today. She instilled advertisement campaigns
with culturally British individuals such as Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne.
She also made a tactical decision to include young Romeo Beckham in the
brand’s advertisement, suggesting how the brand can appeal to such a variety of
individuals. In 2013 share prices had doubled since her arrival at the company in
2006 to £13.70, a huge indicator of her influence on how the brand has become
such a huge success. Ahdrents can be seen to be the driver behind the brand’s
technological advances; she recognised an effective method of targeting a
younger generation.
Ahdrents also implemented other significant changes for the brand, such as their
decision to buy out its Chinese franchise partner for £70m (Griffiths, 2013). This
decision gave Burberry a greater control over their Chinese operations,
providing a more consistent brand image across the globe. The brand gained
control of over 50 stores, allowing a direct method of communication with their
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Chinese consumers. Arguably, this decision benefited the brand’s UK market as it
opened the doors to developments in Chinese technology. Griffiths (2013)
reports that the opening of their Beijing store saw technological advances such
as the first ever holographic fashion show, arguably this provided inspiration for
the opening of the Regent’s Street store. Burberry was innovating the UK fashion
industry with its global experience. To some extent, without the drive of
Ahrendts the company would not have been able to redefine themselves as such
an advanced brand that it is recognised for today. She may have been the reason
why Burberry is so successful, as she is behind the brand’s breakthrough
decisions.
It is important to consider that without the input of Bailey and Ahdrendts it
limits the extent to which digital marketing has been responsible for the
turnaround of the brand. Each individual influence on the brand contributed in
their own unique way to the success of the brand today.
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Conclusion
This study has investigated how the luxury-clothing brand Burberry has
recovered from the crash of their reputation during the early late 90’s/early
2000’s. This study highlight that the brand’s use of social media had a significant
role to play in the rebuilt success of the brand.
To some extent it was the brand’s digital marketing strategies that are
responsible for how successful Burberry has become. The brand have not only
reinvented themselves but also pushed the limits of the luxury fashion market.
Burberry’s development into digital marketing strategies has allowed them to try
things no other brand has tried before. Their streaming of their live fashion show
has allowed the brand to excel in the 21st Century, modernising what it means to
be Burberry and what it means to be luxury. The brand has expanded into new
innovative social media platforms such as Snapchat, Periscope and Apple Music,
targeting the young, ‘millennial’ generation that Ahrendts recognised as being
important at her arrival at the brand. Digital marketing has allowed the brand to
modernise and become much more inline with the younger generations;
constantly building on this reputation by developing into new channels shows
the brands willingness to try new things to ensure their brand is consistent with
its progression into technology. This was an aspect of the brand that was
particularly weak in the early 2000’s, as discussed the brand had almost reached
a standstill. Arguably it was digital marketing that allowed the brand to innovate
itself in order to successfully compete in the fashion market again.
When the brand experienced their period of difficulty during the early 2000’s it
was looking for a way to no longer be a ‘stodgy nonentity’ amongst a field of
successful luxury brands. The brand wasn’t utlising their British nature in an
effective way and this was attracted the unwanted consumer group ‘chavs’. As
pointed out by Swire (2014) the brand recognised that they needed to work on
their traditional British heritage but modernise it to be able to recover and
compete successfully in the luxury brand market. It is evident to see that the
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brand has used cutting edge technology to reposition itself in the luxury market.
Burberry moved with the times, they identified their need to modernise and
used digital marketing to do so; arguably without these strategies the brand
would be no where near what it is today, it provided the necessary platform for
much needed change in brand identity.
Despite the undeniable impact that digital marketing had on the recovery of the
brand image, there was other issues highlighted at the time of the crash, which
needed the attention of other influences to ensure the brand’s reputation was
restored. The brand needed a creative direction, to British nature in their
marketing strategies and decisions in a successful and innovative way. Without
the input of Bailey as creative director, there may never have been the chance for
the brand to develop such innovative ideas. Bailey had a passion for the British
arts and this passion opened many doors for Burberry; allowing them to
combine fashion and music and explore further what it meant to be a luxury
British fashion brand. To some extent digital marketing alone was not able to
fully capture the essence of the brand, it required the mind of a creative
individual such as Bailey to embody this in the brand’s marketing decisions.
This study has highlighted the huge influence of former CEO Angela Ahdrendts to
the rebuilding of the brand. When she arrived at Burberry she instantly
recognised the brand’s need for innovation and consistency throughout their
channels of communication. Ahrendts identified that the brand was not
competing successfully in the luxury market. It was her decision to target the
‘millennial’ generation; a consumer group driven by modern technology. Her
fresh input arguably allowed the brand to continuously develop and innovate
over her eight years of working there. The discussed Figure 4 provided by
Digiday indicates perfectly the progression the company has made digitally; all
under the influence of Ahrendts and Bailey. Ahrendts is the mind behind the use
of typically British models that connote cultural relevance; she has sought out
individuals that create an idyllic British appearance, something the company was
weak in doing in the early 2000’s. Since the time of the crash and her time as
CEO she has completely reinvented what it means to be Burberry, bringing in
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fresh faces and moving the brand away from their standstill, negative reputation
that was constantly reported at her arrival of the brand in 2006.
The Burberry brand has one that has made an undeniable improvement since the
time of the crash of its reputation over a decade ago. The brand has been
successful in rebuilding its brand image and improving its performance. From
this study it can be concluded that digital marketing has been crucial to this
rebuild; the brand have undeniably reinvented themselves as a digital pioneer of
the luxury fashion market. Their digital marketing strategies have allowed them
to redefine their reputation that was once closely associated with the ‘chav’
culture to a leader in digital innovation. To some extent however, this would not
have been possible without the creative influence of individuals Bailey and
Ahrendts; who together were the drive behind the digital change. Their influence
allowed the company to develop as well as it did, which as a result allowed for
company’s reputation to be completely redefined. The digital success of a brand
is heavily reliant on the individuals that are in control of it. Digital marketing,
therefore, can only be as innovative as the creative ideas that drive the strategies
to happen.
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Appendix
Figure 1: Testino, M. 2005. Kate Moss. [Online]. [Accessed 5 February 2016]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/527624912574969173/
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Figure 2: Burberry. 2016. Burberry Regent Street Store. [Online]. Screenshot
taken: 13/03/2016 15:58
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Figure 3: Twitter. 2016. Burberry Twitter Account. [online]. Screenshot taken: 1/2/2016 15:15
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Figure 4: Digiday. 2015. Fashion: Key Brand Investments in Digital. [Online]. [Accessed 5 March 2016]. Available from: http://digiday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-02-at-9.20.25-AM.png
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Figure 5: Testino, M. 2015. Burberry Christmas Advert. [Online]. [Accessed 5 February 2016]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/527624912574997072/
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Figure 6: Harvard Business Review. 2013. Burberry Facts & Financials. [online] [Accessed 5 Feburary 2016]. Available from: https://hbr.org/2013/01/burberrys-ceo-on-turning-an-aging-british-icon-into-a-global-luxury-brand
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