Burberry, a British Fashion empire is
one of the most biggest and iconic brands in the world. But ever thought how a
company founded in 1856 has managed to stand the test of time? What are the
secrets to its success? We shall try and uncover these questions by looking at
some campaigns and strategies implemented by this luxurious company.
Everything was truly going well for
brand Burberry since its introduction to the fashion market in 1856, however it
was during the nineties when this company decided to up its game to be taken
seriously in the fashion industry. It increased its advertising budget and
plastered its trademark check on every product you could possibly think of!
Unfortunately, this brand became popular with the upcoming chav generation and
football hooligans (see below).
Over exposure had caused this high
fashion brand to become undesirable. Burberry needed help, and fast. This is
where its excellent PR team came to the rescue and helped to reinvent its brand
name! These are just some of the successful strategies they came up with:
Tweetwalk
In 2011, Burberry decided to
showcase its latest designs on twitter before they came out during London
Fashion Week. This simple move attracted thousands of new users to follow the
brand! (ker-ching!)
Celebrity endorsements
If having Emma Watson as part of
their team wasn’t enough, when One Direction’s Harry Styles (ahh) was pictured
on the front row to the brand’s Spring/Summer 2014 show in September, the
response was overwhelming with over 21,000 mentions on social media!
CONTEMPORARY CASE STUDY:
Burberry recently revealed its new
campaign, as part of its aim to maximise coverage on a digital platform called
‘Burberry kisses’. This is where users
are able to send a virtual kiss to loved ones all around the world. Users have
the ability to personalise a message, choose a lip colour from the Burberry
beauty range and share on Google+ or any other social media site! (Sweet stuff,
ey?) However this latest innovation has not been without its critics, with some
calling it a gimmick and having little relevance to the brand name. But I have
to disagree with them all! I think this idea is pure genius and according to
this article by the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/partner-zone-brand-union/burberry-digital-strategy-brand
this new interactive campaign has been hugely beneficial for the company!
(wahey!)
Results released by interbrands in
2013, show how Burberry was in 77th position as the most valuable
fashion brand in the entire world! Impressively, it increased its brand value
by almost 20% more than the previous year. (www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2013/top-100-list-view.aspx).
Whether it is their PR activity, advertising strategies or their fashion line
that is to be credited for its success, Burberry is making sure to conquer our
minds. Most famous for its trademark trenchcoats, (coming with an impressive
price tag, which living on a student budget is a far-fetched dream waiting to
happen!) I believe Burberry is a fashion brand to watch out for the in the
future!
By Risha Pattani
A really insightful case study, its interesting to know how Burberry turned around their fashion brand from appealing to so called "chavs" to becoming a high class recognised brand. I personally think the virtual kiss campaign works aswell as they still incorporated the Burberry beauty brand into it.
ReplyDeleteIf you were apart of the Burberyy team what more would you have done to turn the brand around?
Thank you for your comment :)
DeleteIf I was part of the team I would've maybe utilized the usage of social media in order to create a more "high fashion" reputation about it.
I would get more influential celebrities to endorse the brand more so that the public can immediately recognize it for example; I would have somebody like Emma Watson take part in photo shoots for magazines or television adverts to maximise coverage. This is because, Emma Watson's image in the media is a feminine and classy image and her reputation so far, is clean and well managed.
Very interesting post, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading! It's remarkable to see how PR works so effective and easily to completely transform the brand image. Its great to see how simple steps can be undertaken to take a failing company to become a top and successful company.
ReplyDeleteThank you anonymous for taking time out to read our blog! Yes, its great to see how PR can completely change the fate of a company. Seems like a lot of pressure but totally worth it in the end! It's a profession we are very passionate about!
DeleteInteresting - I never knew Burberry was popular with working class and below people! I am assuming that this has a lot to do with the trend of fake designer goods because I cannot imagine those of lower eceonomic status, such as chavs, being able to afford this label without there being a hefty dent in their bank balance. Having said that, Burberry's campaigns did good in once again reinstating their image as a high-fashion brand - thereby indirectly telling the world that yes, if they look like they cannot afford it, it probably is not real.
ReplyDeleteThank you littleelves for reading our blog, much appreciated! Yes, unfortunately big companies have to deal with fake selling goods all the time, however there is nothing that our PR team can't handle!
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