How Burberry became the Most Successful Digital Luxury Brand

Authentic Branding for a Global Audience: Angela Ahrendts

When we think of British luxury brand Burberry, the first product that comes to mind is their iconic beige trenchcoat with its signature cheque lining.

Not long ago, this was not so obvious. Before one of the most capable managers in the world, Angela Ahrendts DBE, left Burberry as CEO in 2014, she revamped the British fashion house, made it find its way back to its roots and tripled sales in only five years (Davis, 2014). Apart from centralising design and focussing on innovating core heritage products, Ahrendts (2013) crystallised a highly potential customer base that was being ignored by their competitors, namely millenials.

In order to address this new customer base and to understand the needs of contemporary stakeholders, Burberry has used emotive brand content (using music, movies and live-videos), invited young British influencers as brand ambassadors (e.g. Emma Watson and Cara Delevigne) and made its marketing digital.

The secret to success of digital business models is the identification of opportunities, the optimum alignment of skills and right timing. Burberry has understood that the key feature of contemporary business models is transformation. While developing a sustainable business model, Ahrendts and her executive team have incorporated internet trends and new technologies to their strategy. By doing so, they transformed their “traditional (and historic) brand into a shareable, digital experience” (Centric Digital, 2015). Ahrendts optimised HR by appointing central heads for all operative departments, such as design and supply chain management, and seized the right time to digitalise Burberry’s marketing which resulted in Burberry’s digital leadership.

It all started in 2006, when the digital approach of communicating the brand and its values embodied two methods: engaging in social media and the creation of the “ultimate in-store digital experience” (Petey S, 2016).

Courtesy of Centric Digital

The social media approach

In 2009, Burberry stepped into the world of social media, notably Facebook (live streaming and exhibiting products), Instagram (visuals) and Snapchat (leaking exclusive content through Snapcode), and did so as one of the first luxury fashion houses (Shannon, 2017). Not only did Burberry use many different social media channels, it distributed content as well and made sure that it would only and always meet high-quality standards and a high degree of sophistication (Na, 2016). By embracing social media, the company had seen its fastest growth in online sales (Butler, 2013).

Furthermore, two key features on addressing brands in the contemporary digital world are immediacy and velocity (Shannon, 2017). Having become a pioneer by introducing the “See-now, buy-now” strategy brought the hearts of fashion enthusiasts and Haute Couture customers to melt. Burberry’s exclusive fashion pieces did not leave potential buyers to wait for another six months but instead could be purchased right after the fashion show – on the beloved mobile phone.

The interaction between the company and its customers has never been so close, intense and immediate, causing both brand and clientele to co-evolve through information exchange (Peroco, 2014, pp.83). As a result, customisation campaign Burberry Bespoke brings exclusiveness to the next level.

By 2018, Burberry’s social media reach peaked at 51 million followers worldwide, across 13 platforms, 24 accounts and 11 languages underlining the maison’s digital prowess (Burberry, 2018, p.38).

The ultimate in-store digital experience

Courtesy of Vogue

The second approach required the digitalisation of the real shopping experience when entering a flagship store. Since 2012, Burberry has blurred the line between online and in-store shopping.

By gathering information about their customer’s shopping behaviour (e.g. through loyalty and reward programs), Burberry has been using big data to optimise marketing and boost sales (Marr, 2017).

In the Regent Street flagship store, customers experience the connection between their online purchase activities and the real shopping sensation through immersive multimedia content, the usage of social media and the Burberry app (Danao, 2017). Embedded chips in products enable customers to immediately find out more about it on their mobile devices and mirrors magically turn into interactive infoscreens excelling customer expectations (Alexander, 2017).

Apple and Burberry drew closer when Ahrendts left to join the Californian technology giant in 2014 and rightfully so, Apple should be the one taking care of Burberry’s augmented-reality fashion app that was eventually launched in 2017 (Williams, 2017). “The campaign’s shareability and social-friendliness organically turned users into brand advocates” because, simlply said, the app is fun and for free (Aitken, 2018). It won the award for best app in the Drapers Digital Awards 2018 (Burberry, 2018).

Courtesy of Burberry

Incorporating social media, AI, augmented reality and big data has led Burberry to shift from the focus on “which markets drive growth to which channels drive growth” (Gartner, 2015). Burberry states in its 2017/18 financial report that “about 70% of retail sales are estimated to be influenced by digital somewhere along the customer journey”. That means around 1,5bn out of 2,7bn GBP total revenue was somehow generated or influenced through digital investment – and this number only includes retail.

Burberry’s digital investments have crystallised outstanding returns and keeping its pioneer status in digital will still be one of the fashion house’s main challenges. For instance, the company is currently underperforming in (mobile) branded search (Gartner, 2018) and struggling to find the right pricing strategy (Lauchlan, 2017).

Courtesy of Digiday

An overview of Burberry’s overall marketing strategy can be found here, as well as its marketing mix and a SWOT analysis.

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6 Comments

  1. Hi Cara,

    Thank you for sharing such an interesting post about Burberry! I love the brand so much and it is fascinating to know how they transform its business model by bringing new technologies to the marketing strategy.

    It seems really common that large companies (e.g. Burberry and Amazon) are gathering customer’s information by using Artificial intelligence (AI) such high technology to improve their shopping experience. By offering recommendations to customers based on shopping or searching histories, it is a brand new way to encourage more consumption.

    The one thing that gives me a little concern is the data collection process – how these large companies use personal data. I have recently read some news about this issue and it has been a concern to society. Amazon has claimed that the data collections are only being used to enhance the customer’s interest. Do you think it is moral to do so?

    You can read the news here: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7295369/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/amazons-data-gathering-habits-under-fire/#.XIAwOOj7RPY

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  2. Pingback: Why is the Amazon style business model so successful? – Mandy's Blog

  3. Hi,
    Thanks for your sharing. I really love this brand and its products. Burberry not only focuses on the innovation of core products but also utilise digital marketing to advertise and deliver the message to consumers. Besides, this company take advantage of multiple social media and platforms to show their new products. Burberry realises the effects of digital business, and it knows how to choose suitable approaches to cover the target customers. Its product strategy could improve the competitive advantages, and the digital marketing of Burberry could enhance the efficiency of sales and the awareness and popularity of the brand.

    However, all things Burberry did in digital business, which could be easily copied by competitors. Do you think Burberry should invest more capital in digital marketing or just keep at the current level? And, do you believe Burberry would close up all physical stores and just rely on digital marketing in the future?

    Liked by 1 person

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