ELLA CRABTREE DISS

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.

19


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

20


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

22


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

23


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

24


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

25


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.

26


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

27


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

28


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

29


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

30


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.

32


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

33


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

34


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

35


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

36


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

40


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

41


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.

42


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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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https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/527624912574969173/


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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http://digiday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-02-at-9.20.25-AM.png

http://digiday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-02-at-9.20.25-AM.png


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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https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/527624912574997072/


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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