For many luxury brands, embracing the digital and welcoming new young, affluent consumers is still very much a perturbing prospect encapsulated by uncertainty and trepidation. The same cannot be said for all high-end brands, however, with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Saint Laurent having thrust themselves to the forefront of modern luxury through digital adaptation strategies, revolutionising the sector and what it means for consumers.
The most notable triumph belongs to the iconic luxury British fashion house that is Burberry. Founded in 1856 by 21-year-old apprentice draper Thomas Burberry, the brand’s initial specialism in outdoor clothing lead to the introduction of the gabardine trench coat (developed to serve members of the British military) for which it is still distinctly synonymous with. In addition to the acclaimed trench, Burberry now provides ready-to-wear, fashion accessories, fragrances, sunglasses, and cosmetics.
The epitome of the brand is, and always will be, the trademark Burberry check. Despite its quintessential brand significance, it has been the subject of much scrutiny as a result of proliferate counterfeiting prevalent in the early 2000s which ultimately contributed to the defamation of the brand’s reputation and consumer valuation. Burberry, as notable victims of circumstance, had become an unwilling advocate for “chavs” and hooligans who saw the check pattern as a means to identify with British luxury ideals. Justine Picardie, British fashion writer and editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK, has spoken openly on how the brand’s iconic plaid had become ‘associated with the cheapest form of disposable rip-off fashion’ (Picardie, 2013 in Neate, 2013).
Flash forward to the present day and Burberry is swiftly on it’s way to achieving “super luxury” status to become a contender with the likes of Gucci, Dior, and Hermes. An unprecedented turnaround for a brand which, for a time, was on the brink of utter disrepute and sector condemnation. The British fashion house ‘underwent a seven-year transformation from an underperforming, marginalised, over-licensed, decentralised brand, to becoming one of the most beloved and valuable luxury brands in the world’ (Davis, 2014).
This turn arround was led by former chief executive of Burberry Angela Ahrendts and her ‘relentless focus on reviving Burberry’s heritage to the millennial digital generation’ (Neate, 2013).
After taking on the position in 2006, Ahrendts initiated Burberry’s costly and long-winded reacquisition of 23 licenses — essentially ‘buying back the company’ (Ahrendts, 2014).
Most importantly, she transformed the brand into a champion of social media and digital domination; Burberry at present have over 17 million fans on Facebook and over 8.5 million followers on Twitter. Burberry was also the first global luxury brand to utilise “in-tweet” purchasing. When it comes to Instagram, the brand enlist and feature members at the forefront of millennial popular culture to enhance the brand’s social perception and contemporary projection. The British fashion house even partnered with Snapchat to preview the spring/summer 2016 womenswear collection.
Not only the first luxury brand to wholeheartedly invest in social media, Burberry were also the first to broadcast their fashion show from London to five international cities simultaneously, live and in 3D in 2010. This was soon followed by a catwalk show in Beijing where live models were mixed with holograms in 2011.
Further efforts made by Burberry in aid of the luxury-seeking millennial’s appraisal have included a transient service introduced in 2011 aptly titled ‘Burberry Bespoke’ allowing customers to design one of the brand’s signature trench coats online, made-to-measure, with fabric type, colour, lining style and buttons all customisable. Though short-lived, they now instead offer a personalisation service through monogramming of selected garments and accessories — such as scarves, bags, and fragrances — available online and in selected stores. Introduced in 2014, this service appeals to luxury consumers and young affluents’ desire for personalisation of the goods they consume.
While Burberry continues to cultivate their millennial following, they also maintain a dialogue with the boomers that sustain the brand’s financial capital as the demographic with greater spending power via sustained investment in mainstream marketing methods, such as print and television advertisements. In 2016 the brand released short film ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ to mark their 160th anniversary, giving a cinematic insight into the brand’s heritage while inviting consumers to become a part of the Burberry story.
Burberry have over 530 in 50 different countries, which are described by Head of Digital Practice at global management consultancy Bain & Co Elizabeth Spaulding as ‘extensions of the company’s digital presence’ (Spaulding, 2015). They feature towering screens, such as those which can be found in the brand’s Regent Street flagship in London (opened in 2012), that display the brand’s latest campaigns and live streams of runway shows, while RFID (radio frequency identification) technology embedded within garments and tags trigger bespoke multimedia content specific to different products and ranges on in-store display screens. This technology also enables customers to view product information and learn about Burberry’s heritage while also assisting store employees with stock control and personalised customer details.
Articulated best by the woman responsible for this commendable rejuvenation of the British fashion house, Ahrendts asserts ‘Burberry Regent Street brings our digital world to life in a physical space for the first time, where customers can experience every facet of the brand through immersive multimedia content exactly as they do online. Walking through the doors is just like walking into our website’ (Ahrendts, 2014 in Davis, 2014).
