Brilliant Brands Series: Burberry [another “BRIGHT & SHINING STAR”]

Here’s another brand in the BBI, the “BRILLIANT BRAND INDEX” ®Kurt Frenier.

As a reminder, the BBI® model has 8 dimensions that I deem important to qualify for a “brilliant brand”: 4 ‘brand coolness’ dimensions (a lovable brand, a beacon of trust, inherent universality, a memorable visual identity), and 4 ‘brand hotness’ dimensions (novel/contemporary marketing, on a growth trajectory, creativity & awesomeness, executed to excellence).

BIT OF BACKGROUND ON Burberry:

Who doesnt’ know and recognise the Burberry checkered tweet print?

Burberry’s history starts 156 years ago. Its sturdy, all-weather raincoats were worn by the solders in the trenches of a.o. WW1 and thereafter became part of the “fabric” of British culture. The Burberry fashion house was officially established later, in 1956, by Thomas Burberry, opening the doors to a store in Basingstoke, England. After the first world war, the “trench coat” became popular with the common people, and is still one of the most iconic pieces of clothing in associated with the Burberry brand. Celebrities and legends alike have worn the coats.

Burberry is a remarkable company. More so now, since CEO Angela Ahrendts turned the company and brand around: from being everywhere to everyone and on a downward slope , back to its core: luxury, firmly entrentched in coats as icon item!

The 4 ‘brand coolness’ dimensions:

1-A LOVABLE BRAND

What a brand! My guess is that a lot of people either have a Burberry item or envy having one. Love for the brand runs deep as it comes with a particular image people want to associate themselves with: Britishness, high quality, class and elegance. Burberry sells “luxurious effortless style“, and creates designs that represent current trends. BUT – they are loyal to the idea of what Burberry is all about, captured by the ‘trench coat’ : a Burberry statement piece! Burberry targets both male and females in their late twenties/early thirties that are (rather) wealthy, successful, stylish and slim. A lot of their garments and clothes are so called “casual smart” so they appeal the modern day business person.

2-A BEACON OF TRUST

Once diluted as a brand (as they were making cheap socks, quilts, shirts, condoms, and what not), Burberry is once again an item sold at high price with a matching quality. [or at least they’re well underway on the road to recovery; brand erosion takes a while to rectify] Many of the cloths they sell cost more than $1000. And that’s just because the brand can easily command a premium. When you buy a ‘real’ Burberry, you know what you get!

3-INHERENT UNIVERSALITY

Burberry is everywhere. But Angela Ahrendts is clear in not taking it too far. “In luxury, ubiquity kills you”, she rightly states. Amen to that. See an article I wrote on a non-related luxury & exclusive industry, the famous El Bulli restaurant: here.

4-A MEMORABLE VISUAL IDENTITY

WOW. Burberry “own” their white/brown/black tweet. It has become recognisable, memorable, … iconic. And it is of such nature that you can really play around with it; not just on clothes, but accross all consumer touchpoints (all products, stores, communication…)

What they are doing right, is having all design choices and decisions go through one single person, Christopher Bailey. The premise: great global brands don’t have people all over the world designing and producing all kinds of stuff. Agree!

The 4 ‘brand hotness’ dimensions :

I-NOVEL, CONTEMPORARY MARKETING

After Burberry’s turnaround, they have “embraced” new media tools. All the way from their website, to a florishing facebook page, that last time I checked had nearly 15 million followers. All Burberry touchpoints gavanise the idea of consistency against their core values (luxury + the tweet print).

II-ON A GROWTH TRAJECTORY

What a story. After a serious blimp in growth, Burberry has DOUBLED revenues in 5 years, now passing $3bn. And they have a healthy $600 million operating income. Many companies in the fashion industry would die for that. In 2011 they were named the 4th fastest growing brand by Interbrand.

III-CREATIVITY AND AWESOMENESS

Imagine being on the creative side of the business, and making campaigns for a “quintessentially British” brand. Not bad. A briefing document must look something like this : “strengthen the authentic British heritage;  establish uniqueness of Burberry, but add a dimension of ‘democraticy within the luxury industry; stay within the principles of quality, function and modern classic style, rooted in the integrity the trench coat; make it global; and don’t shy away from glamorous celebrities” [this is my own interpretation by the way] … lots to play with!

One thing they could do better, in my opinion, is leveraging their strong history of the trench coat. I doubt whether people really know they are the fathers of the trench coat. They could “own” that, just like O’Neill owns the wetsuit, and Lacoste owns the polo shirt.

IV-EXECUTED TO EXCELLENCE

What can I say? Walk into any Burberry store and you’ll see what excellence looks like.

 

On the “BRILLIANT BRAND INDEX MAP” ®, they are another “BRIGHT & SHINING STAR”

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! Let me know what you think – here, on twitter (@kurtfrenier), on facebook, or on LinkedIn. Kurt.

Tagged as: Angela, Angela Arhrendt, BBI, brilliant, Burberry, CEO, clothes, coat, expensive, fashion, global, luxury, star, strategy, trench coat