Burberry does most of its marketing online due to the fact that the world is in a huge technology bubble right now. For businesses to promote their products in the most effective way the internet is definitely the right place for them. One of the ways that Burberry sees if they have success with online marketing is simply looking at how many followers or comments they have on their account. For example if Burberry posts a picture on Facebook and they get 100,000 likes this is a way to determine if the people really like the product or not. Burberry does not do a lot of wholesale work so they can't really relate to purchase volume.
When Burberry sells their products it usually isn't at a high volume due to the fact that only one person can purchase items. When a potential customer walks into the store they are not planning on buying hundred of items like wholesale buyers do. Burberry is very focused on targeting their costumers so they don't get involved with much Business to business operations. some people may think this is a weakness for the company but in reality it is a strength because they only have to watch over one thing and not multiple. Companies who both sell to customers and businesses may have to much on their plate to handle and ultimately lead to failure.
What Burberry may have to do to that involved a business to business relationship is to buy the fabrics and materials needed to build a product. Burberrys clothing does not come from anywhere. For example a Burberry trench coat is usually made of cotton. Burberry has to ship this cotton to the factory so they can make this product.
Burberry as a company realizes the great importance of market segmentation and incorporates this strategy with the company. Burberry sells their products to countries all over the world so they must differentiate their target markets and the actual products they sell. Below shows specific segmentation categories and how Burberry uses them to benefit their company.
Geographic Segmentation- Burberry first started out as a company that only sold outerwear. The reason for this is that in london it was very cold and people needed to shelter themselves from it. Burberry originally created trench coats, its, scarves, gloves etc. As burberry expanded they realized they can't sell all of these items to countries with hotter climates. This is why they expanded to sell fragrances, accessories, bags, etc.
Demographic segmentation- Burberry has to differentiate some customers with others to see who they want to target. Burberrys products are generally high so they usually target 19-35 year old people with a high income. Burberry sells their products to men and women and to any race. An example of how they use Demographic Segmentation is how when they sell their products to the people of japan they had to create two different brands. One is called Burberry Black Label, and one is called Burberry Blue Label. These brands differ because in one of them the clothing are tight fit while the other is loose or regular fit.
Pyschographic segmentation- Burberry tries to use this on their customers a little but usually it happens naturally with a high end brand. Customers who always buy products from one specific brand usually stick with that brand and won't buy any other company. Burberry is trying to make it the next cool and hip thing to do if you are wearing their products. They don't want to be known as the high end company for grandmas ( some companies really are).
Multisegment Targeting- With some of Burberrys products they target several different people. For example the trench coat. A man can be seen wearing one and so can a women. It is a very popular staple in the English communities.
Customers of high end companies take their buying habits personally and they want to be treated in the best of ways. With these type of consumers Burberry will potentially give them a personal shopper to help the person see what they like and to give confidence to that person.
Due to the fact that Burberry is a high end luxury fashion company their products are usually made once and kept like that for a while. What i mean by this is that if Burberry creates a dress that is for the runway shows which will ultimately be sold in stores they will keep it that way. The only thing changed by them would be the size. Burberry comes out with new lines throughout the year showing the customer the latest hot items. Unlike most companies who are constantly changing specs and details of products, Burberry tries to stick to its original state. What Burberry does do is create a product development process. They take all the steps necessary from new product strategy to actually having that new product out. Burberry has employees to take over these jobs.
Burberry does not deal with distributors a lot because they are not so big in wholesale. The same goes with vendors, most burberry products are sold in Burberry stores or even a department store or two. Burberrys competition is usually on the same pace as them when it comes to creating new products. To become ahead of the game Burberrys products developers must think of new ideas quick so they can reach out to customers quicker. With fashion, once a great product comes out most of the other companies copy this product but put their own spin on it. An example of this is the trench coat. Burberry was one of the first companies in the world to introduce the trench coat. Today you can see that all of their competitors sell this product. Burberry is very good at the step of Commercialization.
This is where they have an advantage over their competitors. Burberry markets their product in a great way that can reach the potential customer in a better way then other companies. EX: social media
Saint Laurent Trench Coat
Burberry Trench Coat
Burberry innovates in a lot of ways. Whether its showing a new line to important people in the fashion world or using different ways of digital marketing. Burberrry does not have any competitors that can potentially bring them out of business and this is a very good thing. For example the DVR set has been basically extinct due to that fact of DVD's and netflix.
Burberry is emerging as one of the number one high fashion companies in the world that use social media. Their last CEO Angela Ahrendts was the biggest motivator for this change. A lot of people would think it would be hard for the 156 year old company to be so interactive and up to date with the current fashion world but they defied odds and did so. Burberry won the digital innovation award which celebrates the leaders in online initiatives and communications in fashion. Not only have they won awards for their success in social media and online marketing, their profits have rose as well. Burberry has millions of fans on their Facebook site and this is going to continue to grow. On their Facebook timeline it shows pictures of new Burberry products coming out. The same goes for twitter, their main account holds 2.3 million followers. Most of their tweets feature pictures of fashion shows or new products coming out.
Burberry also markets to the people who like to view videos of products. Burberry has a separate page directed towards this where they show videos of fashion shows and products. Not to mention Burberry also has a google+ account with 1.9 million followers as well. One of the most popular products that Burberry has is the famous Clutch. This product has been like 49,000 times on Facebook, and counting.
Burberry also launches something called Burberry Acoustic . What this does is that it streams Britains favorite musicians songs and performances on to a site where everyone could enjoy it. Burberry also streams 3d online videos of their concerts all around the world. This is a very interactive way to show potential customers the newest clothing lines about to come out. Burberry came out with something called BUrberry kisses. They collaborated with Google on this one. Burberry kisses shows a journey brought to life in which a person can send a "kiss" to someone across the world. Below is the video showing it. Ever since burberry has been starting to engage in social media their E-Commerce has went up 50 percent in Europe and 30 percent in the U.S. This will only continue to grow as the company looks for every way to engage a great relationship with their followers and fans.
Burberry has many products that they produce to sell to the consumers. However, all of their products are consumer products and not industrial or business products. All of the stuff the company creates are intended to satisfy the customers needs and not bought to resell. usually Burberrys products are classifies as either a shopping product or a specialty product, depending on the availability of the actual product. today most burberry shoppers appear to be women so one of the best sellers that the company has is a tote bag with the Burberry stitching and logo on the front. This product sells for 895$ dollars at a retail or department store. Another best seller is the Burberry trench
Dutchess Kate Middleton wearing trench coat from Burberry
coat. This coat has elegance and style and many people wear it in london.
Burberry often creates product lines to show their target markets so everyone could get a product that they desire. Burberry also creates different lines for different stores, depending on which country the store is located in. If Burberry sees that in china the Accessory market is growing they will create a separate line for the stores in China to boost customer relations and make their target market happy. Burberry is very successful at product modification. The company came so far from when they started just selling trench coats to the men in the army. As time went on Burberry wanted a piece of the fashion mania and decided to expand there product mix.
Granddaughter of Duke and Dutchesss of Devonshire
By the 1990s Burberry was selling everything from coats, bags, perfumes, and even dresses. Burberry also uses Ads to relate to their target markets. These ads are successful because they feature the royal men or women in them. The people of london like this because its showing them that people in their city are of importance. The burberry brand name has positioned itself to one of the top luxury brands in the world. With their elegance and modern sense of style they are one of the most successful clothing companies in the world today. Burberry has a high brand equity and people all around the world know of this company. Burberry is also a global brand. They have stores all over the world and 1/3rd of their earnings are obtained from outside its main home.
Burberry is definitely familiar with Brand loyalty. If someone is going to spend a large sum of money on a product they are most likely going to come back. If this statement was not true Burberry wouldn't be in business. Usually people who buy their products are usually set to come back for some more.
Burberry has a trademark on their company and no one is allowed to use their famous check or copy their products. 2 years ago there was a case of trademark infringement against Burberry and they ended up receiving 100 million because people were copying the products they were selling. Burberry is looking out for this type of stuff so that they won't become a generic product name. Packaging is an important part to how a company does business. Depending on the product Burberry has a few different way of packaging their products. Burberry also gives Warranties on their products showing the customer that they have belief that they will enjoy the product.
Burberry uses personal selling a lot in their company. The sales person has to get a customer to buy a product that is very expensive in relating to other stores. The customer must have enough liking in the expensive product to be willing to part with his money and buy it. Burberrys salesman are very good at promoting and getting the customer to buy the product and eventually come back for more. If Burberrys sales people were not good at this they would not be a successful company, so they must be doing something right. Burberry cares about every single one of their customers and wants them to keep on coming back to the store. Burberry is not often involved with campaign management because they don't usually change prices for people and make it more attractive for customers. Burberry does not often have sales due to the fact that they want to keep a steady price so people will see their company means business.
Burberry sales women showing products
Burberry has personal shoppers in their stores and this is a very good way of selling goods. A personal shopper/salesman is someone who would exclusively go with one customer and dress them and pick out what clothes they think would look good on the customer. This is a very personal experience that can lead to many success in the future. Once a customer has a good experience with a personal shopper they would want to come back because they feel like someone actually cares about them and what they wear.
Burberry doesn't give a sales role to any person they must have certain characteristics.
They must be very good at creating relationships with customers and lead by example so that the other sales people can look after them.
Burberry uses technology to promote their products and to bring people to the store to ultimately make a sale. Burberry is very in touch with the customer and what they would like to see. Unlike their competitors burberry is the leading brand in E- Busines.
Burberry was always known to be the top of the line when it came to advertising and public relations. Burberry knows how to reach the consumer in a way that no other high end retailer can. Burberry is very big on social media so this is a way they can showcase there clothing and products. Burberry is also mentioned in a lot of fashion magazines and they have their own as well. This is very good for them in the advertising standpoint because fashion magazines will always be popular. This company puts on a good advertising appeal by showing the products being worn by models who fit perfectly into the clothing. Another way Burberry advertises their items are at fashion shows.
At fashion shows models are dressed to perfection with all of Burberrys new clothing for the upcoming season. People from all around the world can tune in and see what products they like. This is a huge advantage for them because most stores do not hold fashion shows for their products. This can be described as a great public relations opportunity for them. Unlike most stores burberry does not usually put up commercials for the company. This can be said to be a disadvatange but with their popularity in the high end fashion world i think this is okay. Burberry also puts billboards up and this is a good way of advertising the company. All of the advertising and public relations strategies mentioned are a great example of product placement. The marketers are doing a good job at showcasing Burberrys products in more then one area or sector.
Burberry is not known to be one of the biggest companies when it comes to promotions. Most of Burberrys items are expensive and this makes it harder for promotions and deals to be brought about. If burberry had a lot of promotions everyone would just wait till the promotion to buy the product. Stores with cheaper items could hold promotions because their products are being baught on a daily basis due to the cheap price. Burberry has not had many times of crisis or unfavorable publicity. The latest big news that they had was their CEO moving to apple. Apple is a huge company and the fact that they would hire someone from Burberry shows that Burberry is a renowned company in which people favor.
Burberry is one of the most popular company in all of the UK. People from all around the world visit a store to get a chance to see and buy one of Burberrys amazing products. Over the years Burberrys "stock" has been rising and their selling has increased greatly. Some say this is because of CEO Angela Andthrendts and her marketing ability but i think it is just because of the way they sell their products at retail and the care in which the employees have for you. Burberry has increased 5.4 % in value of retail sales since 2012. Burberry had 26 retail stores open just this year. This is important because retail accounts for 64 percent of their revenue.
Burberry also has a wholesale line. Burberry sells wholesale suits and mens clothing to china. However in January Burberry discussed that they would slow down wholesale shipments because they feel it is a risk of bad debt when they choose to curtail shipments. I actually got a chance to visit a Burberry the other day and i was definitely impressed as to what i saw. Burberry has 11 stores in the state of New york and they are considering expanding. When i walked in the store the first thing i noticed was the design of it. It was very clean and all of the products were displayed beautifully. However, the one thing i didn't like about it was that it didn't feel very inviting. Right when i walked in it didn't have that feeling of comfort. Usually when i walk into a store someone greets me. This could be so because it is one of burberrys smaller stores as it is in soho. Ever since burberry made the change to have full internal control over manufacturing and distribution they have seen success. whenever Burberry sees a retail store that is not doing good enough or reaching its max potential they close it down.
Burberry manufactures there products in many ways. There internal manufacturing is done in Castleford Enlgand, Wales, and in New jersey. Control over quality is handled in Europe. Burberry often collaborates with companies to make the best product available in a specific field. For example Burberry paired with InterParfums S.A. to make the best fragrances in the market. They also Collaborated with Safilo S.P.A for their eyewear brand.
In Japan categories are managed under a group of licensing agreements. These categories are design, manufacturing, and distribution. This is good for Burberry because they have companies like Sanyo and Mitsui to overlook important categories while they sit back and receive the revenue.
Other then retail stores Burberry also has concession stores. Burberry feels that the customers would like this because they wouldn't have to go to a large department store to buy there products. Burberry also operates 3 factory stores which are in the UK, USA and also spain. These stores can sell Burberry products with small imperfections by purpose so they don't throw away clothes that were botched.
Burberry continues to improve their marketing channels and hope to become an even more successful company that they are right now.
Burberrys marketing managers are doing a good job of understanding the need recognition of the people they sell to. Burberry is a big company so they must understand what the consumer in each region would like to have. Burberry opens up different type of stores in different countries. For example in a country where the people like to wear makeup they will have more make up at the store. Burberry also has their own magazine so if consumers would like to see some of their products they can do so. This is also good for Burberry in regards to an internal information search. Not only do they have their own magazine but they are featured in magazines so the consumer can look at something to see their product. This can also be known as a Marketing controlled information source. When burberry is in magazines they are marketing some of their own products to the public. Burberry sends out a survey to some of their consumers and asks how they like the product they have bought. Burberry is always connected with the customer to give them the best experience possible.
Burberrys customers are usually satisfied with their product because the company has a low return rate. Burberry is confident that their customer won't return their item so they give them free shipping on every return within 30 days of purchase. Some companies do not do this and this is an edge for Burberry. For example Louis Vitton has a return policy that is very strict. They only take back the purchase if it is in perfect mint condition. Customers often complain about this. Also if it is after 14 days they will not accept it. Burberry trains their workers to be very loyal to the customer and to treat them with great respect. This plays a big factor in the consumers interest of buying the product because the salesman is very engaged into it. Burberry is also very good at marketing their products. They were named 2011 marketing company of the year.
This is an example of Burberries involvement in the marketing of products. Burberry knows that a lot of people complain about the scent on perfume not being able to last. So what burberry did was market this product directly towards those people by saying how it is long lasting.
Burberry recognizes the culture of each region they are selling to. Burberry has customers in asia so they created a Burberry black and Burberry blue which sells products these people would like.
A lot of the Burberry consumers want to be part of an aspirational reference group. When you see a person wearing Burberry it shows that they have the money to spend to buy this item. Everyone knows the product is expensive so the consumer feels good about him/herself when wearing this product. Celebrities wear their product to so people would want to be like them as well.
celebs wearing the Burberry trenchcoat
Burberry is very involved with gender marketing. Burberry used to
be a predominantly mens company. Trenchcoats were very popular for men back in the day so they targeted men at first. If you look at all the Burberry ads from the 1900s you will find a man wearing a trench coat.
As time went on Burberry started to expand more and more. They began to create products for women like bags accessories and even dresses. This made Burberry a more successful company. The more a company expands the bigger chance it has to make money and this is what they did. Burberrys customers are part of a little family because they are dedicated to the product. No one spends a lot of money if they do not love the product. Burberry continues to improve in the way they can relate to their consumer and listen to all their needs and wants.
Nowadays to be a successful company you must be a global company. What this means is that you can't only direct all your products towards only one country. You must be world renowned and sell your products everywhere. The more global a company is usually determines how much revenue they do throughout the year. In the more recent years Burberry has put in hard work to become a more and more Global company. They have catered to the needs of the countries that they sell their products to.
Burberry employs about 11,000 staff in 31 countries an have about 15 million followers combined on their twitter and Facebook account. Burberry also has stores in 8 different countries as well.
An example of how Burberry is becoming a more global company is that since in Asia the body structure of their country is different to the U.S. and London they created for them two new lines. These lines are called:
Burberry Black label- Mens line selling everything from shirts,suits, trench coats to accessories.
Burberry Blue label- A ladies line that directs towards the hip and trendy girl.
Burberries CEO Angela Ahrendts has really improved the company in becoming a more global brand. She has done this with digital and traditional platforms. The newly revised website lets you view the burberry collection in a 360 degree view. They are reaching to their company in High tech and innovative ways. This shows they are global because the world nowadays is becoming filled with technology digital things. Over the last few years Burberry has been trying to do a lot of business in Spain, Asia, and India. Countries like these love Burberries products because they are known to be a british brand and this is very popular. Burberry has a 5 percent growth in these new markets. Burberry has been a huge success in China. In 2013 they have posted a double digit percentage growth in store sales. Burberry also has licensing with a brand called Inter Parfume. It is a perfume company that mostly serves the north american market. Burberry is very conscious about the needs of their consumers around the world and can cater to them with their needs. Burberry saw that in India it a mostly mens market so they created more mens products. In India alone Burberry has more then half a million Facebook fans. Burberries buyers continue to travel the world looking for more products to add to their global portfolio.
Burberry just hired a global director a few years ago named Christopher Bailey. Burberry feels like to be a successful global market they only need one global director and not many. Burberry continues to be known as one of the most Global fashion companies in the world and are ahead of their competitors such as Gucci, Louis vitton, etc.
The market environment of a company is a variety of non marketing influences that have an impact on the way the marketing manager builds relationships with the target consumers.
Today Burberry is one of the most successful clothing companies in the U.S. They area looked at as the company who always is up to date with all their products and also with any environmental concerns. Burberry realizes any concerns that can be approaching them and then shuts it down an improves it. People love Burberry because they are so simple yet so productive in everything they do. Burberry is one of the first companies in their sector to create social media accounts and use technology to their advantage. Another reason why Burberry is so successful is because they market their products through three different channels:
wholesale
retail
licensing
All of these channels created great success for Burberry. The retail aspect accounts for 64 percent of their revenue. The wholesale accounts for 29 percent of their revenue (selling to department stores, etc.) The licensing channel accounts for 7 percent of their revenue. This revenue is brought from licenses that they have in Japan.
An example of how burberry has always used marketing to benefit themselves is that in 1880 Burberries first product was a waterproof fabric that was used on trench coats. This shows that throughout their 100 plus year existence they have always looked out for the customers.
Burberries Waterproof Trenchcoat
Burberry is always concerned and in tune with the environment. Nowadays their are many factor that make up the environment. These factors include political, economic, and social. Burberry is always concerned with the foreign trading policy of the countries they are doing business with. Burberry also has to look at inflation rates in their country where they have stores at and try to manage it as best as possible. Burberry acknowledges all of the Demographic segmentation happening in the world today. Burberry at first was only a company selling Trench coats. They began to realize that they should target all countries and demographic so they expanded and started selling accessories and perfumes, shoes, watches, etc. They did this because not every country is as hot as the UK. Burberry operates thousands of stores throughout the U.S, asia, Uk, india, etc.
Burberry store in India
Burberry realizes the competition that companies are bringing upon them and adapt to these factors. Burberry is constantly changing their products and making it relate to a broader and diverse population. Burberry has over 3 million fans on Facebook, 82,978 followers on twitter and they constantly put youtube videos up that relate to the brand. This shows that Burberry has an advantage over their competitors. Another advantage that Burberry has is that they get supported from the royal family through social media. People realize this and come to like Burberry even more as a company.
(video on how Burberry is up to date with consumers)
To be a great company you must not only create products that the consumers adore, but also adore the consumer and tend to their every need. A way to do this is to have a social responsibility or responsibilities that the people would appreciate and look at your company in a greater way. Most companies today have a code of ethics which is a guideline for employees to make better decisions and to even create a better bond between workers.
Burberry is always committed to engage in an environmental and societal impact that would make their consumers buy more products from them. Burberry has a few principals that they go by to help commit to their extended global community.
A few of them mentioned below:
Burberry donates 1 percent of their group profit to the Burberry foundation.
8,000 hours of volunteering hours are dedicated by their associates which range in 55 cities.
Tanneries that Burberry use are engaged in Burberries environmental management program.
830 audits, visits and trainings are conducted in their global supply chain.
The Burberry Foundation
The burberry foundation was created by the company in 2008. Its goal was to help young people improve in qualities they feel is important to have in every day life. Qualities such as confidence, building connections in their communities, and opportunities to succeed. Burberry believes that kids nowadays must be educated beyond their school years. They also should be able to make important decisions on their own so that they could eventually be successful in life. Burberry also partners with charitable organizations that work with young kids so that the kids can have the ability to reach goals and also finish schooling during their important years.
The way the Burberry foundation works is that they pick and choose which charities to invest in. Burberry invests in companies that are focused on supporting kids that live in the major cities that most Burberry stores operate in. Burberry encourages their employees to engage in volunteering and even make some small donations themselves if they'd like. Usually these donations are Burberry merchandise.
Burberry employee working with a kid in the Burberry Foundation
Burberry Impact Program
The burberry impact program was established to be a 5 year program that is committed to make improvements that will last to employees and customers (working conditions, etc.). It was also created to reduce the companies environmental impact. Burberry is working on creating their products with less waste and chemical inputs. They are reducing their c02 emissions from the groups buildings. They are also working on reducing energy consumption from their supply chain. Burberry also Embraces the Ten Un global compact principles of human rights. When people see that Burberry is trying to achieve high quality standards for their company they will appreciate this.
All of Burberries workers are treated to fair labor laws and a fair amount of hours so they are not overworked. The employees are also given a safe and hygienic place to work.
Burberry employee shaking Prince Charles' Hand as he visits store
Burberry is a elite fashion brand for both males and females who's products showcase premium quality. great style and elegance. They sell a huge variety of accessories and clothing such as trench coats, watches, scarves, umbrellas, and more. Burberry has a product line that has great depth and that can be suitable for many reasons. Burberry received the Contemporary Design Collection of the year award which illustrates how diverse the burberry brand is. They are constantly creating more and more products to give the people what they want. Ever since the 70s burberry became a very classic, chic, and high end brand. Before these times the company was linked with football and the customers no longer wanted to be associated with them.
Burberry operates under 4 separate brands
Burberry Brit
Burberry Sport
Burberry london
Burberry prosrum
Burberry has many competitors that include: Gucci, Giorgio Armani, polo, Prada, etc. Burberry has positioned themselves to be the greatest in what they do. Burberry is also creating a new customer experience by combining traditional british fashion with cutting edge technology. Many of Burberries outlet stores now have things such as Touch screens and iPod docking stations. This is a great mix for luxury shoppers today who value tradition, but at the same time appreciate modern technology and lifestyle. Burberry didn't only embrace technology in there stores they also set out to do this on the web. They created social media accounts and sites to market there products. Burberry began streaming live 3d broadcasts of there runway shows with ran from five cities around the world. Burberry also has an app. (Video on Burberry's social story)
Burberry has a 30 million dollar budget for their digital strategy. This covers all 500 plus stores they have and for creating the app. They allocated 60 percent of all marketing money for digital media. This shows how much they care about the peoples needs.
Target Audience - Burberry was originally designed for men but despite that, the company has a female dominated market. Men from ages 26 and above with a high disposable income are the people shipping here. The brand also has a childrendswear line so this appeals to parents as well who are looking to buy clothing's for there kids. Burberrys main garments such as coats and dresses that are very expensive target celebrities around the world. The brand doesn't appeal to only the high end people, they have fragrances that are priced well which target the whole world.
Pricing strategy - Burberry uses competitive pricing as there strategy. This means that they base there price off of the competitors. If they see for example Gucci priced there shoes at 400 dollars they will try and match that or even beat it by making it lower. Burberry cannot lower there products girastically because people would start thinking that maybe they have lower quality goods and ultimately stop buying from them.
Burberrys store in London
Place Distribution- Burberry currently owns 475 stores in a total of 8 countries. All of these stores are placed in the most popular cities for it to receive customers. When opening these stores in cities that are wealthy in gives them a higher chance on making a profit and they get to appeal to the right audience. If they put a burberry store in a poor country the Company would lose its value so they try to keep it in large cities. There are 11 stores in london only.
SWOT ANALYSIS- A swot analysis is a method used to write down the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and Threats of a company
Strengths
well established brand
High price point causing high desirability from people
Celeb Endorsements
Great brand presence and advertising in all of europe
One of the biggest fashion houses in the UK offering what they offer.
Weaknesses
Not acceptable to the working class who are not as wealthy as others
Low couture presence
Brand has to much english appeal so they can't diversify into ever day fashion.
Opportunity
After collaborating with other brands, they are trying to make the company more affordable and fashionable without changing a lot.
Social media is bringing a lot of attention to them.
They could open more stores worldwide.
can sponsor more events.
Could cater for a wider age range.
Threats
Threats from competitors in terms of pricing
Customers have a higher bargaining power and low switching costs.
Threat of still being associated with football and violence
Burberry mission statement- Digital Luxury positioning and the optimization across innovative mediums of the trench coat, trademark check and pros rum knight heritage icons make the brand purer, more compelling and more revenant globally, across gender and generations.
Thomas Burberry, a 21 year old draper’s apprentice, began Burberry in 1856 with the vision of creating “innovative functional outerwear”. In 1879 he did just that by inventing gabardine a tightly woven water-resistant fabric. His new rain coats began making a name for the brand and had a reputation for being weather-resistant. This caused Burberry to be the outfitter of choice on many important expeditions, for the British army, and by many other private clients. Ronald Amundsen and his team of explorers all wore Burberry when they became the first people to reach the South Pole. Ernest Shackleton kept warm in Burberry while crossing Antarctica, and Claude Grahame White sported Burberry while becoming the first person to fly between London and Manchester in less than 24 hours. While Thomas Burberry had submitted an early trench coat prototype to the United Kingdom War Office in 1901 the trench coat’s classic design was developed between the First and Second World War. Although the trench coat was originally designed for military use every functional detail has become a part of the coat’s enduring style. Anywhere from the punks incorporation of the trench for their bold fashions of the 70’s, (or anti-fashions as they would have preferred) to now making a comeback as a sign of chic sophistication, the trench coat shows versatility and practicality. In 1901 the Equestrian logo was also created. Between the First and Second World War the final Burberry trademark, the classic check pattern, was also introduced.
After many years of success Burberry had some rough years in the eyes of the fashion industry during the 80’s and early 90’s. With the intent of appealing to a younger crowd Burberry began licensing its name, logo, and check pattern to other manufacturers. In the beginning the idea seemed to have worked as Burberry products were everywhere and on anything and everything. Many products were not top quality or in some cases poorly made and this tarnished the Burberry name and image. Sales were up but Burberry had lost its prestige as a luxury house.
In 1997 Rose Marie Bravo was externally hired as CEO from Saks Fifth Avenue and during her years at the helm she staged a turnaround. Her approach was to focus on the luxury womenswear market and only license and sell Burberry to luxury retailers such as Saks and Neiman Marcus. She also hired fresh designers Roberto Menichetti, and in 2001 when Menichetti moved on he was replaced by Christopher Bailey. Christopher Bailey had held senior design positions at Donna Karen and Gucci prior to his hiring but was not well known in the fashion industry at the time. In the last decade Bailey has received much praise for his Men’s and Women’s collections at Burberry and is now a world renowned designer. With his mix of fresh smart design and Burberry heritage he has been a crucial part to the rise and return of Burberry as a respected luxury house.
