Year 1 Fashion Brand Analysis

Fashion Brand Analysis.

Burberry: Hannah Egan-Fowler Alexandra Grace Thomas Jack Piggin Siena Summers Word Count: 3055

Introduction By analysing and interpreting the major theories underpinning branding within the current socioeconomic environment, this essay and the corresponding research will take a critical look at the methods in which Luxury fashion brand Burberry have developed their brand identity throughout their history and how it has protected the value of the company during times of turmoil, with specific regards to the negative backlash the brand received in 2018, after being caught incinerating ÂŁ28.6 million worth of dead stock in the previous year alone (BBC, 2018).

In a society that is ever increasingly aware of its environmental impacts this could have been hugely detrimental to the brand and so it was imperative that they worked to protect their image.

Burberry is a long established, high-end luxury brand and as such, both current and potential customers have high standards as to the kind of experience they expect the brand to deliver. This is in regards not only to the quality of the products but also customer service and shopping experience.

A foundation of trust formed over many years between a company and both its customer base and any stakeholders is vital for the success of the brand. Existing as such a well known, traditional, British brand has helped solidify this feeling of trust and security that people associate with Burberry. This has been particularly bolstered by the fact that the garments have not only been an important part of British fashion heritage but also historically have been used as vitally important and highly functional performance pieces for the military, explorers and aviation pilots alike (Johansson, n.d.). The brand has always been regarded by customers as forward thinking and innovative, and they are incredibly proud of their heritage and military roots and so express this to their potential customers, emphasising the fact that each individual trench coat requires three weeks to make and is still fabricated in the original factory (Johansson, n.d.).

Burberry communicates this luxury market placement by it’s high price points, elaborate advertising campaigns and unique shopping experiences.

Burberry has also successfully gained admiration and interest from new, younger generations by using high profile models who have an immense presence on social media such as Cara Delevingne who modelled for their 2014 Autumn/Winter campaign, Cara Delevingne has, at present, 41.8 million followers on Instagram alone (Instagram, 2019) and is therefore a hugely valuable marketing tool as she commands a huge influence over many of these followers.

Figure 1 and 2.

The theoretical underpinnings of branding within the current marketing environment, taking into account global economic trends, and consumer trends.

Branding within the current marketing environment must take into account global economic trends and consumer trends. It is clear that in recent years, particularly in the UK, there is a great degree of uncertainty especially within the current financial environment and this has a substantial effect on the way in which businesses operate and on individual’s consumption patterns.

Due to the rise in social media, people are increasingly expecting a ‘see now, buy now’ shopping experience. Modern day consumer trends revolve around a lack of satisfaction and a perpetual desire to always want the next new thing, further exacerbating consumer culture and materialism, through the principal use of applications designed to be addictive (Leader, 2018). This can work in the favour of fast fashion outlets but can make sales more challenging for luxury brands such as Burberry as people are less willing to invest in pieces that they believe will go out of fashion quickly, as a result of this clever branding and advertising campaigns are necessary to entice individuals to part with their money.

Brands need extremely careful management to be successful. “A successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely. Furthermore, its success results from being able to sustain these added values in the face of completion” (De Chernatony & MacDonald, 2003).

A brand needs to constantly adapt to keep up with the times and the ever changing market.

Generations are increasingly relying on technology and the internet for information and entertainment. Consumers expect more from a brand as the industry gets more competitive and the standards get higher. Environmental awareness is a huge consideration for brands these days as everybody is focusing their attention on sustainability and any positive contribution that can be made towards the planet, or at the very least on trying to minimise the negative impacts. Keeping ahead of the latest environmental happenings is hugely important; at the centre is the brands personality and source of identity. Therefore an element of consistency is crucial, however the communication content, advertising campaigns and style around the brand such as imagery and music must adapt with the times. Burberry has been around for a long time and is consistent in its promotions, communications and brand identity. But there is also a huge element of adaptation, especially in regards to their recent rebranding.

“The brand constitutes an image that creates a personal experience” (Waters, 2019). What a brand is for one person may be very different to what it is and means for someone else. Everyone has their own personal experience and relationship with a brand. Brands hold a variety of reputations and individuals have their own conceived views and ideas of what a brand stands for.

People believe wearing a certain brand will determine the sort of life they live. It constitutes part of a person’s’ identity. Our society uses fashion brands and products as a form of self-expression, and to shape the individual identity that they wish to present to others. People may wear certain brands to fit into a particular social group resulting in a sense of belonging and acceptance. Brands generate perceptions and attitudes for people and enable personal fulfillment. People have personal relationships with brands and buy them for fulfillment and to feel better about themselves.

We often have knowledge of an established brand and may respect and trust them, but we don’t always have love and emotional engagement for them. The ultimate goal and what brands strive to be is a Lovemark (Sheehan, 2013). This includes mind share and heart share. Mind share is everything rational that comes alongside respect such as believing in its performance, reliability and high quality. Trusting it provides a good service and offers value for money, and also believing it has a clear identity. It further includes awareness of the brand. It is all about reputation, responsibility, convenience, security and efficiency. But Lovemarks also consists of heart share which is the love and passion for the brand and the emotional relationship with it. The narratives shown within advertising and how a story about the brand is told, as well as the brands history could contribute to our emotional engagement. The past, present and future are all important when having a Figure 3.

connection with a brand. The myths and icons held in the history play a vital role in our relationship with the brand and how we perceive its reputation. We want to be inspired by a brand and the people who represent it. Everything we associate with it and the senses we familiarise with it contribute to the intimacy, compassion and empathy we feel for the brand. Brand love, brand loyalty and brand community all contribute towards heart share. Love mark results in loyalty without reason, so even if the brand does not perform or live up to expectations we are still loyal to it (Waters, 2019).

An analysis of Burberryt and its development in terms of its history, its target market, marketing strategy, values and benefits.

Burberry is an international luxury brand that is now globally recognised for providing signature pieces that have been tantamount with quality and style (Business, 2019). In 1856, Thomas Burberry established the brand at just twenty-one years old (CNN, 2018). He created the brand on the premise that “clothing should be designed to protect people from the British weather” (Burberry, 2019). In 1891, Burberry established their first physical store in London in Haymarket (Burberry, 2019). The brand manufacture and market men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, alongside accessories and fragrances (CNN, 2018).

The brand had strong impetus in the fashion realm through their notions of revolution and development. Post-launch, the brand wasn’t content with the durability of the then-popular mackintosh raincoat as it was heavy, confining, stifling, and a strong competitor for their outerwear (Business, 2019). The brand then designed their own, tightly-woven fabric; the material was water-resistant, tear-resistant, lightweight and allowed for air to circulate which aided any wearer. The tailor trademarked the cloth as Gabardine (Business, 2019). This aided the company in establishing themselves as one that is attentive and thorough through the appreciation of the newly-found material.

A revolutionary item for Burberry was their ‘Trench coat’ which was created during the First World War. In 1914, the trench coat was worn by British Officers who worked in the trenches (Business, 2019). The design was made for complete functionality as it used epaulettes to suspend military equipment like gloves or whistles, a gun flap for further protection and incorporated the newly-created cloth Gabardine (Burberry, 2019). The item became one of which established the brands quality and attention to detail. Andrew Collier, a writer for Women’s Wear Daily in 1989, described the garment as “a mainstay in outwear worldwide, that symbolises all that is Britain: sturdy and unassuming, equally at home in fine hotels and muddy lanes” (Business, 2019).

In current day, Burberry Group PLC runs as a holding company that operates through both retail and wholesale (Burberry, 2019). The retail and wholesale segment sell luxury goods through Burberry stores (with 498 globally), concessions, outlets and even online which aids the brand total an estimated retail value of over €150 billion in 2009 (Statista, 2019) (House, 2019). In 2015, the brand ranked 73rd in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Report, alongside other high-end designers such as Prada and Louis Vuitton (Anon, 2019).

When looking at the brands target market, they have products for both males and females of all ages; as seen in all of the brands ad-campaigns; yet, females still dominate the brands market (Anon, 2019). More importantly though, a typical Burberry consumer is somebody who wants luxury in their clothing whilst it also serves functionality (Jacobson, 2008). As a high-end brand, the price range cements that their target market is somebody with a higher disposable income. The brand also has a children’s-range which would appeal to parents who come from affluency (Bartleby, 2018).

Despite this, as the market changes, the brand has to as well (Anon, 2019). This means that a brands target market can develop or evolve with time. Burberry recently claimed that they Figure 4.

would aim their newer products at the younger generations, millennials, rather than the older trench-coat-wearer (Anon, 2019). This is so that the brand can broaden its target market, whilst still remaining profitable. (Jacobson, 2008). Millennials have the largest influence in the current fashion market, as they have an increasing level of disposable income, this then encourages more brands to target products towards this demographic. (Anon, 2019).

In terms of the brands marketing strategy, Burberry place tremendous importance on its marketing activities and promotion. A huge method of promotion is through social media and subscribers online; the brand is present on more than twenty social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and have accumulated more than forty million followers across all of their platforms (Bhasin, 2018). By providing personal content, it enables them to directly contact the consumers and update them on any changes and new collections accordingly. Burberry also rely heavily on celebrity endorsement as this creates more of a desire for their products, through consumers idolising their celebrity role-models. Furthermore, advertisements are placed in high class magazines in order to target a specific market (MBA, 2019) Another new strategy that the brand have introduced is the focus on their leather goods, other competing brands such as Gucci generate 55% of their sales from leather goods, whereas less than forty percent of Burberry’s revenue comes from their leather range which has given the brand an incentive to focus on a different region of their products (Shannon, 2018).

Identifying the Problem.

Burberry was outed in 2018 for incinerating unsold stock worth up to £28.6M in 2017, in order to maintain the luxury fashion house’s image and ‘protect’ its brand value (BBC, 2018).

Despite Burberry’s attempt to protect their brand image and appear more ‘transparent’, their annual report reveals of the incinerated stock created a backlash; severely damaging the brand’s reputation and consequently triggering boycotts of the brand and investigation of their integrity. Lu Yen Roloff, spokesman for environmental campaign Greenpeace, stated “Burberry shows no respect for their own products and the hard work and natural resources that are used to made them” (BBC, 2018),and display the backlash Burberry received over the investigation. It could be suggested that Burberry’s revenue was affected by the news of their stock incineration, with their annual report showing a £33 million decrease compared to their 2017 revenue, from £2766 million to £2733 million (Burberry Group PLC, 2018). £28.6 million worth of clothes, accessories and perfume were destroyed by the company in 2017, and further £90 million over the past 5 years. Notably Burberry had to destroy £10 million worth of perfume after signing a deal with US firm Coty in 2017; disposing of old stock to create new stock within their partnership with the global beauty company. It is also interesting to note that the exposure of this information may have had a greater impact on Burberry’s western audience, with the report showing America’s revenue decreasing by 1%. On the other hand, their Asia Pacific region revenue increased by 5%, as 41% of total sales (Burberry Group PLC, 2018). It could be suggested that Burberry’s western audience are considered to be more ethically conscious, drawn from data from the 2018 Environmental Performance Index (an annual ranking of nations to establish comparisons in environmental policies) which ranked the United States of America as 27th and China as 120th.

Earlier in the year, swiss brand Richemont destroyed nearly 500 million euros worth of its designer pieces, used in their Cartier and Montblanc brands to avoid them being sold at discount or counterfeit. The illegal counterfeiting industry is reportedly worth up to $450 billion (Allwood, 2018),and could damage a brand like Burberry, who are renowned for their heritage as a quality British brand.

Burberry has faced counterfeit problems in its past, with the brand’s iconic ‘nova check’ pattern becoming “the uniform of the chav” (Bradley and Blythe, 2014. P127) in the early 2000s. 2004 saw reports of Burberry’s sales dropping by 30% due to the brand’s new consumer; a low-income audience characterized by their fixation on brands and football (Hall, 2004).

Figure 5.

It is understandable to see how Burberry’s resolution to surplus stock incineration was; avoiding a repeat of the ‘chav’ situation.

Burberry’s identification of their problem was self-proclaimed; they did not attempt to hide this information but rather share it themselves within their annual report. This transparency shows the brand acknowledging areas in which the brand accepts they need to improve Solution.

The brands spokesperson also stated “Burberry has careful processes in place to minimise the amount of excess stock we produce. On the occasions when disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste” (BBC, 2018). This is an example of how Burberry has protected a sense of its brand value, by admitting to its problem but stating that their methods are carefully considered and have gone to the extent to show that the disposal of the products maintains a factory.

Burberry released a statement claiming that the reveal of their incinerated stock was a part of the Burberry Responsibility Agenda; a five-year plan focusing on positive change, impact and revaluing waste. By putting out this statement, Burberry has partially overcome the initial problem and maintained a customer relationship by admitting their faults but creating a positive outcome. On September 6th2018 CEO Marco Gobetti stated “modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible” (Hanbury, 2018), along with the announcement of the immediate stop of destroying stock, and discontinuing their use of real fur.

As part of the Burberry Responsibility Agenda Burberry released a Global Environmental Policy, stating their commitment to respecting the environment. The Policy underlines their focus on reducing the amount of energy and fuel used and utilizing renewable energy, as well as reducing air emissions and considering recycling and reuse of waste at each opportunity. This Policy shows how Burberry has overcome their issue with surplus stock and incineration, and in turn has addressed the issue.

In terms of maintaining a relationship with the brands customer, it is interesting to note Burberry’s change in target audience. The brand’s audience has shifted generationally, towards a younger demographic, who, it could be argued, are increasingly concerned with fashion’s impact upon the environment. The Glass Packaging Institutes’ 2014 report revealed that “Millennials feel they have more at stake than any other generation when it comes to matters of health and the environment” (GPR, 2014. P.3), which could be an indication of why Burberry has chosen to initially hinder themselves in the aim of transparency, as it could be suggested that their eventual statement of sustainability and transparency has appealed to the younger generation Burberry seeks as their new audience. Thus, Burberry has overcome the issue and maintained a relationship with its audience, and perhaps extended their audience.

Conclusion Through research it is clear that Burberry have publicly acknowledged those areas in which they were at fault, and by choosing to do so on their own free will and not through the information being leaked to the media they may have helped the brand to retain a fair degree of the consumers respect. However they clearly still have a way to go in order to repair the damage to the brand’s image that occurred as a result of the incineration incident.

By appealing to a younger demographic and emphasising those areas in which they are seeking to improve; particularly those referring to the brand’s environmental impacts, Burberry has been able to reclaim the consumers trust and even incited the interest of a new generation who may otherwise not have been interested in the brand.

Figure 6.

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Cover Image :Getty Images. 2018. Harper’s Bazaar: Riccardo Tisci’s first Burberry collection will be available to shop immediately via Instagram. [Online]. [Accessed 9 May 2019]. Available from: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a23064141/riccardo-tisci-first-burberry-show-shop-on-instagram/ Figure 1: Pinterest. 2019. Burberry Sticker Horse and Knight logo. [Online]. [Accessed 8 May 2019]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/349099408612849862/?lp=true Figure 2: Burberry/ David Sims. 2018. Tatler: Kate moss is the face of the new Burberry x Vivienne Westwood collaboration. [Online]. [Accessed 8 May 2019]. Available from: https://www. tatler.com/article/kate-moss-is-the-face-of-the-new-burberry-x-vivienne-westwood-collaboration Figure 3: Burberry. 2019. Our History. [Online]. [Accessed 8 May 2019]. Available from: https://uk.burberry.com/our-history/ Figure 4: Olivia Malone. 2017. Harper’s Bazaar; Korea March 2017 Magdalena Frackowiak

by Olivia Malone. [Online]. [Accessed 8 May 2019]. Available from: https://fashioneditorials. com/harpers-bazaar-korea-magdalena-frackowiak-olivia-malone/ Figure 5: Cesar Love Alexandre. 2019. The Webster: Alexis Chaparro Dons Burberry tailoring for the Webster. [Online]. [Accessed 9 May 2019]. Available from: https://www.thefashionisto. com/editorial/burberry-2019-the-webster/ Figure 6: Burberry. 2019. Burberry and Vivienne Westwood Host launch party in London.

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