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Mulberry Brand Overview
Mulberry is a British luxury lifestyle and accessories brand, most known for their iconic handbags such as the Bayswater and the Alexa. The brand embodies the fusion of heritage with “a modern sense of rebellion”, prioritising craftsmanship, innovation, and timelessness (Mulberry, 2023f). Their brand identity is rooted in their sustainable ideology, represented by their brand colour Mulberry green and iconic Mulberry tree emblem, a symbol of their admiration for the British countryside (Mulberry, 2023b). As a heritage brand, Mulberry takes pride in their quality and British based manufacturing, offering repairs and aftercare to make their bags last a lifetime (Mulberry, 2019).
Mission
“At Mulberry our purpose is to embody progressive British luxury that is made to last. We must be transformative in our thinking and our actions in every area from sourcing to manufacturing, to production, to our relationships with the communities around us. Only then can we be a business that is truly Made to Last.” (Mulberry, 2023e).
Objectives
International Development - Increase brand awareness in China by connecting to Chinese consumers on a local and personal level.
Constant Innovation - Transform Mulberry’s digital presence and expand on design innovations utilising advanced AI technology
Omni Channel Distribution - Reach a new demographic through a promotional strategy that boosts both Mulberry’s online and physical sales.
Situation Analysis - The 5 C's
Company
Est. 1971 in Somerset
Heritage brand
Luxury leather goods retailer
82% of revenue comes from the sale of handbags (Mulberry, 2023a).
High investment into sustainability initiatives such as their Made to Last manifesto to achieve their goal of being carbon zero by 2035 (Andretta, 2023, p.10).
Customers
Female Millennials, aged 35-44 from the UK and Ireland (Similar Web, 2024).
Employed and married but yet to start a family and therefore have a higher level of disposable income (Barroso, Parker and Bennett, 2020, para 7).
Opting for a “buy less and buy better mentality” (Napoli, 2021).
Purchasing with the intention of later passing it down to the next generation (Correa, 2021).
Competitors
The luxury handbag industry is dominated by large groups such as LVMH and Tapestry.
In 2023, Chanel was the leading luxury brand in terms of revenue amassed in the UK (Statista, 2023b).
Chanel is experimenting with ‘clienteling’ apps that enhance in-store experience (Bain, 2022).
LVMH have partnered with Epic Games to explore metaverse based experiences including virtual fitting rooms, AR and digital fashion shows (Morris, 2023).
Collaborators
Majority shareholders include the Fraser Group (37%) and Challice Limited (56%), who Mulberry partnered with to expand into Asia. (Dines, 2019; Nazir, 2020).
Partnerships with Ecologi and the World Land Trust to support their environmental goals (Mulberry, 2023d).
Collaborations with artists, models and designers, most notably Alexa Chung and Paul Smith.
In 2019, Mulberry launched a digital flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall Pavilion, a platform for luxury brands (Chou, 2019).
Climate
In the UK, the luxury leather goods market is forecast to decrease annually as result of the polycrisis (Statista, 2023c, p.8).
The post Brexit tourist tax on luxury goods caused an 8.4% dip in sales for Mulberry at the end of 2023, leading to store closures as international visitors were discouraged from purchasing luxury items in the UK (Andretta, 2022; Statista, 2023b, p.15
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
Sustainability - winners of Drapers Sustainability Brand of the Year 2023 as a result of their sustainability manifesto and circular initiative the ‘Mulberry Exchange’ (Warrington, 2023; Mulberry, 2024).
Craftsmanship - renowned for their use of high quality materials and innovative designs as well as their commitment to hyper local sourcing and manufacturing (Mulberry, 2023a, p.17).
Weaknesses:
Revenue - in the last 3 months of 2023 revenue dropped 8.4% as result of the current global economy (Williams, 2024).
Costs - increased operational costs of additional store openings in Sweden and Australia (Batten, 2024).
Opportunities:
Online presenceenhancing their digital marketing strategies across social media channels in order to reach affluent Gen Z consumers.
Improving brand visibility in Asia - leather goods make up a high percentage of repeat purchases in Asia (Ganbold, 2024).
Threats:
Tourist tax - VAT regulations in the UK have affected sales generated by tourism (Weston, 2024).
Intense competition - the luxury fashion industry is extremely competitive with pressure predominantly coming from American and European brands (Global Data, 2024).
