Burberry

Background:

Burberry today is considered one of the leading luxury brands of the word. Here is a synopsis of rise of Burberry:

1856: Thomas Burberry, at age 21, opens shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, selling country clothes to the landed gentry.

1880: Water resistant gabardine invented and patented in 1888.

1895: First clothes for the British military, follotheyd by officer uniforms in 1901.

1900: Launch of first logo

1914: Military trench coat born when the British War Office commissions Burberry to make theyatherproof coat with epaulettes and D- ring.

1920: Burberry check trademarked and used as lining to trench in 1924.

1950s: Hollywood embraces the trench, especially Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca."

1955: Burberry receives Royal Warrant, from Queen Elizabeth II. Great Universal Stores acquires Burberry.

1964: Asian expansion with master license awarded to Mitsui & Co.

1997: Rose Marie Bravo appointed CEO.

1998: First advertising campaign by Mario Testino, starring Stella Tenant.

1999: The high-end Burberry Prorsum women's line is launched.

2000: The Burberry Prorsum menstheyar line is launched. The renegotiated Japanese licenses with Mitsui and Sanyo take effect.

2002: Stock market listing (IPO). Burberry launches "The Art of the Trench," a made-to-order raincoat service for men and women.

The designer label Burberry was rescued from the dusty discount bin in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and transformed back into a major fashion brand, before being successfully spun off by owners GUS as a separate company. It is one of the few distinctively British designer fashion labels.

Situation Analysis:

The great brand expansion story of the 21st century is luxury goods marketer Burberry.

Brand Image: When CEO Rosemary Bravo revamped the brand image, hiring new designers who took the signature plaid from raincoats to bikinis. She injected new life into the brand.

From the outset, Ms. Bravo seemed to challenge every Burberry convention imaginable.

She created a diverse collection of new garments and new accessories, including teddy bears, sunglasses and hairclips, all featuring the classic Burberry check.

She transformed traditional, functional country garments into new luxury items, all beautifully tailored and beautifully made in the finest fabrics.

She introduced the color navy as a balancing and contrasting color in a palette dominated by Burberry's trademark khaki, black, red and camel.

To increase the momentum of the new and surprising products, she created a lighter, fresher version of the classic Burberry plaid and called it "Novocheck".

Brand Personality: The traditional Burberry user was over 40 years; conservative by nature, and aging rapidly, Ms. Bravo targeted a younger, more contemporary, and more fashionable audience.

Burberry has three primary collections; womenswear, menswear and accessories.

Womenswear: Burberry stands for sporty, functionality and protection.

Menswear: Very Cross generational. Want to appeal to the young, 25 year old who's on his first job. Also want to appeal to a 60 year old investment banker.

Accessories are a piece of a dream. They are soft - scarves, shawls etc. and hard - handbags, belts etc.

Brand Position: Ms. Bravo aggressively promoted the new Burberry with a clever twist on traditional Burberry advertising.

With a 10 million advertising budget, a stunning campaign dominated by compelling black and white photographs by Mario Testino, of English aristocrat Stella Tennant was created to give more trend-conscious, modern look. Miss Tennant projected a youthful, vigorous new image for the brand, but in a natural, honest way that remained glued to the Burberry tradition.

In 1999, Kate Moss joined Burberry's campaigns in Burberry check bikini which wiped years off average age of its customer.

It was a bold and challenging move, but sales increased dramatically the moment the advertising appeared.

Suddenly everybody wanted to be seen with Burberry. Everybody wanted to own a piece of it.

In an astonishingly short period of time Burberry was transformed into a younger, contemporary, highly aspirational brand with magical appeal for a broader cross-section of contemporary consumers than perhaps even Burberry expected.

Brand Equity: Earning the royal seal of approval and outfitting the Royal

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