Main Characterisitics
Burberry features mainly 3 elements: classic trench coat, iconic tartan pattern and its passion of technical innovation. Digging deeper, all of these characteristics are rooted in the brand’s two main DNAs: britishness and prorsum (Latin word for moving forwards).
Britishness is like blood treading through the vessel of the brand. When talking about Britishness, people cannot help but think about the weather in United Kingdom, especially in London, because of its rainy weather. In order to make response to bad weather, in 1880, Mr. Burberry invented gabardine, using an innovative process whereby the yarn was waterproofed before weaving. This new fabric was not only water-resistant but also extremely durable, which enabled Burberry’s iconic product, the trench coat, to gain rapid success.
With the inherent British blood, Burberry has the privilege to imply British elements into its campaigns and marketing while paying homage to London’s notoriously rainy weather. For example, Burberry used London as inspiration for its autumn/winter 2012 campaign staring British talents cast actress Gabriella Wilde and musician Roo Panes. What’s more, during 2012 London Olympics period, Burberry sponsored the weather channel app to reinforce the connection between its DNA and the typical weather in London.
Prorsum, Latin word meaning forwards, is another DNA for Burberry. When the founder – Thomas Burberry invented the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo, which contains the Latin word "Prorsum", he already set the tone for the brand.
Looking back at Burberry’s history, the “forwards” spirit has been intertwining all the time with the brand’s development. For example, Burberry played part in the historical events of many “first men”: the first man to reach the South Pole—Norwegian explorer Captain Roald Amundsen was outfitted by Burberry during his journey. Once mission accomplished, Roald Amundsen even left a Burberry gabardine tent to inform Captain Scott of his success. 3 years later, Ernest Shackleton, also managed to be the first one to lead an expedition to cross Antarctica. Apart from supporting the adventures, Burberry also did the outfitters for the British officers during the World War I and World War II.
With this kind of courageous spirit, in the contemporary IT era, Burberry keeps leading the technical trend in luxury industry. Since Christopher Bailey arrived at Burberry 10 years ago, this old British luxury brand started to show its deep understanding of the digital evolution in many different ways. Offline, Burberry started to use hi-tech to enhance the customer experience in the retail stores. One example is in its Paris flagship where 160 ipads are provided, whereby customers can view collections and make purchase, while the staff can control the light and displays in the store. Also, in the runway of spring/summer 2014 collections, the brand partnered with Apple to showcase the new product beforehand and also to update the images and videos during the show. Online, Burberry not only gained more than 10 million followers on Facebook but also created an interesting interactive platform “Burberry Kiss” in association with Google.
Speaking of the effort Burberry made on digital world, what cannot be missed is the online shop. Till date, the British brand remains the global leader in the digital luxury market, and burberry.com has become one of the best luxury websites. According to Exane BNP Paribas’ report, Burberry takes the No.1 selling luxury fashion brand on 10 multi-brand e-tailers in China, including Secoo and JD.com. Evidently, e-commerce has become an essential part of the company’s strategy and Burberry set a really good example for the followers.
With classic britishness in one hand and prorsum spirit in the other hand, Burberry can be described as “a young old brand” as Christopher Bailey said. During the past decade, the brand never dropped its British classic elegance, and at the same time, it worked really hard to take the brand out of dusty attic and managed to gain the heart of young and energetic generation.