How Burberry is redefining Brand Storytelling

There are a few iconic brands that know how to tell the why of their brand. Burberry is increasingly one of them and this film demonstrates their collective expertise in bringing their story to life.

I believe this film is an ultimate expression of what Burberry has achieved in the last few years in elevating their brand identity. Setting a new benchmark for brand storytelling and reinforcement for Burberry’s continued brand excellence.

Burberry recently launched a new trailer like film framed around an epic romance drama film that leaves us wanting for more. Except, this story is not made up, its about Burberry’s founder.

Brand films aren’t new. They typically take us on a journey through the company’s history to present and stir elements of nostalgia and celebrations. What I love about Burberry’s new film is that it doesn’t just sit on those traditional elements, but helps spark our imaginations of what Burberry means to us and our emotional relationship with the name.

A strong brand is no longer enough to succeed.

Brands are responding to the digitally-savvy millennial consumer where experiences trump singular products and values qualities such as authenticity and purpose. Some examples of luxury brands adapting to these trends include launching their own hotels or restaurants to compete for the “experience dollars” while also improving their transparency in how they responsibly source across their supply chains. On top the changing consumer, challenging macroeconomic trends amongst global markets for high-end personal goods is headed for its weakest year since 2009.

So how has Burberry stayed ahead of the game? By being focused on their core unique strengths of digital and product innovation, and continued expansion of Burberry‘s British brand heritage story. They are democratizing the Burberry luxury experience and leveraging digital innovation to connect with wider audiences and make the brand accessible in a whole new way.

Traditionally, luxury brands are reserved for the few, while Burberry has chosen a route of expanding their reach beyond a traditional base by leveraging compelling digital media, creating experiential physical spaces, and pioneering social media engagement. It has elevated the industry standard for how luxury brands engage the millennial consumer.

What comes to mind when you think of large luxury brands? Many still feel stuffy and far removed from being inspiring or engaging. But Burberry’s approach of leveraging incredible content through digital and physical mediums helps democratize the luxury brand experience further than most brands are able to. They’ve have the largest social media following of luxury fashion brands, and they don’t just replicate content across every platform, but take care in outfitting the content for the right channel.

They’re known and quoted as the digital pioneer of the luxury industry for good reasons:

• From as early as 2006, when Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey announced that they wanted to become the first fully digital luxury company, to nailing the early adoption of digital innovations in mobile, web, and social.
• Ranking first for multiple years amongst fashion brands as a result of their digital-savviness
• Pioneered millennial engagement by launching unique campaigns to engage a younger audience through user-generated content like Art of the Trench and Burberry Acoustic, where they bring the brand to life by providing British artists a platform to share their music.
• Radicalized the fashion calendar by aligning runway with retail in their latest September 2016 show — with the “see now, buy now” model where their collections are available immediately. You used to have to wait 6 months to after seeing the collection to shop (crazy!!).
• Innovating in physical experiences with the Maker’s House, a week long experiential show space designed to showcase Burberry’s craftsmanship. It was open to the general public as opposed to the elite few. Helping extend the brand experience to turn passive consumers to advocates.

Burberry has embraced digital transformation earlier than most large companies and have reaped the benefits by harnessing their digital and physical capabilities in unison.

Great brands have an authentic story. But why and how you tell it is key.

Heritage is a luxury industry buzzword that is over-used and under-expressed. But Burberry’s new film may have just shown the industry how it’s done.

Burberry took a different direction by going back to an important core element of “heritage” and illustrating exactly what that means for audiences. Brand heritage is often a value proposition for many high-end luxury brands, but many fail to truly express this unique identity in a distinct narrative. The word heritage itself is abstract because it is rooted in time and history, and little is often know of a company’s century plus history for many younger consumers.

The new “Tale of Thomas Burberry” provides audiences an intimate glimpse into the 160 years in the making story of Burberry itself, inspired by the pioneering discoveries of the founder. By leveraging emotive and engaging movie-like cinematography, paired with an all-star cast and award-winning director, this is a winning recipe to connect audiences with the original brand story in a truly inspiring way.

How often do we truly know the origins of brands?

A common challenge luxury brands face in achieving the elusive authentic quality that millennials seek for, is the fact that most luxury brands feel so far removed from their origins and are entrenched in their corporate identities.

As a result, these unique stories are often lost through time and evolution. Many luxury brands talk about their heritage and it often feels sterile and made-up. Whereas the story of Thomas Burberry is one that feels realistic, emotive, and is rooted within real historical significance.

Role of authenticity

With what we touch and purchase, how often do we know the story behind the creation of these products? With globalization and the volume of choices we are offered with as consumers, consumption itself can become so automatic and unconscious.

It’s important to remember that brands need to “show, not tell.” Burberry’s recent campaigns have continued to partner with up-and-coming British artisans and artists who represent this in full circle. Take the Maker’s House experience or the 2015 launch of Burberry Scarf Bar’s video as a great example.

Unless you’re a passionate Burberry ambassador, few would know and appreciate the level of detail behind Burberry’s origins, such as background of founder Thomas Burberry and how Gabardine was invented in 1887.

The fact that the patented fabric helped realize signifiant moments in history, including outfitting several early polar expeditions to protect them from the inhospitable conditions, or the fact that the trench coat started to serve the needs of the military in the early 20th century.

These subtle details may seem insignificant as we glance over it, but when pieced together into a film, it brings out a face and voice to command authenticity and human expression of something far removed from present day.

Through this film, our image and knowledge of an original Burberry product material is heightened, and we can further connect the very name “Burberry” to a story rather than just another luxury brand name.

Where brands fall short.

Any brand can launch a new story and film, but to produce this same effect will require them to tell the story in their own unique and creative voice that represents the ultimate expression of the brand’s culture.

Most campaigns like these don’t realize their full potential. They typically only scratch the surface or leave many important details hidden on a website and completely exclude the rich experience that make it shine and stick in the minds of its audiences.

Narrative, Music, Drama, Human Spirit, People, Culture, History, Love

How are you incorporating many of these elements to deliver an immersive storytelling experience?

The significance of these elements lies in its ability to carefully reveal and illuminate details of the brand’s story with high emotional impact at the same level an oscar-winning movie could. It builds the desired image and helps elevate the status of the brand’s role in our lives and society. In Burberry’s case, it is focused on humanizing the founder’s background, historical significance of Gabardine, its role in British culture, and the quality craftsmanship behind its products.

Driving long-term brand relationships

Often times, brands spend millions in creative advertising efforts, only to see their campaigns sizzle out over a few weeks. The beauty of this story, is the idea that is timeless, and can be used to further expand upon as evergreen content. Whether Burberry chooses to expand upon the story, or release this as a one time thing, it keeps audiences anticipating about what’s next.

Many luxury players produce content that feels very superficial and materialistic, but this type of evergreen content may mark a beginning of the expansion of the Burberry universe and how the timeless tale of Thomas Burberry makes the brand more relatable and human. It reminds me of the storied founders of many technology companies that many millennials look up as role models, despite immense internal and external challenges to reach their heights.

Could Thomas have this iconic-figure potential for aspiring creatives and designers through his story?

Why great storytelling is not enough

Finally, with greatness comes equal responsibility. Many brands who produce incredible marketing campaigns must also live up to the high expectations of its campaigns and deliver exceptional customer and product experiences. Burberry is no exception. Without the latter, the “halo effect” that these campaigns produce will not reap the full potential of its benefits.

Without a great product and supportive customer experience, investments in brand evaporates quickly.

We’ve seen many brands hype up their campaigns to only under-deliver on the customer and product experience itself, and this is why we must remember that the customer must always be in our minds when these experiences are crafted.

Teams across all aspects of brands must work side by side to produce great experiences that deliver on expectations from all fronts of the brand experience. Whether it is the creative, customer, or product experience — nothing is worse than to fall flat on one part of the customer journey because teams couldn’t collaborate effectively.

I believe the most successful brand campaigns don’t just produce awe-inspiring creative campaigns, but know how to integrate their teams in delivering a seamless transition from “hype to service.”

While the creative part of brands are often the most exciting and talked about parts, the real deal lies within functional and seamless customer experiences that surprise and delights.

Brands can create compelling campaigns, but how many truly deliver a truly great digital and physical experience end-to-end?

That’s the real acid test.

Immersive digital and physical storytelling is redefining how brands deliver experiences and their relationship with their customers. What are your thoughts on how brands are doing to differentiate and connect? I’d love to hear from you on Twitter @gdondon and comment below.