If I took away a single valuable lesson from the many case studies we covered in my MBA Marketing course, it would be in the radical transformation of Burberry’s brand image at the hands of Rose Marie Bravo (CEO 1997-2005). Just a few years after stepping down, though, we still see Bravo’s immense accomplishments in cultivating the brand meaning, which has continued today in the realm of social media.
The company launched the interactive website, Art of the Trench, to celebrate the ultra-chic and myriad uses of the classic Burberry trench coat. The site showcases portraits of ordinary people sporting the signature trench on the streets all around the world. The collection of portraits have been shot by Magnum photographers, “The Sartorialist” Scott Schuman, and submitted by Burberry fans themselves.
Particularly great about the website is the side-column filter (gender, styling, weather, etc.) and the Facebook Connect option. Amazingly, Facebook fans reached just over 1 million last week according to WWD. Stylistically great, too, is the website’s grid design depicting the vividly diverse photos and the fluid scrolling ability. The visual effect is like that of standing in a massive room with walls filled with portraits floor to ceiling—the vast trove of meanings each photo represents is very enveloping.
It’s extraordinary to see in this media platform just how far the brand has come and how it encapsulates all the meanings it carries for so many different individuals—quite the journey from a British soldier’s durable coat from the early 1900’s to an urbanite’s fashion-forward trench of 2010. Watch below to see the YouTube video version of the website.
