Boring Burberry?
Burbs are having a boring epiphany, is it paying off?
In the age of want, and in an era where Burberry are more desperate than ever to turn things around, they’ve put all of their latest efforts in a string of advertising showing just how boringly British we can be. And people kind of love it. So as someone who was once branded as “Boring Brett”, I feel I am expertly qualified to give my review.
Earlier this year the brand announced its’ shares were down 16%, it was suspending dividend payments, issued a profit warning, dropped off the FTSE 100 and replaced the CEO. If that’s not the definition of turmoil, I don’t know what is. There was also swirls of grapevine gossip, questioning Daniel Lee’s future at the house, and whether his vision, which is still in its’ infancy, had been realised and positively received.
This month, on social media, Burberry announced 7 new ambassadors each representing an iconic coat from the brand alongside a series of short films. These include; Little Simz, Chinese actress Zhang Jingyi, Olivia Coleman, Crystal Palace and England forward Eberechi Eze, Barry Keoghan and Cara Delevingne. The star of the boring show though, is undoubtedly Cole Palmer. The Chelsea and England forward whose refreshingly stereotypical portrayal of a footballer, alongside his brute honesty is winning over fans.
Amongst these videos is a 9-minute silent film, situated by a lake documenting Palmer’s fishing trip, sporting his £2.5k duffle coat. He literally sits down, stands up twice, before leaving. That’s the whole video. However, the best-of-boring is the tea-making Tiktok videos. Yes, each of them stands there for about 30 seconds walking you through their recipe for the perfect cuppa. Palmer’s sugarless brew video currently sits at nearly 8million views.
“Well I need my tea-bag first, don’t I?” - Cole Palmer
Most surprising of all is that the comments across all of this strategy are overwhelmingly positive. Ranging from a welcomed pisstake of the British “Woh-ah” pronunciation, to a more sweeping “"oh finally, Bailey’s Burberry is coming back” referring to Burberry’s glory days under Christopher Bailey’s direction, 2001-2017. As well as fans stating, “you guys are in your bag”.
But that is the main question really, do Burberry have the marketing strategy to turn things around, and return to growth especially with the heightened prices for its staple ready to wear? No longer is the Burberry trench coat an attainable purchase for most of the middle-class. At £2,190, that’s a much different customer to the ones who could pick one up pre-cost of living crisis, for around £1,300. Amongst the 7 iconic pieces is also a £4,490 Shearling Aviator Jacket modelled by Cara, and a nylon check puffer jacket for £1,590.
Before, it would be the fashion adjacent folks who could subscribe to a piece from Burberry, a British household name. The mums in the midlands who care how they look but aren’t paying a subscription to Vogue Runway or tracking the movements of creative directors. But with the reign of previous designers taking Burberry on a more [F]ashion-forward, street-style and avant-garde direction, it may have lost that trench coat, puffer coat and scarf customer, who can stretch to luxury purchases on occasion, but most importantly wants to do it for Burberry because they are connected to it.
This new strategy might be the swing of genius the brand needed. It definitely feels like they’re doubling down on the Britishness. The products should be the best of the staple coats that everyone makes, so you feel like you’re getting the original with the Check and the Gabardine fabric. I feel they need efforts like this campaign to place the brand back in the minds of the folks throughout Britain who once loved it for what it was; beautiful, boring and British. As well as those customers abroad who see the brand for all its heritage, class and quality.