Burberry: Strategies for Recession

Abstract

Burberry has always been known for its traditional checks and conservative fashion designs that were considered favourite among the Royal families. Its trench coat and concept of using gabardine for rain coats made it the most popular brand in Britain. It won many award for its traditional and contemporary designs. To deal with competition and changing customer preferences, Burberry soon had to revamp its image and positioning by making enhancing its product category and brand image. The new Chief executive played an important role and hired the top leading model as its brand ambassador. The company had unique strategies and marketing techniques from the very beginning of Burberry fashion house. No market or company was safe from the after affects of recession. When recession hit Britain, the manufacturing and industrial output automatically went down and companies were forced to shut down operations and lay off its employees to cut down on costs. The aim of this research report is to analyze the strategies that Burberry followed in order to fight with the recession. Many researches and literature prove that Burberry was able to sustain and maintain its position in terms of finances by pursuing its strategies that were already a part of its marketing plan and corporate mission. Secondary data and literature was analyzed to make this report and an in depth analysis was conducted to come up with recommendations and drive conclusion. This report analyzes the important techniques and plans the company undertook and recommend and suggest steps that can help the brand improve its current profitability and financial growth in the future.

Table of Contents

Abstract1

Introduction3

Discussion4

Burberry4

Current Strategies of Burberry6

Analysis12

Recommendations16

Conclusion17

References18

Burberry: Strategies for Recession

Introduction

Recession and economic downturn has affected many businesses and countries by having a direct impact on the buying power of the consumer. Recession in countries like USA and UK, that were considered as one of the most powerful countries and economies have been hard hit by recession which in turn has resulted in recession in many other countries that are dependent upon the economy and financial condition of these two countries for their businesses and trade. The manufacturing sector still suffers from the aftershocks of recession and the output fell to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent. Industrial sector is also very weak and showed some improvement which was also owed to the cold climate conditions of the country which contributed to the unchanged industrial output of the country and saved it from falling any further (Laing, 2012). The inflation also increased with consumer price index increasing to 3.3 percent while the UK government set a target of 2 percent. On the other hand retail price index also increased to 4.5 percent from 4.3 percent. This gave rise to increase in the prices of drinks, clothing, food items, furniture and other household items. Additionally, 60 percent of the retailers have planned to increase the product prices to fight with the negative effects of recession. Almost every company and manufacturer is trying to cut down on the costs ...