EOC: Chapter 3 Discussion

1. Burberry set out to rebrand itself as a luxury lifestyle brand but at a lower price than its major competition such as Prada and Gucci. "Many brands eventually die when they fail to remain relevant and updated as this causes them to lose market share and consumer interest" (Fashion Branding Unraveled). There is no need for consumers to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on items. Burberry wanted to keep its image of a high end brand but at a price that the average consumer could afford. "Focuses on becoming more relevant to its own market with the possibility of attracting more and new customers" (Fashion Branding Unraveled). They cut the number of products they were creating by more than 75 percent but created new product lines so they could serve a wider range of demographics. With the new product lines, Burberry is now serving young trendy adults, older traditional consumers, and with price ranges for high end and the average consumer. 

2. The turnaround for Burberry was a little different than that of Gucci with Tom Ford. Burberry was not doing as bad financially as Gucci because they had not lost a core of their loyal customers to other brands. Gucci was in a tough spot because decades of less than innovative designs led to their consumers to seek other brands to meet their fashion needs. Gucci needed Tom Ford to connect with its consumers in a major way or they were in serious danger of having financial troubles. Burberry was also having difficulty connecting with its consumer but it was in a much easier situation where it could release certain product lines to market different products to key consumer segments. Marketing and rebranding can be a difficult process but it can be done. "Branding is neither easy nor cheap" (Fashion Branding Unraveled) and success is not guaranteed.