This week Burberry
announced that Angela Ahrendts will be stepping down as CEO to join Apple as
Senior Vice President of Retail and Online stores. As noted in the flurry of media activity
surrounding the announcement, this is Apple’s second notable hire from the
luxury fashion industry, the first being Paul Deneve, the former CEO of Yves
Sant Laurent.
What does it all mean? I
suspect that Ahrendts success in transforming Burberry from a stodgy old
British brand into a digitally savvy powerhouse is key to the transition. But what can Apple, a highly successful
retailer in its own right, learn from Ahrendt’s strategy at Burberry? The key
to Buberry’s digital strategy is integration
and stimulation. Burberry’s online experience is seamlessly
integrated into it’s mobile and brick & mortar platforms so that customers
can easily transition between looking at a product on the subway platform,
viewing it in greater detail at home on their PC, to picking it up in the
physical store. Furthermore, Burberry
broke the luxury protocol of long lead times between what is seen on the runway
to what is available in stores. The last
few fashions shows have been livestreamed in high profile public places like
Times Square and to the everyday fashionista online. Immediately following the shows, the products
were available on the company’s website and through it’s fully optimized mobile
platform. This type of integration is
rare and exemplifies a comprehensive digital strategy. In
terms of stimulation, Burberry seeks to interact with the consumer through
creative partnerships. For instance,
earlier this year, Burberry partnered with Google to allow customers to kiss their
screens, and then send the digital kisses around the world. And during London
Fashion Week, Burberry partnered with Apple’s iPhone 5s to display images/videos
shot with the devices online prior to the ready-to-wear show.
So how will this all
translate at Apple? Perhaps Ahrendts will enhance the Apple retail store by
creating a more seamless omni-channel experience…although, isn’t Apple already
doing that? I’m interested to see what happens.
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