brands - 24 fingers https://24fingers.co.uk Content Marketing & Creation Mon, 26 Aug 2019 17:16:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.20 How Burberry went from zero to catwalk hero https://24fingers.co.uk/burberry-brand-identity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=burberry-brand-identity&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=burberry-brand-identity https://24fingers.co.uk/burberry-brand-identity/#respond Wed, 22 Feb 2017 17:17:56 +0000 https://24fingers.co.uk/?p=2229 For those of us old enough to remember the 1990s, there was one sign that seemed to feature outside almost every popular nightclub: “Smart dress. No Burberry.” The British design brand had become so synonymous with so-called chavs that its iconic check pattern was a byword for youths with poor employment prospects. Often paired with [...]

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]]> For those of us old enough to remember the 1990s, there was one sign that seemed to feature outside almost every popular nightclub: “Smart dress. No Burberry.” The British design brand had become so synonymous with so-called chavs that its iconic check pattern was a byword for youths with poor employment prospects. Often paired with imitation Adidas tracksuits and Argos jewellery, Burberry suffered a serious brand identity problem. Sales actually went up in the 1990s but of course, the buyers weren’t exactly Burberry’s target market.

Part of Burberry’s problem was that it lost its focus. In the 1990s, keen to compete with other luxury clothing brands, it expanded its range of clothing and leather goods. From socks to dog collars, everything featured the Burberry check pattern. The luxury goods market was a crowded marketplace and soon the brand not only found itself struggling to compete but its competitors were making inroads into outerwear, previously Burberry’s strength. Burberry was forced to close factories, make staff redundant and there were many a management shake-up.

When Angela Ahrendts became the Burberry CEO in 2006, she had a clear vision of how to transform the company and stuck to her plan despite mounting criticism and even Parliamentary hearings regarding the closure of the Burberry plant in Wales. She cites an executive meeting early on in her tenure as the turning point. With over 60 people flying in from around the globe into a wet and cold Britain, she was shocked to see that not a single one of them was wearing the iconic Burberry trench coat. Knowing that the margins on a trench coat were ten times what they were on a polo shirt, she shifted the focus back to core products.

She used the talents of Christopher Kane, a fashion designer with whom she had worked at Donna Karen. Ahrendts appointed Kane as her “design czar” and effectively put an end to worldwide licensing in which different product lines and price points were seen in countries around the globe. By making the brand less ubiquitous, Ahrendts also made it aspirational once more.

Ahrendts also used digital media to strengthen the brand. She spearheaded strong staff training programmes that emphasised the quality and heritage of the brand. Now the shop sales teams weren’t just trained in how to sell but were brand ambassadors who could wax lyrical about the hand stitching and how Ernest Shackleton wore a Burberry trench to the Antarctic. Staff were equipped with iPads and audio visual aids were installed in each store to underscore the brand messages.

By 2009, Burberry had launched its own social media platform, theartofthetrench.com. The site which features icons and celebrities wearing the trench, is squarely aimed at millennials. More recently, the brand took its digital reach even further with the launch of Burberry Bespoke, an online service which allows customers to design their own unique Burberry trench coat from over 12 million different options.

Burberry is now a classic example of how 21st century technology can be used to emphasise brand heritage. But there’s no question that the brand owes much to Angela Ahrendts’ unwavering vision.

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]]> https://24fingers.co.uk/burberry-brand-identity/feed/ 0 Which brand got it right on National Best Friends Day https://24fingers.co.uk/which-brand-won-on-nationalbestfriendsday/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=which-brand-won-on-nationalbestfriendsday&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=which-brand-won-on-nationalbestfriendsday Thu, 09 Jun 2016 14:14:05 +0000 https://24fingers.co.uk/?p=747 When days like #NationalBestFriendsDay roll around, brands have a great opportunity to make the most of a trending hashtag. The only question is: is the trending hashtag right for the brand or will it look like a shameless shoehorn like Homebase’s RIP Prince #fail? Here’s a round-up of who totes got it right this year. [...]

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]]> When days like #NationalBestFriendsDay roll around, brands have a great opportunity to make the most of a trending hashtag. The only question is: is the trending hashtag right for the brand or will it look like a shameless shoehorn like Homebase’s RIP Prince #fail? Here’s a round-up of who totes got it right this year.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Inviting people to share pictures with their beloved pets? Genius. A great way to boost the charity’s cause and get lots of lovely user-generated content.

Wicked the musical

Already a line from the musical, this post practically wrote itself. Love <3

National Rail

You might not think #NationalBestFriendsDay links particularly well with National Rail, but they’ve executed this perfectly. Single ticket to Twitter fame please.

Pizza Express

An easy option would have been to simply say share a pizza with your pal, but this tweet was way better. Pizza > Friendship.

Superdry

This competition by Superdry is super simple and super effective. Simply tag your pal and win – great way to make #NationalBestFriendsDay relevant to them.

Pandora

Pandora went down a similar route to Superdry with this tweet, which includes a specific page on their website called ‘Gifts for friends’.

Sunderland AFC

Such. A. Good. Idea. We salute you Sunderland AFC.

Fanta

24 fingers loves a pun (just ask the resident pun princess) and this steals the show for #NationalBestFriendsDay puns.

River Island

River Island wants more people to follow it on Snapchat and it wants to get involved in #NationalBestFriendsDay but how can it link both? Like this…

And the last, but by no means the least, our favourite…

Cahonas Scotland

This is just incredible. Truly, truly excellent.

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]]> 24 essential questions with Grahame Lake https://24fingers.co.uk/24-questions-with-grahame-lake/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=24-questions-with-grahame-lake&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=24-questions-with-grahame-lake https://24fingers.co.uk/24-questions-with-grahame-lake/#respond Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:28:56 +0000 https://24fingers.co.uk/?p=192 Meet Grahame Lake of GLA. Once upon a time he wanted to be a footballer, drummer and palaeontologist, all at once. He has a whole host of reasons for why those particular dreams didn’t come to fruition but don’t despair, dear readers. He’s ended up as the head of a successful publishing agency known as [...]

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]]> Meet Grahame Lake of GLA. Once upon a time he wanted to be a footballer, drummer and palaeontologist, all at once. He has a whole host of reasons for why those particular dreams didn’t come to fruition but don’t despair, dear readers. He’s ended up as the head of a successful publishing agency known as GLA instead. He goes on to mention why his friends think he’s the zaniest and why you should never take a call if you’re in the middle of something important (except if it’s a Skype call from an ex-Prime Minister). Intrigued? Read on…

#1. So Grahame, what’s your most favourite word?

Spontaneous.

#2. What gets you up in the morning?

My alarm clock.

#3. What do you truly, honestly think of social media?

It has the possibility of being the Emperor’s new clothes. But I’m not convinced it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

#4. Kindles or books?

Kindle on holiday, book for real reading.

#5. What do you think is the biggest challenge to your industry right now?

Pricing. Constant drive for lower and lower prices, for more and more work, and only some of that can be picked up by technology. A lot has to be picked up by people working longer hours.

#6. What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I had three choices; none of which I was very good at… One was a footballer, the second was a drummer and the third a palaeontologist. I was too crap to be a footballer, not good-looking enough to be a drummer and not intelligent enough to be a palaeontologist.

#7. What led you to your current career?

The band I was in at the time in 1982 folded so I had to get a proper job. Since then, I’ve been in publishing. Properly.

#8. Can you use your favourite word in a sentence?

I can, but not spontaneously.

#9. Jolly good. Can you make it rhyme?

My friends say I’m the zaniest because I’m so spontaneous.

 #10. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t take yourself too seriously when you’re younger. You can, certainly, if you’re doing well and you’re successful but until that point, you’re just a very small fish in a very big lake.

 #11. What’s the best thing anyone’s ever done for you?

Apart from marry me? I can’t think of anything better than that.

#12. Tell us, what’s been your ‘career defining moment’?

Leaving consumer publishing and joining the contract publishing sector in 2004. I think that’s the best professional move I ever made. I found I enjoyed the people, the clients; every part of it. It was the best move I made and it was totally by accident. A friend who I’d worked with 13 years ago left a message on my answering machine to ask me if I’d do some maternity cover. I never left that company and actually ended up as Managing Director.

 #13. If you won a big award of some kind, whom would you thank?

First of all, myself, then all of the people who worked for me!

 #14. Can you give us a timesaver of the day?

You’re asking a person who doesn’t manage his time very well! I think you should review your ‘to-do’ list first thing in the morning and move the three most important things to the top. Don’t do anything else until they’re done.

Another one is: if you’re in the middle of something really important, don’t take a call. You’ll never be able to get that pace and energy back afterwards.

#15. Where do you see your industry in 24 months?

Pretty much the same as it is now. I think we’re in a period where the pace of change is slowing down. Not because of the technology coming into the industry isn’t ground-breaking any more, but we’re finding less ways to apply that technology; there’s only a certain number of ways you can get content to a person. So no, I don’t think we’ll see things change dramatically over the next 24 months.

#16. Where were you 24 months ago?

Happy. I’d just bought an agency.

#17. What’s an interesting fact about your company?

Our company is really actually an iceberg, of which I am the tip you see just above the water.

#18. If you could have a 24-minute Skype chat with anyone living or dead, whom would it be?

I would find it very difficult to resist the opportunity to Skype Winston Churchill. Not just because of the figure he was but because he was known for his great wit; he was incredibly funny.

#19. What’s one word you’d want people to describe you with?

Honest.

#20. Mind taking a selfie?

<Does so.>

#21. What’s your favourite Twitter Handle?

@ReportUK who distil the news and put it into tweets – very useful.

#22. What’s one quote that defines your work ethic?

“Never give up. Ever.”

#23. Apart from seeing us, what’s been the best part of your day?

The best thing to happen today may still be to come!

#24. And finally, anything to plug?

GLA. Possibly the best agency you’ve never heard of.

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]]> https://24fingers.co.uk/24-questions-with-grahame-lake/feed/ 0 Power of squared https://24fingers.co.uk/instagram-no-longer-square/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=instagram-no-longer-square&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=instagram-no-longer-square https://24fingers.co.uk/instagram-no-longer-square/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:03:10 +0000 https://24fingers.co.uk/?p=215 Is your iPhone’s memory clogged with apps like Instasize and Whitagram for creating landscape and portrait snaps? Forget them. Instagram has changed the rules – in addition to square posts, you can now share images and videos in both portrait and landscape. Instagram launched in October 2010 and has since risen to become the second [...]

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]]> Is your iPhone’s memory clogged with apps like Instasize and Whitagram for creating landscape and portrait snaps? Forget them. Instagram has changed the rules – in addition to square posts, you can now share images and videos in both portrait and landscape.

Instagram launched in October 2010 and has since risen to become the second most popular social networking site (beaten only by its owner, Facebook). Instagram knew there were problems with the square-only format, “friends get cut out of group shots, the subject of your video feels cramped and you can’t capture the Golden Gate Bridge from end to end.” #moderndayproblems

However, the frustrating and restrictive format never hindered the app’s popularity, it just meant users looked to third party apps before uploading to Instagram. If anything, the square was a creative challenge – especially for brands. Rather than one image spammed across all social media accounts, the brand was forced to create unique content that would only work on Instagram.

Brands took on the challenge to accommodate the square – fashion photographers were told to ”shoot for the square”, iPhone’s camera has a ‘square setting’ and Facebook profile pictures could ‘crop to square’. When a company like Apple is acknowledging the power of a platform by adjusting its products, it must be a pretty big deal.

So why has Instagram changed it? Instagram’s entire brand was built on and created around the square format. Square pictures on Instagram are Twitter’s 140 characters, Snapchat’s 10 seconds, Facebook’s….. Er. Whatever Facebook’s ‘thing’ is. It’s like imagining the McDonalds’ M being blue.

Instagram realises that its been asking brands to work with one arm tied behind their backs. Vogue can now show a full magazine cover, for example. As Instagram itself helpfully notes: “The visual story you’re trying to tell should always come first.” Quite. For advertising too, the change on one hand will be a fantastic opportunity for full-sized images and videos. On the other, it could cause laziness.

So while brands revel in the new-found freedom, the change has left everyone else feeling a bit deflated. Instagram’s quirk and stand-out feature no longer exists. It’s now just another app people can use to quickly and easily upload a photo of their dinner.

What to know more about how to show your business’ ‘best side’ on different platforms? Contact 24 fingers today.

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