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Moreover, it has been proved that this reticular strategy worked efficiently as the statistics show the increasing of sales during short period of time after invested more on digital marketing. During the beginning of the asses, after Barberry reached their highest point for surreal years, the sales drastically dropped as people believed that Barberry is uniform for gangster or “chap. ” This is probably the worst reputation for luxury brand as in the United Kingdom; chap is stereotype of low-class and poorly educated people.
There was a rumor that some bars didn’t allow anyone who wear Buyers products to get in. However, some people said that it was misunderstanding about this rumor as hooligans in the UK usually wear trench coats. Thus that particular bar didn’t let those people in because they are gangsters that wore trench coat that look similar to Barberry one, not because they actually wore Buyers coat. Moreover, at that time Barberry only targeted elite people whose age over 30 year-old, thus most of their designs and styles of products were remained the same Just like 100 years ago.
In addition, all their flagships were decorated as private places that don’t seem o welcome for normal people; therefore, only people who intend to buy Buyers products go to the stores. After Barberry reached the lowest point in their history, they bounced back to their position by using digital media and social media in order to reposition brand. “Barberry is about heritage, but about making that heritage relevant for today,” said Christopher Bailey, Buyers creative director since 2001. You have to make sure what you do is right for the moment you live in. What makes things relevant? Without wishing to sound flaky, it’s a sensitivity to the spirit we live by totally In 2009 Barberry invested over 60% of their marketing budget in digital strategies such as activating their weapon, Faceable, and Twitter. From my point of view, Buyers marketing strategy in utilizing digital media certainly has had a great deal of contribution to its success. It has opened Buyers door to numerous customers around the world.
By the same token, the use of social media has also penetrated Buyers products into the market of the new generation, the expansion into a more youthful market as they changed their target market to customers whose age around 20 instead of middle age customers. According Dali Strum, president of Dali Inc. , New York, “Shoppers between 18-29-years-old are the fastest-growing market of luxury items, so it is extremely important to engage with them where they are spending most of their time. Furthermore, the success of their social media marketing can be seen from the number of followers they have, they currently have 17,826,721 likes on Faceable and 3. 32 million followers on Twitter. Another campaign that increased the sales is “Art of Trench,” which is a website that has photos of people who wear trench coats all around the world. Moreover, Buyers customers are encouraged to post their photos of themselves in their trench coats on this weapon as well. This campaign had almost 17. 7 million views and created a large amount of brand awareness; hence, people repost and rewet their favorite photos on Faceable or Twitter.
The Art of Trench not only greatly helps generate good reputation for Barberry, it also efficiently spreads the news about customized services that they have for their signature trench coat. Barberry has actually fulfilled the customers’ dreams to play a designer game. The stunning looks of Buyers trench vary from its custom-made service; that is, customers can design their own trench coats. They can choose styles, fabrics, linings, collars, belts, buttons, and whatever they like, mixing and matching to their own preferences as suggested on Buyers e-store: “Create an iconic trench coat to your personal specifications. Thus, “younger luxury consumers” have found Barberry exciting and become loyal to the brand. Furthermore, the statistic shows that after launch this campaign the online sales rose by 50% in the first half of 20104. Besides “Art of Trench,” Barberry was one of the first fashion houses that has live runway shows online and it became famous as they tweeted photos of the whole line of the new collection before a show. Thus all their followers felt special as they got to see them before those invited guests.
Along with the runway show, Barberry is also one of the only brands that allows customers to purchase the clothes right after models walk down the runway. In addition, although some designs of Barberry has been changed, but the key item such as trench coat still remain the same outstanding design. Since, I mentioned previously about the design that has never been changed for over 100 years. Therefore the modification of the original design, another as important strategy as other strategies, must have been taken into serious consideration when Barberry wanted to attract modern consumers.
In 1901, Thomas Barberry created every element of the original classic and smart trench for a reason. The double breast with 4 buttons, the gun flap on the shoulder, and straps on the sleeves slotted pockets, to name a few, can still be seen today. By providing more modern and chic styles of ranch coat: today’s trench appears with adaptable collar with strap and the waist belt with D rings. Thanks to Christopher Bailey, chief creative and chief executive officer of Barberry, recreated Buyers trench without losing any of its identity and originality.
To this end, the dedication to digital has helped Barberry to get back on track and reposition as a truly global brand that communicates with every corner of the world. “When you’re dealing with digital technology, that doesn’t have boundaries. And I think the world shouldn’t necessarily have boundaries. The way we approach it is avian our consistent point of view,5” Mr.. Bailey said. Moreover, the digital marketing campaigns implemented by Barberry can be considered as one of the most outstanding phenomena in the fashion world.