The Tales of Thomas Burberry: redefining brand storytelling.

The narrative behind a luxury brand is as important as the product itself. In this new era of communication, how can a brand explain its value to its target audience? We all have a story – and here is how Burberry is telling theirs.

Burberry unveiled a trailer-like film which tells the incredible story of how Thomas Burberry, the brand’s founder, discovered the game changing technology of gabardine during World War 1. The revolutionary material changed the course of fashion history, and enabled Burberry to become the international luxury brand.  


To highlight what makes this example a best practice we will follow the  criteria of the evaluation of the storytelling:   


  • Is it a story? Yes. It has a beginning (the childhood of the protagonist), a middle (when the founder is discovered by someone very important) and a resolution (when the founder lost everything he could lose).      


  • Is it intriguing and involving? Absolutely. The trailer relies on elements such as romance, war, discoveries, adventures, betrayal and drama. It makes spectators hungry to know all the details and leaves them wondering what happened next.

     

  • Is it authentic? Definitely. The trailer provides a very intimate story of Burberry, showing not only the victories of our hero, but also his weaknesses; all of this is done while providing a world - class movie  with award - winning actors and directors.

   

  • Can we put ourselves into the shoes of the story characters? Sure. The intimacy created through the video allows us to root for our hero, but at the same time feel sad and bad for him when he is at his lowest point.


  • Is there any meaningful challenge, conflict or tension? Yes, especially when it touches the emotions of our main character.


  • Is there a surprise? Yes, twice. The first time when the protagonist is discovered by a rich man and his life changes. The second surprise is when the romantic plot - twist occurs and we see the wife of the founder escapes away on a horse.


  • Is there enough detail? Certainly. The video makes  the viewers observe all the details about the company’s initial journey.


  • Is there a message/learning? Yes. The whole trailer aims to educate and connect the viewers more with the brand history.

Within a few days after its release, “The Tale of Thomas Burberry” collected more than 4 million views (Sijin Yan, 2019). This story is addressed to young customers that already know Burberry but, maybe, are not very familiar with the history behind the brand. Nonetheless, another objective was to increase brand awareness, underlying Burberry’s brand differentiation and its British fashion heritage status.


Burberry’s film sparks our imagination and makes us think what Burberry means to us and what is our emotional relationship with the brand. 


Narrative. Drama. Culture. History. Love. 


These elements reveal the brand's story with an emotional impact and elevate the status of the brand, while humanising the founder’s background.  Burberry took a direction by going back to the core element - the heritage. The “Tale of Thomas Burberry” allows the audience to have a glimpse into the intimate life of the founder. The film makes the viewers connect the name “Burberry” to a story rather than to just a luxury brand name.


Burberry's story is particularly powerful due to a combination of multiple factors, which allows its storytelling to get to people's hearts.


First, we know how luxury brands invest in building and retaining the codes of communication (Morhart, 2021). Burberry highlights unique codes of luxury communication through the blend of telling the unique story of its creator and narrating about the cult “Trench Coat”. Second, the story has a strategic message which enhances the brand through the explication of Burberry's heritage,  all seasoned with authenticity and emotional involvement. The latter is essential, as emotions are key for luxury brands. Ultimately, the power of stories and storytelling is critical, so that there is remembrance by customers (Morhart, 2021), and we can state Burberry is doing a great job at trying to stick in the consumers’ minds.  



Sources:


Ching, G. (2016, November 7). How Burberry is redefining Brand Storytelling. Medium. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from  https://gordonching.medium.com/how-burberry-is-redefining-brand-storytelling-2893cfc19ac8


Hughes, M. (2018, December 5). Brilliant brand storytelling from Burberry takes branded content to a new level. Truly Deeply - Brand Agency Melbourne. https://www.trulydeeply.com.au/2016/11/burberry-brilliant-brand-storytelling-takes-branded-content-new-level/


Launchmetrics. (2020, March 23). The Power of Building a Brand Story in The Luxury Industry. https://www.launchmetrics.com/resources/blog/brand-story


Morhart, F. (2021). Session 6: Communicating Luxury Brands. Luxury Marketing course. 


Williams, F. (2017, April 20). The making of Burberry’s special anniversary short film, The Tale of Thomas Burberry. https://www.theglassmagazine.com/the-making-of-burberrys-special-anniversary-short-film-the-tale-of-thomas-burberry/


Yan, S. (2019, December 9). How successful is Burberry’s storytelling strategy? Medium. https://medium.com/exploring-burberry/how-successful-is-burberrys-storytelling-strategy-a0fac8613050





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