And what it means for luxury brands. Because, if you are a luxury brand or branding enthusiast like myself, the Burberry rebranding probably has made its rounds on your social media pages. The British brand cleaned out their Instagram feed this week to launch the new creative direction it’s taking. The campaign gave a taste of the brand identity and vision for the future. With the focus back on their core — British heritage — and the removal of the criticized blanding from 2018, they are taking a stand in the luxury market with growth in mind.
It’s a stunning case of how to rebrand and rebuild your luxury brand to take it to the next level. Which is why I’ll be breaking down the history of the British brand, why there was a need for a rebranding and why it makes sense from a strategic branding point of view.
With the focus back on their core — British heritage — and the removal of the critized blanding from 2018, they are taking a stand in the luxury market with growth in mind.
Key points
• After a period of blanding logo’s Burberry surprised everyone by taking a step back and revealed an archived inspired new look with a modern twist. Using subtle plays to show that the brand hasn’t lost its “Britishness”.
• The brand is going back to their core to build towards their long term vision: their British heritage and being a contemporary luxury player.
• The soft launch of the Burberry rebranding is a great case study on how you can communicate your vision through visuals in a way that people immediately get it.
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Luxury rebranding case study
Burberry rebranding breakdown
History of the British heritage brand
When thinking of Burberry, most people will instantly think of their famous nova check pattern or trench coats. Which isn’t too surprising because Thomas Burberry invented a fabric called gabardine. It’s the fabric that later on made his trench coats a wardrobe staple for many. Unlike other rainwear, the fabric was actually comfortable to wear while also being weatherproof.
Over a century, Burberry grew as a brand and build its British heritage equity. Creating recognizable silhouettes and patterns, keeping most of the manufacturing in the UK and receiving several Royal Warrents. The British heritage is synonymous for the brand.
But it wasn’t until around 1901 that branding became a vocal point for the brand. According to the history section on the Burberry website, the company had a public competition to design a new logo for the brand. It’s during this time the Equestrian Knight made its first appearance. In 1999, the logo was modernized by art director Fabien Baron and they removed the ‘s’ from the wordmark. The distinctive look stayed up until the rebrand of 2018. Not to sound ominous but it’s the rebranding that most designers think of when they hear Burberry.
2018 creative rebrand & backlash
In 2018 Burberry had its first rebrand in almost 20 years. The 2018 rebrand removed the Equestrian Knight logo mark and they used a sleek sans serif font. This type of font has no decorative markers or lines. Alongside it they’ve created a monogram logo with Thomas Burberry’s initials. The “TB” monogram is also used in a pattern that reflects the brand’s famous nova check. Whereas the colors are a nod to the original Burberry logo from 1901. In a reaction to Dezeen back in 2018 the designer Peter Saville described the rebrand as an identity that taps into the heritage of Burberry all the while being a take on what’s to come for the brand in the future.
And even though the rebrand fit the new vision for the brand — creating an international platform and taking the brand into the new century — it didn’t went well with the public. From criticism that was brewing after several luxury brands rebranded to almost identical sans serif logo’s — a phenomenon that was dubbed “blanding” — to people mentioning that they didn’t know what Burberry stands for as a brand. Which is the last thing you want for your luxury brand.
Now, I won’t say I hated the 2018 rebrand — I actually loved the “TB” monogram and I get the reasoning for going for a sans serif in the digital age. My mind hurts whenever I see a beautiful crafted logo that loses all legibility in the digital age. So the blanding of logo’s did have a function. It just wasn’t to differentiate and reflect the brand’s essence.
It also felt a bit out of place to me to use a minimalistic font for the wordmark with sharp edges and a completely different font with rounded edges for the monogram. From a branding point of view, the inconsistency drives me up the wall.
However, I did enjoy the campaigns from this era. Especially the “Festive” ad from 2020. It felt a lot more on par for the world we were living in and it did still have nods to British culture. As I always mention, branding is a living process. You need to move with the world and cultural shifts. And basing on the statements that were released when Riccardo Tisci stepped down as creative director, it did set the tone for the rebranding we saw appear this week.
The different logo’s Burberry has had over the years.
Burberry 2022 rebranding — back to heritage branding
In september 2022 the British designer Daniel Lee, who previously was the creative director at Bottega Veneta, was announced as the chief creative officer of Burberry. With also a new CEO at the top, the brand’s new brand strategy is to return to their core that he called “Britishness”. Using this value in order to elevate the brand to become a true luxury player without losing its contemporary edge. Couple months later, the rebranding is launched with campaign imagery that is described as “a modern take on British luxury” and shows the brand going back to its roots.
The most remarkable element is the return of the Equestrian Knight brandmark. A nod to the original Burberry logo from 1901 but cleaned up to match the contemporary edge the brand has. In the brandmark you’ll see the word “prorsum”, which means “forward” in Latin. Which can only be explained that Burberry is putting its focus on rebuilding a luxury giant in the twenty-first-century.
Another element that caused a spark online is the replacement of the sleek sans serif font with a modern serif font. Also known as a decorative font. The custom font resembles the one used in their logo’s before 1999. Which is another nod to their rich history. But just like the Equestrian Knight, it’s cleaned up for a modern look. All in all, it comes as no surprise that they describe the rebranding as an archive inspired brand identity.
What I didn’t see mentioned is the use of color in the rebranding and campaign. I saw some confusion online about the brand identity being presented in the blue color. Looking at the campaign it makes a little more sense — they use the blue alongside red and white — and it seems like a nod to the flag of the United Kingdom. Another way of looking at it, is that Burberry is establishing a signature color. Daniel Lee, under Bottega Veneta, made green the signature color of the brand.
Personally, what I love about the rebrand is that it shows that you don’t need minimalistic branding to modernize. There is a time and place for it. I just don’t think it’s for luxury brands that have a heritage background. The rebrand of 2018 probably had the same vision that we are seeing presented in the 2023 rebranding. It just focused on the wrong elements to make it more contemporary.
However, I would’ve loved to see a reimagined version of the “TB” monogram that Riccardo Tisci introduced with designer Peter Saville. It’s a great asset for luxury brands to play around with. And in this case, it fits with the overal direction of going back to the archives and heritage feeling. I would’ve loved to see how it would look with the new serif font and blue color.
Rebuilding a heritage brand
The reveal of the rebranding is just the first step in this new direction for Burberry. They are giving us a taste of what to expect from the brand in the coming months. However, the campaign does show us exactly the vision for the brand going forward.
It’s almost a short love story to the heritage of the brand set in the world we are currently living in. Working together with British talents that speak to a wider range of consumers. But also the usage of British landmarks and brands that are seen as typically British, like the Range Rover Defender. The rain that is used as a prop in the imagery to visualize the history of the brand and cultural experience. The subtle use of blues, reds and white in the visuals. It ties in the rebranding as a whole to communicate the vision moving forward.
The campaign also used a curated selection of heritage pieces by Daniel Lee but not any of his designs yet. They’ll be shown during fashion week later this month. So far the roll out is the campaign on social media and the logo’s being replaced on the website. We’ll have to wait and see how the branding will tie into all touchpoints of the brand later on.
Key takeaways
The learnings for luxury brands
The biggest learning is that as a luxury brand you need to stay close to your core to differentiate. The “Britishness” of Burberry with an contemporary edge was what set it apart from other brands. With this rebrand they re-invented it to be contemporary while still focusing on their core values.
From what I’m reading between the lines about the rebranding, the GAP between the previous rebrand in 2018 and the one now is that people had lost touch with what the brand was about at its core. The new creative direction fills that GAP by going back to a brand identity. They made it recognizable and also evoke the emotion of British heritage and new luxury. It feels classic but modern at the same time, finding the balance of how luxury brands need to operate in the luxury space nowadays.
Our key takeaways for luxury brand owners and marketeers:
• The core of the brand and what it stands for is important — And can’t be easily changed. Even though the product range didn’t drastically change, the way people felt about the brand did.
• A rebranding isn’t a quick fix — You need to start at the strategy and work towards the creative output (brand identity, campaigns, visuals and brand touchpoints). When looking at the overall brand, you’ll see where the GAPs are (confusion around the brand’s direction) that can take your brand to your long term vision (5 billion revenue).
• Branding is a living process while strategy is more set in stone — For the rebrand they didn’t change the overall strategy that Burberry already had. They just didn’t have the right creative output to help shape and achieve the vision. Changing the creative direction did help Burberry attract a new customer base but they also lost the equity they build around being a heritage brand.
Strategic branding expert
Ciao, I’m Fiona Gobbo
I’m the brand strategist & designer behind the luxury branding agency Fiona Gobbo Creative (the name might have tipped you off). I love helping brands with shaping their unique identities through strategy and design. When I’m not working I’m spending time with my cat Vinny, drinking flat whites with friends (or on my own — introvert ~*~vibes~*~) or working on other creative projects like my style blog.
With the blog I will inspire you with my next level branding tips to help you (re)build your high-end or luxury brand.
Strategic branding expert
Ciao, I’m Fiona Gobbo
I’m the brand strategist & designer behind the luxury branding agency Fiona Gobbo Creative (the name might have tipped you off). I love helping brands with shaping their unique identities through strategy and design. When I’m not working I’m spending time with my cat Vinny, drinking flat whites with friends (or on my own — introvert ~*~vibes~*~) or working on other creative projects like my style blog.
With the blog I will inspire you with my next level branding tips to help you (re)build your high-end or luxury brand.
