Burberry has launched a new strategic plan, “Burberry Forward,” aimed at revitalizing the brand and addressing its recent struggles. The announcement comes as the company reports a 22% drop in revenue for the first half of fiscal year 2025.
For the 26 weeks ending September 28, 2024, Burberry’s total revenue fell to £1,086 million, a decrease of 22%. The company also saw its retail comparable store sales drop 20% year-on-year globally. Additionally, Burberry recorded an adjusted operating loss of £41 million ($52 million) during this period.
Joshua Schulman, who took over as Burberry’s CEO in July after previously working at Michael Kors, acknowledged the brand’s recent underperformance. He attributed the decline to several factors, including inconsistent brand execution and a failure to focus on its core outerwear category and customer base. “Today, we are acting with urgency to correct course, stabilize the business, and position Burberry for sustainable, profitable growth,” Schulman stated.
Schulman explained that in recent years, the brand had strayed too far from its roots, leading to disappointing results. “Our brand expression focused too much on being modern, at the expense of celebrating our heritage. We introduced new brand codes that confused our customers and moved towards seasonal fashion, overshadowing our timeless core collections,” he said. He also pointed out that the pricing of Burberry’s leather goods didn’t align with the brand’s luxury status, limiting its customer base.
Under its new plan, Burberry aims to reconnect with its heritage and leverage its strengths. The brand will take a more disciplined approach, focusing on a broader luxury customer base. The strategy includes balancing heritage and innovation across all customer touchpoints, combining seasonal fashion with campaigns that highlight Burberry’s outerwear authority. The brand will also showcase British wit and style, blending iconic London imagery with the British countryside.
To strengthen its market position, Burberry will align pricing with its category authority, celebrate iconic brand elements, and make fewer but bigger investments. The brand also plans to increase store productivity by focusing on core categories and using data-driven decisions alongside creativity.
Schulman emphasized that the plan will be supported by closer collaboration between Burberry’s commercial and creative teams, with the customer at the center of the company’s efforts. “We are reviving a high-performing culture. Our plan will focus on productivity, simplification, and financial discipline,” he said. “We are confident we can eventually reach £3 billion in annual revenue while rebuilding margins and generating strong cash flow.”
Burberry’s new strategic direction seeks to stabilize the brand and set the stage for long-term growth, focusing on its heritage and core strengths while appealing to a wider luxury audience.
Related topics:
