Burberry is getting a bit of stick at the moment. I mean, hiring Brooklyn Beckham to shoot their latest Burberry Brit campaign – how dare they? Fashion photographers across the world lashed out as the eldest Beckham child announced it via his Instagram and shared the news we could watch the live stream on Snapchat.
I can see their point. They’ve worked hard for years to hone their craft, build relationships and ultimately make it in a business that’s hard to crack. However, as a comms professional I think it’s brilliant.
Brooklyn has over 5.9m Instagram followers and is one of the most influential people in the world right now. Arguably his audience isn’t exactly Burberry buyers – but let’s face it, everyone loves a Beckham. I know I follow him, so do my friends and colleagues and would we have known or been interested in a new fragrance campaign if it wasn’t for him? By getting Brooklyn on board, the brand has gained global coverage and has positioned themselves as cool, innovative and accessible to all.
People want to see what he’s doing, what he’s wearing and who he’s talking to. This is why Snapchat is the perfect platform. The behind the scenes look into celeb life is what makes the social channel so brilliant and Burberry have combined this love for celeb gossip with their own story.
For me Burberry is owning Snapchat. They’re the only brand doing it well.
It’s the third most popular social app among Millennials and has more than 100 million daily active users. So why isn’t the industry using it more? It’s raw, relevant and real which can be scary, but with over 6 billion daily video views surely that’s a risk worth taking. Digital commerce outperformed all other Burberry channels, with mobile visits accounting for most of the traffic to Burberry.com.
Maybe 2016 is the year we all jump on the Burberry bandwagon?