International Brand Strategy: A Case Study of Burberry & British Image

This report provides an analysis of Burberry's international brand strategy, focusing on how the company leverages its British image in the global market. It begins with an overview of Burberry, its history, and its internationalization process, including the steps taken to enter the Indian market, such a...Read More

International brand
strategy making use of
the British image

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
The brand and its international activities................................................................................3
Britishness..............................................................................................................................5
Critical analysis of the use of the British image in the chosen international market.............7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................10
Online...................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The nature of business environment is dynamic and it keeps on changing. Globalisation has
permitted the business organisations to expand their operations in various parts of world. The
business organisation work on establishing effective image in the home country and then use the
same to enhance the operations in international market (Lupton and et.al., 2020). This report is
based on Burberry that is a British luxury fashion house. This report is based on evaluating the
international business of Burberry. In the starting of this report, there is analysis related to brand
and the internationalisation process used by the company. The description related to the market
in which company is operating is mentioned. Afterwards, there is analysis regarding Britishness
and the elements of British image that will help the company to operate in international market.
In the end, there is critical evaluation regarding the use of British image by the company at the
time of expanding operations.
MAIN BODY
The brand and its international activities
Brief description of Burberry
The company was founded 166 years ago by Thomas Burberry. The headquarters of
Burberry are in in London, England. The company deals in footwear, fashion accessories,
eyewear, fragrances, and cosmetics. The most famous product of Burberry is trench coat. The
company has established effective position in market and serves their products around the world.
There are around 9234 employees working in company (About Burberry Group Plc, 2022). The
company uses proper marketing and has established effective brand image in UK. At the same
time the use of digital marketing helps the company to reach more and more customers. The
company works to provide quality products to the customers that will help them to retain the
customers.
The brand’s internationalisation process
Internationalisation is business can be defined as the process of designing the products
and services to fulfil the need of international customers. The business organisations work to
expand their business in order to enhance their profitable position (ROUX, 2021). The steps used
in the process of internationalisation used by Burberry to enter Indian market are as follows:
Choose country: This is the first step and the company must analyse the demand of
products and services in the market. Burberry worked to analyse the attractiveness of their
industry in India and also checked the rules and regulations.
Conduct market analysis: After selecting the market, next step is to carry on analysis.
All the important aspects such political condition, technological updates, social factors, demand,
competition and laws of the country were analysed by Burberry. It makes the company prepare
for condition of the market and then formulate strategies to enter the market.
Plan market entry: In this step the company decides the market strategy that would be best
suitable for them. There are certain options such export, joint venture, foreign direct investment,
wholly owned subsidiary, licencing and franchising (Jiménez et.al., 2020). To enhance their
operations in India, foreign direct investment will be used. They have used this strategy and enter
the market by opening their stores in India directly. There is need of using the best suitable
strategy in the market as it helps to beat competition in the market.
Evaluate the market position: There is key role of analysing the position of company in
international market. It is seen that there are several other players who are already working in the
same sector. Also, in this step the strategies used by other competitors in India are being

evaluated. This helps to Burberry to take suitable actions. The company decides their positioning
strategy in order to capture the needs and wants of the customers.
Consider the target audience: One of the important step while entering international
market is to know about the target audience. There is use of proper analysis of the segments of
customers and then targeting one among them (Adomako et.al., 2020). Burberry is a luxury
brand and targets mostly high class people. The age group that is targeted by the company is 20
to 45 years. By selecting right target group, the company is able to directly enhance their
revenue.
Alteration in products and services: After analysing the needs and preference of the
customers the company. In this steps, the company make slight alterations in the products offered
by them so that they are able to satisfy the Indian customers as well.
Analyse supply chain and value chain: In this step, Burberry works on deciding upon the
supply chain. All the partners of supply chain are being analysed and that helps them to reach the
customers effectively.
Stage theory of internationalization
This is one of the theory of internationalisation that says that the purpose of
internationalisation is an incremental, gradual and dynamic process. It is necessary to understand
the aim of internationalisation and then follow all the steps that will make the company and its
working successful (Park, and Chung, 2019). There are two parts of this model and they are the
patterns of internationalization and the model of internationalization. The focus is on enhancing
the image of the company in international market and managing the work.
International market - brief description of the chosen market
The Indian market is different from the British market. The needs and wants of the
customers, lifestyle, culture, preferences of the customers are different. In is seen that the
spending level of customers in UK is higher than in India. This is also a point that is challenging
for Burberry. The company must analyse the situation of the country effectively and then carry
on their operations. The customers in India are more emotional and the company needs to
connect with them in order to attain success.
Britishness
What is Britishness?
It can be understood as British national identity. It helps to understand the culture, values,
tradition, language that are being followed by British people. It includes the qualities that bind
the British people and show their identity. The norms that are followed in United Kingdoms are
part of Britishness. The power and politics in the nation and their own legitimacy and
authenticity help to develop the Britishness (Al-Fadhat, 2022). There is use of English language
and the tradition is also famous. There are people who prefer eating non vegetarian food and fish.
The Christmas and New year are celebrating on a wide scale in British. The western future is
followed there and the people wear modern clothes. The spending power of the people in UK is
also good.
What elements of the British image does the brand incorporate into its operation in
international markets?
The culture of the counties is different from one another. There is need of understanding
the culture and norms of the country in which the brand wants to expand the operations. The
company learns from the hoe country and use the elements to expand their brand in international
market. Burberry started their operations in the market of UK (Buasup, Bunchapatthanasakda
and Kuntonbutr, 2021). They have understood and adopted the culture of British. They are

earning good amount of profit in the market. At the time of expanding their business these
elements of British image help them at certain levels. There is discussion related to the elements
done below:
Western culture: There are trendy clothes being served by Burberry and it helps them to
manage their image in market. The use of western clothes is one of the element that is being used
by Burberry at the time of enhancing their operations in India. It is seen that the customers of
India are ready to adopt the western style of clothing and it helps them to carry on the work
effectively.
Research: There is use of effective research being done by business organisations in UK.
There is need of using research in such a manner as the company is able to carry on the
operations effectively. The use of proper research assists the company to serve the needs and
wants of the customers (Alibiev, 2019). There is need of analysing the trend in market. The same
helps the company at the time of operations in India. The use of all these methods help Burberry
to enhance the operations.
Marketing: It is one of the important element that helps a company to carry on their
working and establish their brand image. There is use of key marketing tools and techniques
done in Britishness. The use of all such tools help them serve the needs and wants of the
customers. The same is being used by Burberry at the time of operating in India. The use of
updated marketing is necessary for the company and its growth. The use of digital marketing
helps the company to reach the customers effectively.
Infrastructure: There are physical as well as online existence of Burberry that helps the
company to serve the requirements of customers in effective manner (Tang, 2019). In India the
company have their offline stores and they deliver their products to the customers in effective
manner.
These are the elements that are being used by Burberry. These are from British culture and
helps the company to operate effectively.
Provide details of how Britishness is incorporated within the brand for the chosen
international market
There is use of the elements of British culture by Burberry at the time of expanding the
business in India. It is one of the luxury brand in fashion industry. The trend followed by
Burberry is of western culture that they have incorporated from international market (Deng, Jean
and Sinkovics, 2018). There is need of following the culture in order to serve the customers
effectively. Also, there is use of digital marketing that makes the company effective in the
market. The use of digital marketing helps Burberry to enhance their image in market.
Critical analysis of the use of the British image in the chosen international market
Whether the brand uses the Britishness in the chosen international market properly?
Why? If not, how could it be improved? Why?
It is not possible to use Britishness in the international market properly as the needs and
wants of customers are different. The company has to analyse the culture of India in order to
satisfy the needs of the customers there (Kogut, de Mello and da Rocha, 2019). By knowing
about, the fashion in India Burberry is able to capture the market. The company analyses the
strategies of competitors in fashion industry and then formulate their strategies. English is one of
the common language in UK and the same can not be done in India. There is need of making
certain alternations in the products in order to provide the best to customers. There is need of
working as per the strengths of the company and incorporating them in their operations.
There are some points such as digital marketing that are being followed by the business

organisation. They assist Burberry to enhance their overall position and expand their operations
in market. They must know about the trends and keep on providing quality products to the
customers.
Whether the use of Britishness has helped the brand entering and developing this
market. Why?
Yes, the use of Britishness helps Burberry to enter Indian market. The company is able to
provide latest trend according to western culture in India. This helps the customers of India to
become loyal for the brand and are able to enhance their brand image. It is necessary to know
about the international standards and they must be followed so that the brand is able to serve the
customers need (Lin et.al., 2020). The market is developed by use of digital marketing and
online selling as well. There is need of working according to digitalisation as it makes the
customers more successful. The development according to the latest technology enhance the
operations of the brand. There is key role of advertisements and by knowing about the
customers, alterations in the patter of advertisement can be made. The important aspects that can
be used are adopted by Burberry in Indian market.
Will Brexit affect the use of the British image in this country? How and why?
Brexit was separation of European market from UK. There is no impact of Brexit at the time
of starting the operations in India. It is an independent country and there is no impact of Brexit.
There are own laws and legislations being followed and implemented in India. The company can
start their operations in India and carry on the trade as per the laws. At the time of Brexit, there
was world currency and it impacted the world.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is concluded that international brands must carry on the research
before entering the international market. There is proper analysis regarding the new market in
which the firm wants to expand the business at the same time, the steps to enter international
market are mentioned. There is evaluation regarding Britishness and the elements of British
image that will help to expand the business. In the end, there is discussion related to benefit of
Britishness that helps to develop the market.

REFERENCES:
Books and Journals
Adomako et.al., 2020. Home country institutional impediments and international expansion of
developing country SMEs. International Business Review, 29(5), p.101716.
Al-Fadhat, F., 2022. Big Business Capital Expansion and the Shift of Indonesia’s Global
Economic Policy Outlook. East Asia, pp.1-18.
Alibiev, T., 2019. International business and marketing through the prism of the expansion of
the Russian business to Hungary (Doctoral dissertation, Wien).
Buasup, P., Bunchapatthanasakda, C. and Kuntonbutr, C., 2021. Marketing Strategy Model for
International Expansion: A Case of Thai SMEs. The Journal of Pacific Institute of
Management Science (Humanities and Social Science), 7(2), pp.522-534.
Deng, Z., Jean, R.J. and Sinkovics, R.R., 2018. Rapid expansion of international new ventures
across institutional distance. Journal of International Business Studies, 49(8), pp.1010-1032.
Jiménez et.al., 2020. National Income Inequality and International Business Expansion. Business
and Society, 59(8).
Kogut, C.S., de Mello, R.D.C. and da Rocha, A., 2019. International expansion for knowledge
acquisition or knowledge acquisition for international expansion?. Multinational Business
Review.
Lin et.al., 2020. Does international expansion constrain growth? Business groups,
internationalization, institutional distance, and the Penrose effect. Multinational Business
Review.
Lupton and et.al., 2020. National income inequality and international business expansion.
Business & Society, 59(8), pp.1630-1666.
Park, H. and Chung, C.C., 2019. The role of subsidiary learning behavior and absorptive
capacity in foreign subsidiary expansion. International Business Review, 28(4), pp.685-695.
ROUX, P., 2021. International Business Expansion: A guide to decision-making for greenfield
expansions.
Tang, R.W., 2019. FDI expansion speed of state-owned enterprises and the moderating role of
market capitalism: Evidence from China. International Business Review, 28(6), p.101596.
Online
About Burberry Group Plc, 2022. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.burberryplc.com/en/company.html>