Principles of Marketing Communication: Burberry Brand Repositioning

This assignment analyzes the brand repositioning strategy of Burberry, a luxury brand aiming to enhance its image and market position. The study examines the relevance of brand positioning and repositioning for marketers, emphasizing their role in improving brand value and image. It explores the implications of successful repositioning, including competitive advantage, increased sales, and adaptation to market changes. A positioning map illustrates Burberry's shift toward the high-quality, high-price quadrant, comparing it with competitors like Gucci and Primark. The assignment further discusses two key methods for brand repositioning: symbolism-oriented and celebrity-oriented approaches, providing a comprehensive overview of strategies to achieve brand objectives and address market changes. The report concludes by summarizing the advantages of brand repositioning for businesses and providing actionable insights for marketing professionals.

Running head: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Principles of Marketing Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Introduction
Background of the company
Burberry is a luxury brand that is based in UK and have operations in several countries in
Middle East, Europe, and Africa as well as in China. The organization has a rapidly growing
market in China, Hong Kong and Japan where demand for luxury products have increased
significantly. To address this, the CEO of the company (Marco Gobbets) has decided to
reposition the brand in the luxury circle.
Aim of the study
The aim of the study is to produce an analysis of the case study in relation to the marketing
problems faced by the business in context to the repositioning of the brand.
Discussion
Part 1
Relevance and importance of positioning and repositioning for marketers
Brand positioning and repositioning refers to the process of orienting or reorienting the target
consumers to purchase from a particular brand and is guided by the common aim of
improving brand value and image. The approaches of positioning can help a brand to create
an identity or image in the minds of the customers for its products, the brand or the
organization (Insch and Bowden 2016). Repositioning, on the other hand focuses on
changing an already established identity for the product in relation to the identity of
competing products within the target market. Brand repositioning can help to achieve an
increase in the influx of new customers. Support an increase in the value for the company,
improve alignment and clarity of the business processes, enable a slow increase in sales and
ensure business sustainability (Blažek 2015). The importance of brand repositioning can be

2PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
further supported by the ability of the strategies to improve the competitive position of the
brand, improve sales, capture the target market more successfully, align the business
activities to the current market needs and also draw attention from potential media (Ren et al.
2018).
Implications for performance of the business when the move is successful
When the repositioning strategies utilized by a business is successful it helps to achieve the
following outcomes for the business:
 Provide a competitive advantage to the brand: if the repositioning of the brand is
successful, it can help to gain a better competitive position within the market by
successfully outlining a positive change within the marketing approaches that are
favorable within the target customer segment.
 Increase sales: the rebranding strategy can support an increase in sales by addressing
the needs, expectations and demands of the customer by producing those products and
services that comply with those requirements (Putra and Zuhdi 2018).
 Change existing marketing and branding strategies: the rebranding essentially allows
to create changes in the strategies of marketing and branding that is adopted by the
organization and thereby shift its paradigm and change the brand image within the
target consumer segment.
 Address changes in the market needs: in the dynamically changing market, rebranding
can help and organization to adapt to the change and respond more appropriately by
developing products and services that addresses the current market trends and
changes.
 Change brand image: The repositioning strategy can open the doors to create a new
brand image which in care of Burberry would be the development of its image in the
market as a luxury goods producer (Ponnam et al. 2015).

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Part 2
Demonstration on how the positioning of the brand will change the results for Burberry
using a positioning map
Figure 1: Positioning Map. Source: Self work
As a result of the repositioning process, the organization can change its position within the
perceptual map and place itself within the quadrants of high quality and high price thereby
rebranding its image as a luxury brand which typically exhibits these two characteristics. This
can place the brand alongside rebound brands such as Gucci and thereby carve its image and
brand positioning within the luxury products category (Stensson et al. 2015).
Identifying where on the map the brands would be located (Gucci and Primark)
Brands such as Gucci which is a well-known luxury brand can also be mapped into the same
quadrant of high quality and high price while Primack can be mapped within the quadrant of
high price and low quality.
Part 3
High quality
Low quality
Low price
rice
High price
Gucci
Primark
Burberry

4PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Two methods which brands like Burberry may use to achieve repositioning
In order to reposition the brand, two approaches or methods that can be used by Burberry
includes:
 Symbolism oriented repositioning: The symbolism oriented approach focuses on the
development of a strong functional image that can be used in the market for its
symbolic position without losing the association with the previous positioning
approaches. This also involves the creation of new brand symbol that the customers
can relate to the brands image, quality and persona.
 Celebrity oriented repositioning: within the celebrity oriented approach of
repositioning for the brand, association with celebrities with the brand is done in
order to attract the customers by leveraging the fame and status of the celebrity. This
can therefore help a brand to reach out to new market segments based on the fame of
the celebrity.
(Blankson 2016)
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be seen that the approaches of brand positioning or repositioning
can have several outcomes or advantages for a business and help the business to address
market changes and gain competitive advantages. The positioning of the brand, Burberry was
mapped using the positioning map and could be compared with the position of Gucci and
Primark. Two approaches or methods for brand repositioning was also discussed.

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References:
Blankson, C., 2016. Positioning a brand. The Routledge companion to contemporary brand
management, pp.164-185.
Blažek, J., 2015. Towards a typology of repositioning strategies of GVC/GPN suppliers: The
case of functional upgrading and downgrading. Journal of Economic Geography, 16(4),
pp.849-869.
Insch, A. and Bowden, B., 2016. Possibilities and limits of brand repositioning for a second-
ranked city: The case of Brisbane, Australia's “New World City”, 1979–2013. Cities, 56,
pp.47-54.
Nundkumar, P. and Singh, A.M., 2016. Repositioning the Durban Chamber of Commerce
using the 4Ps of marketing. The Retail and Marketing Review, 12(2), pp.1-13.
Ponnam, A., Sreejesh, S. and Balaji, M.S., 2015. Investigating the effects of product
innovation and ingredient branding strategies on brand equity of food products. British Food
Journal.
Putra, A.G. and Zuhdi, S., 2018. The Influence of Repositioning Strategies on Purchase
Intention Through Brand Personality and Brand Association. In THE INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON ACCOUNTING AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (p. 158).
Ren, L., Zhao, J., Chen, P.J. and Wang, P., 2018. Brand repositioning in the hotel industry-a
case study of Howard Johnson in China. CAUTHE 2018: Get Smart: Paradoxes and
Possibilities in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education and Research, p.282.

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Stensson, D., Strömberg, A. and Alfredsson, J., 2015. The Effects of Repositioning as a
process of Rebranding in terms of Brand Equity, Corporate Identity, and Brand Image: A
case study on Lidl.