博柏利女掌门详解英伦百年品牌的回春秘方

    2006年，安吉拉•阿伦茨接手博柏利公司（Burberry）时，深感时不我待。当时，这家拥有150年历史的著名品牌大势已去、增长乏力。它所在行业当时的增速达到了13%，它的增长率却卡在区区2%上就止步不前。它的昔日辉煌似乎已成明日黄花；安吉拉必须全力以赴，迎头赶上。她说：“我甚至没时间去考虑”进行重大变革“会带来的负面影响”。

    通过聚焦更年轻的目标市场，采用数字媒体和社交媒体，这家奢侈品牌正在夺回失地。阿伦茨今年46岁，当她接任公司首席执行官后，公司股票已经上涨了200%。在博柏利总部所在地——伦敦，《财富》杂志（Fortune ）举办了“最具影响力女性” （Most Powerful Women）峰会。活动开幕式上，《财富》杂志执行主编斯蒂芬妮•麦塔对阿伦茨做了深度专访。阿伦茨为在场嘉宾详细剖析了她的战略——并分享了自己的成功秘诀。

    单打独斗成不了气候。“我要通过团队来工作。这是我所知的唯一可行的工作方式。”她担任首席执行官后，第一个动作就是将分布在全球各地的数百名高级经理召集起来，举行为期一周的头脑风暴会议，讨论如何让这个已经丧失竞争优势的品牌重获新生。2008年金融危机来袭时，面对即将到来的困境，公司不得不蛰伏下来，而她再次向团队靠拢，大家齐心协力，共度难关。

    快速前进。但是，也必须回顾自身，找到长期积淀下来的优势。2006年，阿伦茨和她的团队在分析竞争形势后得到的第一个共识是：“我们是英国品牌。其他品牌没有这一血统。我们该怎么利用这一传统呢？”

    开拓“千禧年”（数字化的代称——译注）市场。有一个数字始终盘踞在阿伦茨的脑海里：全球人口中有60%的人年龄在30岁以下。她请来的研究顾问所做的调研表明，在全球新兴市场中，这个人群也是高净值客户集中的群体。因此，阿伦茨及其团队很快做出了决策，博柏利的未来取决于对“千禧年”市场的开发。

    抓住“数字化一代”。要和数字化受众沟通就必须有一支与他们拥有共同语言的员工队伍，通过数字媒体和社交媒体与他们交流。她对年轻用户的看法是：“这类媒体就是他们的母语。”现在，博柏利公司70% 的员工年龄在30岁以下，仅仅在她伦敦的办公室里就有来自40个不同国家的员工。

    在公司内部创造统一的品牌愿景。阿伦茨进入董事会时，博柏利正与全球各大广告公司开展合作。而阿伦茨将广告创意活动导入公司内部，由创意总监克里斯多夫•贝利主导。贝利跟随她有十年之久，是她“通往年轻一代的桥梁”。这一举措让博柏利获得了“完全的掌控和一致的愿景”。

    When Angela Ahrendts took over Burberry (BBRYF) in 2006, she had no time to waste. The 150-year-old label had lost its cache. In a sector growing 13%, its growth clocked in at 2%. Its best days seemed behind; Ahrendts needed to lean forward. "There was not time to even think about the downsides" of making big changes, she says.

    By targeting a more youthful market and embracing digital and social media, the luxury brand is back in the game. Since Ahrendts, now 46, took over as CEO, the company's stock has risen 200%. In a wide-ranging interview with Fortune executive editor Stephanie Mehta at the inaugural Fortune Most Powerful Women event in London, where Burberry is based, Ahrendts took her audience inside her strategy—and shared her secrets for success.

    It's not about you. "I work through teams. It's the only way I know how to work." Her first move as CEO was to pull together more than a hundred senior managers from all over the world for a week of brain-storming on how to re-launch a brand that had lost its edge. She would again reach out to her team when the 2008 financial crisis hit and the company had to hunker down for the coming rough seas.

    Move forward fast. But also look backward to identify enduring strengths. The first conclusion Ahrendts and her team made in 2006, after they examined the competition: "We're British. They're not. How do we exploit that heritage?"

    Go millennial. One figure stuck in Ahrendts head: 60% of the world's population is under 30. She brought in research consultants who produced numbers showing that in growing global markets, this is also where the high net worth customers are. Ahrendts and her team quickly determined that Burberry's future hinged on targeting the millennial market.

    Nab those "digital natives." To communicate with a millennial audience, you need an employee base that speaks their language—through digital and social media. "That's their mother tongue," she says of young people. Today, 70% of Burberry employees are under 30, and 40 nationalities are represented in her London office alone.

    Create a unified branding vision—in house. When Arhrendts came on board, Burberry was working with advertising agencies all over the world. Ahrendts brought that effort inside, under the direction of creative brain Christopher Bailey, ten years her junior and her "bridge to a younger generation." The move gave Burberry "total control and singular vision."