博柏利变身高科技时尚偶像

    拿台北的这次活动来说，它一半是宴会，一半是时装秀。贝利用庞大的360度多媒体视效展示了模特身着博柏利服装走秀的过程。另外在线视频里还有当地名人入场以及宾客们用手机拍照的样子。背景音乐是英国歌手Marina and the Diamonds的那首《Numb》。

    根据最新统计，这段视频在YouTube上获得了13万次点击量——这是很了不起的，因为它从本质上讲只是一个广告，人们不必非得看它。在伦敦总部的一次会议上，艾伦茨还表示，不知能否在台北门店里播放这段视频。也就是说，能不能把一个现实活动的数码版拿回到现实世界里播放？

    博柏利的数字化举措已经越来越超出了品牌建设的范畴。用户可以通过博柏利网站的“真实T台”（Runway to Reality）收看时装秀的实况转播，然后订购他们刚刚在视频里看到的时装，然后在六到八周内就能收到订购的衣服。

    消费者并非唯一感受到博柏利的数字化变革的人。就在贝利还在为时装秀做准备的时候，博柏利已经把一些客服人员送到了伦敦，针对新产品进行培训。他解释说：“我们的业务模式突然开始变化了，因为现在我们得在一款时装的实物尚未诞生之前就开始对销售人员进行培训。”

    当然，构建一种并非完全交易导向型的网络广告具有很大的风险。奢侈品营销和品牌咨询公司Greenhill+Partners的杜克•格林希尔表示：“在人们看完了网络广告后，他们想的应该是：‘我要买那件衣服’，而不是‘这个视频真酷，不过我不记得那个产品了。’”

    虽然艾伦茨对数码如此热情，不过她从没忽视让博柏利得以立足的根本——服装和配饰。当艾伦茨检查男装团队刚刚设计出的一款短风衣式外套时，整个房间里充满了兴奋之情。艾伦茨说：“不管你怎么叫它，你都希望它能像风衣一样经典，让人想去拥有它。”说完她就启程赶赴下一个会议了。毕竟艾伦茨已经证明了一点，就像她的科技伙伴一样，她知道如何快速行动。

    译者：朴成奎

    For the Taipei event, which was one part party, one part fashion show, Bailey had built a massive, 360-degree multimedia display that showed a movie of models in Burberry clothing. The online video stitched together footage of the arrival of local celebrities, scenes of guests snapping photographs of the movie on their smartphones, and other clips, all against a stirring soundtrack ("Numb" by Marina and the Diamonds).

    The video had more than 130,000 views on YouTube at last count -- impressive considering it's essentially an ad that people choose to watch. In a meeting back at headquarters Ahrendts wonders if Burberry should play the video inside the Taipei stores. In other words, how could the company bring this digital representation of a physical event back into the physical world?

    The company increasingly is pushing its platforms beyond branding. Burberry's Runway to Reality lets viewers watch a live stream of its shows, order what they just saw, and receive their purchase in six to eight weeks.

    Customers aren't the only ones experiencing changes as a result of Burberry's tech push. While Bailey was preparing the show, the company flew members of its customer service staff to London to train them on the new products. "The business model suddenly starts to change because we now have to train our sales associates on a collection that doesn't physically exist yet," he explains.

    There's a risk, of course, to creating a digital presence that isn't completely transaction-oriented. "You have to walk away from the online experience thinking, 'I need to buy that shirt' -- not 'That's a really cool video, but I don't remember the product,' " says Duke Greenhill of luxury marketing and branding consultancy Greenhill+Partners.

    For all her enthusiasm for digital, Ahrendts never loses sight of the very "analog" products that make Burberry what it is: clothing and accessories. The room practically crackled with excitement as she inspected the short trench coats that the men's wear team had in the works. "Whatever you call it," she said, "you want it to be as memorable as the trench. Just own it." With that she jetted off to her next meeting. After all, Ahrendts has proved that, just like her tech partners, she knows how to move fast.