Inner Circle MBA reposted this
There’s an elective course at London Business School that has generated a lot of interest since it was introduced back in 2015. Stefano Turconi’s Luxury Strategy course consistently ranks as one of LBS’ more popular electives, both in terms of the number of students signing up for it, and in the evaluations they give afterwards. But, with content and case studies which focus on luxury goods and the biggest brands producing them you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s a little niche. So why all the interest? The answer is hidden in the stories that Stefano weaves as he teaches. Friday’s lecture was a grand tour of the gradual rise of the British outerwear brand Burberry, its brand perception crisis of the early 2000s, and its reversal of fortunes under Angela Ahrendts from 2006 to 2014. What became clear is that this is a story of multiple facets. It’s a story about history, it’s a story about brand, and it’s a story about finding the right market. What Angela Ahrendts did best was to weave the three together. Burberry’s history as the producer of trench coats for the British Army during the First World War was central to its story a little under 100 years later. Under Ahrendts the company shifted its attention to its British identity and its focus to its outerwear garments in an attempt to create a clear and compelling brand identity with which to polish off the tarnish that had accumulated in recent years. It also sought to exploit new markets; emerging markets in general, and millennials in particular. A large part of this was how Burberry engaged with its target market in the spaces they are most easily found: an early adoption and mastery of digital – a strategy underlined by former Global Head of Luxury at Meta, Morin Oluwole, when she took over in the second half of the lecture. More on that later. As the lecture went on the reasons behind its popularity became clear. With each insight given by both Stefano and Morin a light was shone on the overarching lesson being taught. Luxury Strategy isn’t just about luxury brands. It’s about how their strategies have brought enormous success. It’s about how these brands have been able to increase prices and margins, but also the number of customers at the same time. It’s about how to create value, and how to build an iconic brand. But really, it’s about what companies in other sectors could do to replicate this success. Doing an MBA is about outcomes. MBA students want career progression. Employers recruit MBA students because they want the best and brightest. What is telling is that the employment outcomes for those who take Stefano’s Luxury Strategy course often aren’t in the luxury goods sector. They are recruited into a wide range of industries, with most interest coming from employers in financial services and consulting. It seems there is crossover appeal. That seems obvious now. After all, what company doesn’t want to grow the pie and take a larger slice of it? Inner Circle MBA
Both the MBA and the MBA schools themselves are great examples of desirable and exclusive luxury brands that students and employers wish to be associated with. A career is built upon leveraging knowledge, experience, individual traits and personal branding. What is the role of the MBA in an individual’s brand identity Brett Hunter ? And as has been suggested recently, have we reached peak MBA?
It is a brilliant elective taught by a brilliant person. One of the highlights of my EMBA journey for sure.
The Burberry turnaround story is one of my favorite business cases and in part got me to appreciate the in-person buying experience in a way different from what Apple was doing at the time.
An absolutely outstanding course and a highlight of my time at LBS. If you take the course, you may come across a case study on De Beers with my name under Stefano's as a co-author!
Such an interesting digital transformation story for a heritage brand. Miriam ImOberstag you might find this post interesting!
Many congratulations, Stefano. No wonder you have been serial winner of the best MBA teacher award!
Definitely one of the best classes conducted at LBS! Such great memories!
It was definitely the most interesting and exciting elective of my LBS journey!
Research, Teach, Advise on Strategy Execution
4moThanks again for joining us in class - and for a flattering post - Brett Hunter. So far we have just covered the basics. If your time permits, come back to see how great companies like Aesop, Ferrari, Gucci and others have operationalised #Luxury #Strategy. Most importantly, I encourage you to meet and talk to the outstanding London Business School students who make the discussions multifaceted, practical and intellectually rewarding.