The Bond Street tube station on the London Underground was temporarily renamed “Burberry Street” as part of a London Fashion Week marketing campaign for the British luxury brand, causing confusion among Londoners and tourists.
According to Transport for London staff members, signs announcing the opening of Burberry’s redesigned flagship store on Bond Street remained up from Friday until late Monday and early Tuesday, and led to several calls from confused customers. Complaints came.
Several uniformed staff members, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the news media, said customers had reported missing their stops because of the signs, which appear to be Burberry’s new bright blue. Were in color.
One staff member said, “To be honest, I heard all different things, but unfortunately nothing was positive.” “People were saying, ‘Why is this? It’s confused us. We saw ‘Burberry Street’ and thought we were in the wrong place.”
Transport for London said the campaign was one of several in recent years involving temporarily renaming Tube stations.
“While the station is branded ‘Burberry Street’, announcements on trains, announcements within stations and staff on platforms will help customers when they need it,” it said in a statement.
A Transport for London spokesperson declined to comment on how much Burberry paid for the advertising campaign, but said the proceeds would be reinvested in London’s transport system. Transport for London is struggling with rising inflation and operating costs, which are 5 per cent higher than last year, according to the latest financial report. Published in July, It said passenger journeys are at 89 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
A 2013 reportWritten by Conservative Party members of the London Assembly, suggesting renaming of London Underground lines and stations through sponsorship deals As a way of raising revenue for Transport for London.
Burberry did not respond to a request for comment.
Natasha Radcliffe-Thomas, marketing professor at the British School of Fashion, sees the signs as she enters Bond Street station on the Elizabeth Line on Monday. He said, the placement of the advertisements seemed potentially confusing to him, as the station is used by many visitors to and from London Heathrow Airport, and not all of them may be aware that Bond Street is associated with high fashion brands. Has happened.
Still, he said, the campaign created a stir for Burberry and London Fashion Week, which has struggled in the years since the pandemic.
“Burberry associating themselves with other London icons is quite a clever idea as they also want to sell themselves on British heritage and a London-based base,” he said. “But maybe they could have done it a little differently.”
Silvia Belleza, an associate professor of marketing at Columbia Business School who studies luxury fashion brands, called the campaign a success for Burberry.
“They probably took into account that some people were going to be confused or possibly lost, but people are talking about it, and for many people, that’s the goal,” she said.
He said searches for “barberry” increased on Tuesday. Google Trends in UK, a metric that brands use to assess success in reaching consumers. He said the campaign was “Instagrammable”, with people wanting to take selfies next to “Burberry Street” signs, which could help rejuvenate the 167-year-old brand.
