Research Paper on:
An Analysis of Burberry’s Differentiation Strategy

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Influences 14 4.2 Economic Influences 15 4.3 Socio-cultural Influences 16 4.4 Technological Influences 16 4.5 Environmental Influences 17 4.6 Legal Influences 18 5. SWOT Analysis 19 5.1 Strengths 19 5.2 Weaknesses 20 5.3 Opportunities 20 5.4 Threats 21 6. Internal Analysis 22 References 24  1. Introduction Burberry is a luxury British fashion house with a long history. Founded in 1856 by 21 year old Thomas Burberry in Basingstoke the  firm initially focused on outdoor wear (Burberry, 2011). By 1880 the firm was innovating with the development of the gabardine hardwearing, water resistant materlai which served as an early form  of differentiation. The well known equestrian logo was adopted and registered in 1901 (Burberry, 2011). This helped to create a unique brand image supporting the growing strong reputation the  firm had gained in the outer wear market. The firm has a history of achievements which help to differentiate its brand, though  developments and associations that aid the brand image; this included in 1911 outfitting the first man to reach the South Pole; Roald Amundsen, the link with expeditions was further established  with the outfitting of Ernest Shackletons 1914 expedition to cross the Antarctic, and then providing a Burberry jacket to George Mallory on his failed attempt to scale Mount Everest (Burberry,  2011). The robust image of the brand was further enhanced with the firm receiving a commission in 1914 from the War Office to make adaptations to the officers uniform to  bring it up to date, this resulted in the development of the trench coat which then became popular in the civilian market (Burberry, 2011).  The firm has received more commission, has designed many different types of garments, including aviation garments, and the development of the hallmark check. The firm has had a