When Burberry collaborated with Blankos to make their first NFT, we were delighted that they wanted to be a part of our world as much as we wanted to be a part of theirs! At the time, Burberry was at the frontier of a complete rebrand. This led to my approach being founded in deeply researching both the history of Burberry, and the history of their new CCO, Ricardo Tisci, to see exactly how much creative real estate there was to explore and develop, and to ensure that we were aiding in, and aligning with, the trajectory of their new identity. My output is designed to support Blankos’ marketing team and aid art direction in making researched decisions so that our clients feel heard, understood, and genuinely appreciated upon seeing each pitch. When a brand partners with Blankos, I help to build the expectation that we will be developing the more playful and whimsical side to the brand’s identity, and thereby invent a visual representation of that brand’s sense of humor and whimsy, which has been unseen before.

$196,048.00 in sales specifically on Burberry items.
$325,930, counting total primary market sales day of drop.
50% of buyers were new to Blankos.

RESEARCH TIER 1: Client’s Pitch

Burberry provided us the scope of both their summer 2020 and summer 2021 collections to pull from. This provided us with four different colorways of their new monogram patterns to choose from and two different ad campaigns to dive deeply into — specifically that of Kendall Jenner’s in 2020 and Naomi Campbell’s in 2021. Common themes present were an emphasis on luxury beach life, streetwear, fashion vanguards as a key audience, and using Burberry as influential statement pieces.

As part of the early days of the Burberry rebrand, a few other things also come into play. Not only is it important to incorporate items from each collection and new branding material, but it is also imperative that our output reflects the new interests, personal history, and trajectory brought forth by their new CCO, Ricardo Tisci. Included in this pitch was also a visible affection for fantastical and romantic narratives, as well as, pastoral and fantastical animals in dreamy editorial photo shoots which matched the tone of his recent promotional material for Burberry.

RESEARCH TIER 2: Personal Research

RICCARDO TISCI

BURBERRY’S PAST (PRE-2018)

BURBERRY’S FUTURE

Thus, I did my homework in the following way:

1. By watching both homemade youtube reviews and professional critiques and interviews of what the public thought of Burberry in the past and of their new rebrand.
   
   What they have kept within the reboot is what people have repeatedly stated that they love about the original Burberry brand: It is elegant and clean but with an edge. With each brand deal, it is important to understand where we sit in growing their brand identity. A collaboration with Blankos, for them, essentially aids the narrative of exactly what that edge could like on a more modern and global stage.
   

2. By researching on Riccardo Tisci’s Past: Burberry specifically hired him out of Givenchy as a creative director into Burberry to provide his unique touch to the Burberry brand. Upon learning he was hired to bring a good portion of his taste and perspective to the new burberry brand, it became a priority to me to understand him as a designer. Tisci, himself, is very interested in visuals of dichotomy, nature, adding a touch of femininity to all that he does, androgynous appeal, presenting visuals of strength and confidence, narratives about freedom, and folklore. There is also something a bit dark and romantic/sensual about his taste as well. Riccardo affiliates himself closely with celebrity brand identity through fashion, narrative, statement, and street culture. He has designed costumes for renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic’s opera inspired shows, outfits for Rihanna’s Diamond world tour and Beyonce and Jay-Z’s On the Run tour, worked as creative director on Kim Kardashian’s wedding dress (Kim/Kanye Wedding), and has repeatedly collaborated with Nike, to name a few accomplishments. Each of these moments are pieces in our cultural history, today. He clearly has an interest in creating unforgettable, if not memorable moments through fashion. As Blankos is creating Burberry’s first NFT, it was important to make something that would feel iconic and accessible in the same way, to echo the spin he now brings to the Burberry brand. It was also worth it to research all of the past collections he had done prior to the 2020 and 2021 summer collections. Noting his affection for romantic narratives and animals, I recalled a collection he had done about a mermaid that had fallen in love with a shark, and thus we were also able to pull a nice easter egg out and surprise his team with a few character designs that reflected the level of research we had done.
   

3. By researching Burberry’s past and comparing it to the reboot’s vision: The two key pillars of Tisci’s new reign appear to be to make Burberry a global brand rather than just a british brand, and to update the brand’s range to sit neatly in between street fashion and couture. He has replaced older british Burberry models like Cara Delevingne with models more in the social media limelight that connect strongly with Gen Z around the world like Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and Billie Eilish. Where Burberry used to target the 25-30 year old refined working woman of the UK, they are now redefining what it means to be a brand of “prestige and exclusivity.” They are phasing out their checkered print, almost entirely leaving it out of their campaigns sometimes, and pair their new pattern with bold color blocking.
   

4. By doing satellite research on their recent affiliations: I did deep dives into Vogue and the kind of fashion world Anna Wintour was trying to create, relevant high end influencers that were working with Burberry since the rebrand like the Kardashians and Billie Eilish, and then did further satellite research on them by understanding what each of these celebrities stood for, who their friends are, who their stylists are, what projects they were embarking on, and why Burberry would want to affiliate themselves with these individuals and what their involvement in this brand does to inform the public of Burberry’s new identity.
   

5. By doing satellite research on their new target demographic: What is a fashion vanguard? They represent a significant portion of global luxury sales. They are your influencers, your TikTokers, Instagrammers, celebrities, and street fashionistas. They are loud and passionate about their fashion and, in the words of Burberry, “drive halo across all other luxury fashion customer segments, so are therefore the most efficient audience to inspire.” They are just as keen to hop on trends as they are to create them, as is the nature of the internet, and their constant desire to express themselves, be it online or on the street, alone are a more influential advertisement than a billboard. Thus, to predict their interests one must also understand what they are willing to spend, what their political alignments and concerns are, who they are interested in binding their identities with, and what fashion means to them.

   
   I have come to find that what fashion is to this demographic is what gaming is our own gaming demographic. It’s cultural connotations dress you as much as the product itself. They are both emotional for people and the brands and pieces that you affiliate yourself with inform others of your identity. Whether you are a consumer or creator, it is important to find things that hit you emotionally because it will hit other people emotionally, too, as the outputs of these two spaces create community and help us reach out to each other on a deeply personal level. By partaking, we are expressing things that are intrinsically personal as our choice in clothes and games can express and reveal everything from our corner of the internet, to our mental state, to who we want to be in certain spaces. Both fashion and gaming have a reputation for being frivolous and shallow but when you get ot it, the reason why there are entire industries around these things are emotional and affect the way we feel about ourselves the most. This is why this level of research is so important to me.

RESEARCH TIER 3: Connective Tissue

For example:

At the time, the most recent celebrity collaboration Burberry had published was with Billie Eilish.
→ If someone enjoys Billie Eilish, they may give the latest James Bond movie a chance since she just worked on their opening musical number.
→ If they enjoy James Bond, they may enjoy european industrial design.
→ Therefore, it makes sense to design a jetpack that references that same kind of visual language and perhaps we can work backwards and net that entire demographic of individuals previously covered and purposefully add that aesthetic to Burberry’s branding identity.

Not everyone will get the hero product: the playable NFT character Sharky B, nor will everyone get the jetpack. However, there should be a more accessible product that carries the essence of the skin without cheapening the product. At $299.99, and only 750 Sharky B NFTs available on market, the intention of the collaboration will be lost of those without lightning fast fingers and extra cash cannot partake in the experience. Similarly, there are only 1500 jetpacks sold at $99.99.

Where the jetpack is designed to support the branding narrative and exclusivity of Sharky B, the pool shoes and arm bands are both more whimsical and accessible. Provided at an unlimited quantity for several days, players could purchase pool shoes that are designed to carry the essence of Sharky B, as well as the armbands, which are not only the most accessible, but most loyal to the representation of the brand itself.

This pack dropped on August 11, 2021.

Direct (players spending real money) primary purchases of items resulted in $196,048.00 in sales specifically on Burberry items. However, if you count total primary sales the day of the drop, the result is $325,930. Primary sales refer to purchases directly through mythical. Mythical also provides a secondary market built on our own blockchain.

By Aug 27 at 10:30 am, secondary sales of Burberry items has resulted in a gross sales of $201,335 ($24,813 gross revenue).

Unlike our previous premium drops (Deadmau5 and Kitsune), the bulk of our Burberry purchasers were relatively new (50% in Aug)

1,649 people participated in this drop
668 people converted because of this drop
223 people are new to the game because of this drop

During a 12 day period with an unlimited quantity available, 1786 Pool Shoes sold at $49.99.

Under the same circumstances, 1662 Armbands sold at $24.99.

Jetpacks sold out in 3 min 30 secs, with only 1500 available.

Sharky B sold out in 30 seconds.