Most marketers strive for the kind of logo recognition enjoyed by marketers like Nike, McDonald's, or Burberry--where even a glance at a swoosh, the golden arches, or the famous plaid check conjures
up the company's name. But Burberry has found that sometimes such recognition results in too much of a good thing. The retailer and fashion house has found that in recent years, it attached its plaid
to too many products, and its brand image slid, with even British soccer hooligans wearing it. The problem was compounded by counterfeit goods. But Burberry's new CEO Angela Ahrendts plans to fix the
problem by adding to the plaid, by placing an equestrian knight and the cursive signature of founder Thomas Burberry as logos on Burberry handbags, shoes, and scarves. "We will always have the check,"
says Ahrendts. "But on some of our new products, we are strategically diversifying into new icons." Observers say that Ahrendts needs to transcend Burberry's trademark tartan, which defines--and
confines--its identity in the minds of consumers. "Burberry's biggest challenge is to go from the plaid to the product," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market-research firm NPD Group.
"Sometimes a company's biggest asset is also its biggest challenge."
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