Burberry tops L2’s Fashion Digital index

London - British heritage brand Burberry has ranked first in L2’s seventh annual Fashion Digital index to be listed as a company of ‘genius’ in the ranking of fashion and retail’s most digitally adept brands.

Burberry, which last year slipped from top spot to sixth, has regained its digital title after it utilised what L2 claims are ‘It’ platforms including Periscope and Snapchat, as well as launching on emerging platforms such as Apple Music, and upgrading its mobile platform, which has led it to increase its mobile sales this year.

The British fashion house was one of only two brand to be branded ‘genius’ in the ranking that measured 83 brands on metrics including website and e-commerce, digital marketing, social media, and mobile and tablet. The runner-up digital ‘genius’ was Kate Spade, which L2 states is second only to Ralph Lauren in site traffic, its increase in unique monthly visitors, clear navigation on its website, and its social media prowess has helped it take second spot in the Fashion Digital index.

“Burberry is a story of mobile. It’s the only brand that seems to not only get these ‘cool kid’ platforms — they are the only ones that have pulled off programming at scale on Snapchat,” said Scott Galloway, founder of L2 Inc. “They perfectly lived up to the hype that they consistently generate.”

Last year, there were four genius brands: Coach, Gucci, Tory Burch and Ralph Lauren. This year, Ralph Lauren dropped to third place from ‘genius’ to ‘gifted’, along with last year’s other ‘genius’ brands. They were also joined by Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Cole Haan, Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, Lacoste, Vineyard Vines, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Stuart Weitzman, Tom Ford, Versace, and Valentino.

Brands listed as ‘average’ includes Chanel, Paul Smith, Balenziaga, Prada, Christian Louboutin, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang, Moschino, Mulberry, Dior and Missoni.

Whereas brands listed as ‘challenged’ included Vivienne Westwood, Miu Miu, Kenzo, and Givenchy, while the worst digital brands in the index, listed as ‘feeble’ were Chloe, Roger Vivier, Alfred Dunhill, Emilio Pucco, Manolo Blahnik, Caroline Herrera, Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Celine, and Jean Paul Gaultier was listed as the worst fashion digital brand in the index.