Burberry X Capgemini Innovation Day

Together we explored, learned, and experienced how innovation can propel Burberry into the future.

The Capgemini team hosted an Innovation Day at Burberry HQ in London, to explore together how innovation can drive the future of Burberry and fuel Burberry’s ambitions as a market disruptor.

Our innovation teams, alongside selected partner organisations, innovated and built tangible, interactive concepts covering five key thematic areas. Inspiring and unlocking richer insight into opportunities across: digital and Web3, sustainability, community and loyalty, future retail experiences and supply chain.

Digital ownership, exclusive membership & rewards

How can physical products be enhanced with digital collectibles to build communities and unlock exclusive rewards? Enter the Lola Snap Burberry filter, a social filter anchored to a physical Burberry product, the Lola Bag. Participants could experience an exclusive social filter, unlocked by scanning a Lola in Snapchat.

Online to offline customer experience personalisation

Unleashing 3D printing to offer exclusive, personalised, in-store drops and experiences.

Participants had the opportunity to undergo an exclusive Lola Charm designer experience, built exclusively for the event. Digitally perfecting their own unique charm.

Select participants were able to collect pre-prepared, personalised 3D printed charms to take with them, created in partnership with Additive-X, demonstrating an innovative approach to localised product creation.

Additionally, with our partners at Additive-X, we discussed and explored the wide-ranging potential of Additive Manufacturing for Burberry, assisting manufacturing and supply-chain, and unlocking new possibilities for materials and products.

Re-take the secondary market

Driving sustainability and unlocking new revenue opportunities via a Burberry-operated circular economy resale channel.

We began with a Burberry customer, scheduling an in-store appointment to give a new life to her current Lola Bag. We then showcased how bags such as this could be can be authenticated, valued and uploaded to the Burberry branded second-hand marketplace for new customers to purchase confidently. Following the trade-in, the original customer instantly received a gift card to put towards a future purchase.

Fake, no Fake

Exploring how AI can combat the sale of counterfeit products, both online and physically. Proactively protecting consumers and Burberry IP.

Participants played two games of ‘guess the fake’.

First, online counterfeit detection. Attendees were faced with two screens showing product listings from digital marketplaces – one with a real bag, the other with a counterfeit. In knock out rounds they were asked to stand next to the screen they believed was the real bag, with the last person standing receiving a well earnt prize!

Following this, we explored how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assist with physical counterfeit identification. Attendees were asked to identify the counterfeit Burberry bag from a physical selection, before being treated to a live demonstration of Entrupy’s machine vision technology to find out how good their eye really is! This vision technology system utilises a combination of artificial intelligence (machine learning), computer vision and microscopy to instantly identify and authenticate physical products with near 100% accuracy.

Every Fibre

Leveraging forensic testing to verify the origin of products and their constituting raw materials, empowering Burberry to reduce the risk of fraud and unethical practices, proving compliance.

Supply chain traceability is complex and the team wanted to bring to life the uncomfortable statistic that one in five items in our closets is produced with cotton from an unethical source.

To do this, the team invited participants to see if they could guess on touch and feel alone which of the five hanging white t-shirts was from an unethical cotton source. They were invited to scan the t-shirt QR code to find out if they were right, accessing an Oritain verification certificate that demonstrated how forensic analysis can unlock insight the human eye cannot. Oritain’s forensic science tests the product or raw material itself to pinpoint the location of origin – to prove where a product comes from and whether it’s sourced authentically and responsibly.

Finally, participants had the opportunity to step through a portal, into a day in the life of a certified cotton field in California, via an augmented reality experience our team created for the event.

Through these concepts, alongside our colleagues at Burberry and our partners, we learned, experienced and became inspired by the opportunities that can be unlocked for Burberry. The day was a huge success and has received excellent feedback from both the wider Capgemini and Burberry teams.

“Being able to work with a company like Burberry that is known for its technical and digital innovation is great. Being able to demonstrate innovation, ultimately to deliver value to Burberry, improve their brand and keep them at the forefront is hugely exciting.”

Paul Margetts, UK Managing Director at Capgemini

“Having a strong relationship with Capgemini enables us to speak the same language, they’ve brought ideas to us that are relevant, we’ve worked together on a portfolio of ideas and then collaborated to make them really relevant, the experiences we have seen today have really resonated with everyone in the business.”

Mark Mcclennon, Global CIO at Burberry

“Today we have demonstrated a very different Capgemini, this is what we do and it’s great to be here bringing that value to Burberry.”

Simon Butler, Head of UK Retail at Capgemini

“Capgemini has an absolutely crucial role to play in all of this, the team know us and understand our strategy, they are now best placed to bring new innovations and new ideas to the table that help us drive the business and innovation forward.”

Melanie Stocker, VP IT, Product & Supply Chain at Burberry