Burberry Became The First Live Streaming Platform With Gaming E-sports

With the opening of the most unusual fashion month in history, the British luxury goods group Burberry announced that it will cooperate with the live video platform Twitch to broadcast its 2021 spring and summer fashion show in the UK.

Amazon's Twitch is one of the world's largest live broadcast platforms, and its usual live broadcast content is game videos and e-sports. Burberry became the first luxury brand to broadcast live on Twitch.

Burberry will use Twitch's unique Squad Stream feature, which allows four creators to broadcast live in one window at the same time, which means Burberry will broadcast the fashion show from multiple angles in one window.

Burberry said: "This will allow online guests to watch the show from multiple angles at the same time and talk through Twitch's chat function, creating a personalized and inclusive experience."

As early as June this year, Burberry announced that the fashion show on September 17 will be conducted outdoors and will be broadcast live without a live audience. But the brand did not disclose any technical details at the time.

Burberry said that Twitch is “at the forefront of live entertainment” and that it has surpassed the scope of online games and has developed special content covering a wide range of fields such as music and art.

It added: "Burberry has always wanted to break through the boundaries of digital innovation. Inspired by this, the collaboration with Twitch is Burberry's latest step in continuing to interact with the community through content and experience."

Rod Manley, Burberry’s Chief Marketing Officer, said: “Burberry has always been a pioneer brand, and the partnership with Twitch continues this tradition. Twitch has opened up an exciting new field where our community can be digitally transmitted. It’s like they actually have a virtual seat on site. It’s an interactive experience where guests can connect with our brand and each other while personalizing their viewing journey."

When asked whether the cooperation with Twitch will become a permanent move for the brand, Burberry said it could not disclose more information.

Burberry experienced a sharp decline in sales during the epidemic. In the first quarter of the 2021 fiscal year ending June 27, Burberry's comparable retail sales fell 45% year-on-year to 257 million pounds. Among them, the Chinese market performed best with a year-on-year increase of 15%. In July, Burberry said it would lay off 500 employees worldwide, accounting for about 5% of the total number of employees.

However, the brand's sales are gradually recovering. Sales in June were only down 20% year-on-year. It expects sales for the quarter ending in September to fall by 15% to 20% year-on-year.

Last month, Burberry became the first major luxury brand to launch mask products but has not yet announced an official release date. This mask uses Burberry's iconic grid pattern and costs £90. Burberry will donate 20% of its mask income to its COVID-19 fund.