28 Angela Ahrendts

Under the direction of Angela Ahrendts, the luxury behemoth that is Burberry continues to thrive both offline and online.

While many luxury brands were slow to launch transactional sites and embrace the online world, under Ahrendts, Burberry has been the opposite. Its website is as slick as they get, as is its own social media site, Artofthetrench.com, and in June this year it emerged that the brand is the most popular FTSE 100 company on Facebook, with more than

8 million fans. Meanwhile, it’s notched up an impressive following of more than half a million on Twitter with Ahrendts a tweeter herself.

In September, it emerged that Burberry now allocates 60% of its marketing budget to digital media, and this reflects the extent to which it is seeking to increase direct engagement with its customer base. Its latest fragrance, Burberry Body, is being promoted through Facebook rather than in glossy magazines.

During the downturn, Ahrendts has consistently kept the brand’s sales buoyant and she has proved herself a strategic thinker with a strong vision for both bricks and mortar and the online space. A rare quality.