CASE 183 / Burberry / 2021
Open Spaces
Outerwear became the costume for a shared daydream about moving freely through the landscape.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook; published by SNS Media Tech. No named human reviewer is claimed.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Megaforce with Burberry chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci; Riff Raff Films; choreography (LA)HORDE; MPC, Final Cut and 750mph.
Recognition: The One Show 2022 Gold Pencil, Moving Image Craft, Direction / Single, OS22_MI002G; Gerety Awards 2022 Silver, Communication Cut–TV/Cinema, Single.
Launch / edition: 2021. Award years: 2022.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
The award entry connects Burberry’s outdoor heritage with a desire for freedom as the world reopened in 2021. This is the campaign’s own strategic framing, not research proving a universal post-pandemic mood among luxury shoppers.
How the idea came to life
Four people move through the British countryside in a dreamlike journey that blurs ordinary walking and impossible flight. Megaforce and Riccardo Tisci developed the creative direction, while choreography and visual effects make the clothing part of a moving ensemble rather than a static catalog.
How it reached people
The Gerety archive dates release to 19 October 2021 and identifies a film lasting just over two minutes. This record concerns that film, not Burberry’s similarly named social-retail project or every later expression of its exploration heritage.
Supporting sources: Primary award archive → Primary award archive →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
The One Show awarded a 2022 Gold Pencil for direction; Gerety lists a 2022 Silver in its TV/Cinema communication category. These are specific craft and creative judgments. The sources do not provide incremental sales or an independently measured change in brand perception.
The creative mechanism.
A functional brand association is exaggerated into an obviously fantastical experience
Expand a real association rather than inventing one
Flight is fantasy, but outdoor movement has a plausible relationship to outerwear. Find the everyday association that gives your imaginative leap a foundation. The farther the execution travels from literal function, the clearer the underlying connection must remain. Otherwise an impressive film can feel like a director’s portfolio piece with an interchangeable sponsor.
Make a group perform one idea
The ensemble matters because freedom is shown as shared motion rather than a solitary hero pose. Plan how people respond to one another and how clothing behaves within that choreography. A smaller production could use coordinated gestures or a continuous handoff. It needs neither wire work nor expensive spectacle to establish a coherent group dynamic.
Keep fantasy separate from functional promises
A fashion film can ignore gravity without promising that garments confer superpowers. More realistic adaptations need a clear boundary between dramatization and performance claims. Avoid implying waterproofing, durability or safety characteristics that testing does not support. Product pages should remain factual even when the campaign world is intentionally impossible and emotionally expansive.
Judge the complete viewing experience
Movement, landscape, effects and sound require time to become meaningful. Test a complete film alongside cutdowns rather than assuming every frame works as a standalone advertisement. Check captions, mobile framing and sound-off comprehension. Measure both attention and brand linkage, because a viewer can remember flying people very clearly without identifying the clothing brand.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Recognize the countryside and clothing
- 02Enter a shared impossible journey
- 03Remember the movement and mood
- 04Explore Burberry’s outdoor associations
Growth job: Refresh heritage meaning → earn attention through craft → reconnect the collection to an outdoor identity. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Exaggerate a genuine product association into a coherent imaginative world while keeping factual claims separate.
Keep these boundaries
Do not imitate the flight sequence or attempt risky movement without professional production safeguards.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A small outerwear label makes a grounded, original group movement film showing how layers support an ordinary changing-weather walk.
Build the test
- Choose a safe accessible route and consenting adult performers.
- Use coordinated movement, framing and original sound rather than hazardous stunts.
- Test a complete version and a short cutdown against ordinary product photography.
Measure the right thing
Compare accurate brand recall, perceived outdoor relevance and qualified collection visits.
Know when to stop
Stop if the scene suggests unsupported technical protection, excludes participants’ access needs or creates unsafe movement.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Refresh heritage meaning → earn attention through craft → reconnect the collection to an outdoor identity
What to adapt: Exaggerate a genuine product association into a coherent imaginative world while keeping factual claims separate.
Prerequisites: Original creative development; Rights and accessibility review; A defined measurement comparison.
Smaller-team route: A small outerwear label makes a grounded, original group movement film showing how layers support an ordinary changing-weather walk. Constraint: Do not imitate the flight sequence or attempt risky movement without professional production safeguards.
Budget: Not established by the cited sources. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which customer behavior would make imaginative exaggeration useful?
- What evidence would separate attention from collection consideration?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- The One Club: Open Spaces →Primary award archive · Supports: Campaign framing, credits and exact 2022 Gold Pencil category.
- Gerety Awards: Open Spaces →Primary award archive · Supports: 19 October 2021 release, duration, production and 2022 Silver category.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.