Buro 24/7 Re-brands to Buro., Debuts New Site in the U.K.
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LONDON — Over the past year, Buro. has been quietly restructuring and restrategizing ahead of its U.K. unveiling on Wednesday. The platform, which was formerly known as Buro 24/7, will launch with an exclusive video performance with rapper Little Simz.
Under the direction of chief executive officer Nick Smith, Buro. is aiming to be the “TripAdvisor of luxury” and to bring back storytelling into journalism, with a tech and data-driven twist: One of Smith’s first hires was an audience development manager to help with content strategy and planning.
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“She helped set a process for how editorial works, to made sure that our expertise is driven by data and what the audience really wants to know. This means that we’re actually guaranteeing the time and investment that a journalist puts into their writing is going to resonate with our audience,” Smith said.
All of Buro.’s content across its global network, which includes Russia, Singapore and Croatia, will focus on editorial that is not only data-fueled, but within the realms of the brand’s four pillars of being bold, dynamic, playful and colorful.
“For six months, we researched exactly what our audience is looking at in terms of content, so we know that Millennials, or generation now, view the world of luxury through the lens of experience. That helps us set out our point of differentiation, which is to provide experience and be truly engaging,” Smith said.
To do this, there are seven editorial categories on the platform, such as fashion and beauty, culture and thought, watches and jewelry, travel and experience and success. According to Smith, while fashion and beauty is where the appetite — and the money — lies, data research has shown that success has become a luxury pursuit for the Millennial generation.
“For this generation, they want to know ‘How do I get from point A to point B?’ so we’re providing an editorial platform where they can talk to mentors to give them advice and aspirations,” he said.
Not only will the editorial reflect the type of content Millennials are asking for, it will also reflect how this generation chooses and wants to consume content.
Buro. has put user experience, design and production at the forefront of its content strategy. The tone of voice is conversational and dynamic, just like the 360-degree videos they produce in-house for products.
“To add playfulness into what we do, our headlines are dynamic. It’s like when you go to Google and its logo changes based on the calendar, so it’ll be an animation that changes every day to add personality and engagement to our site,” he said, adding there are other animated elements, such as the cursor changing, to prompt users to click on certain areas on the page.
To really build out the user experience, the site has been designed for different devices such as mobile and tablet, and takes into consideration when and where Buro.’s audience might be viewing content.
For example, if they are at home viewing on a desktop, the design takes into consideration that the reader might be visiting the site on dual screens. There are familiar social media and e-commerce elements that have also been incorporated into the platform.
“We have a recommendation tool, and as we gather more data our algorithm will get richer in terms of recommendations. We also provide shopability of the products we feature, like Instagram. Moving forward, we are looking to add bookmarks and wishlists as well as incorporate AR onto the site,” Smith said.
For Buro., every consideration revolves around the dynamic delivery of content.
“We make sure we’re thinking about the user first and I think that has sometimes become an afterthought in digital publishing. How do they come in, what happens when they read a piece of content? What do they do next? So we’re building mechanics into the site where you can move the consumer through inspiration, consideration and then into an action,” Smith said.
Smith took over last year in May after cofounder Miroslava Duma sold her stake in the company following a controversial racist and offensive Instagram post.
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