NEW YORK ? A Burberry executive at the NRF 101st Annual Convention & Expo said that technology such as video plays an integral role in the company?s overall initiatives because it lets employees watch runway shows no matter what device they have.

During the ?Delivering Transformative Leadership? panel at NRF, executives discussed the importance that leadership and culture play in a company?s day-to-day business. The panel was moderated by Stephen Sadove, Chairman and CEO at Saks Inc., New York.

?[It?s important] to drive communication inside and out,? said Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, London. ?Social media is not just for your customers ? 70 percent of our employee base is on Facebook.

?Everything that we load up on YouTube our employees watch it on weekends with their families,? she said. ?At Burberry we always say PowerPoint doesn?t work, video does.

?We shoot everything.?

All about video
According to Ms. Ahrendts, video plays a very important role for Burberry.

Not only does the company shoot videos for almost everything it does, but Burberry streams the videos live as well.

Most recently, Burberry chose an interactive video to break its Brights sunglasses collection.

The brand displayed a video on its YouTube channel that shows how the glasses fold into themselves.

Instead of a standard YouTube video, Burberry engages consumers with full-screen interaction.

The video starts out with rain falling on a pair of folded-up Burberry Brights sunglasses (see story).

?We use digital technology to communicate and connect,? Ms. Ahrendts said. ?And it has been the greatest for the culture.

?Our motto is employees first,? she said. ?They can watch the runways on every device they have.

?Everyone has a mobile device, everyone has a computer at home.?

According to Saks? Mr. Sadove, it is important to have a good leader in the company.

?Establish the vision and direction of the company and establish and monitor the culture that you want,? Mr. Sadove said.

Additionally, the executive said that it is really important not to over communicate in a company.

?You have to be consistent and keep communicating,? Mr. Sadove said. ?I love what Burberry does because there is so much communication, but it?s consistent.?

Leadership
Success in leadership comes down to some core principles, per Marty Albertson, Chairman of Guitar Center Inc, Kansas City, MI.

?When you gather the information from your team and you process analytical, emotional and intuitional data, you form tremendous conviction around that to provide that clarity of vision,? Mr. Albertson said.

?I also find that another common theme is courage,? he said. ?Any aspect of leadership in running a story, you have to demonstrate tremendous courage.

?Once you have formed your conviction and you have taken the risks, you have to have the integrity and stay committed to follow through on that vision and courage.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York