Lesson #2: Build A Powerful Brand

In 2005, Branson said his goal was to turn Virgin into “the most respected brand in the world.” Branson is not far off from achieving his goal. Virgin was recently found to be one of the UK’s top three favourite and most respected brand names and both the brand and the man behind it are known throughout the world.

“In the beginning it was just about the business – now it’s about the brand,” says Branson. “Back then we would create a company based on frustration at other people’s service and suddenly realized we had one of the most respected brands in the world.”

Branson has managed to expand his brand so effectively by diversifying his portfolio; he doesn’t strive to be the biggest in the industry but rather the best. He doesn’t strive to take over large markets, but rather to make profits in small pieces of larger markets. In his own words, diversifying “enables you to have a contingency plan when the economy is going through a rough patch.” Once he grew his brand name and got his feet wet in numerous industries, he was able to attract investors and further develop his Virgin Group.

“If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognize you,” says Branson. “Many people know the Virgin brand better than the names of the individual companies within the group.” Indeed, few could identify all of the over 250 companies in which Branson has a stake, but there are few who do not know the Virgin name. “Branding is everything,” he says. “A young girl once came up to me and told me I could be famous because I looked just like Richard Branson!”

Branson and his Virgin Group have often been criticized for selling out and weakening their brand power by branching out to the extent that they have. But, this is something Branson has been very aware of since day one. “Clearly in the eyes of the consumer the brand has not been diluted, but we must guard against that happening at all costs,” he says. “Our model is to develop each business separately with its own shareholder and management – this way we can concentrate on the job in hand, rather than be part of some enormous and faceless conglomerate.”

As the influence of the Virgin brand continues to expand, Branson says he is beginning to take the company in a new direction. Instead of licensing out the name to an increasing number of products, Branson is choosing rather to focus on improving the ones that already exist so as to prevent its image from deteriorating. “We don’t actually plan to launch new businesses over the next few years, but we are planning to take the ones we have into new territories,” he says.

In the meantime, Branson has not stopped looking towards the future. He has registered the name ‘Virgin Interplanetary’ in case space travel becomes one day commercially viable. Even outer space will then no longer be Virgin territory.

Lesson #2: Build A Powerful Brand

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