The Brand known as Richard Branson

By Chirag Jain

Your business is not unique, but you are. This is best exemplified by Richard Branson, the maverick and flamboyant chairman and founder of the Virgin Group. Few people in the world would remember the different subsidiaries of his conglomerate or remember many of the businesses Virgin is in, but all remember the strong brand that Richard Branson meticulously created along over 35 years.


Richard Branson's personal brand of fun risk taking and exciting ventures that shake up industries is found across his business successes and failures.



And he maintains that ‘only when you go out there and tell others, people will recognize and respect you.’ And no one has done this better than the maverick himself. Branson always strives to come out on the front page of the local daily where he is staying. When in India, he makes sure he meets Bollywood celebrities, kisses a few (remember Neha Dhupia), and parades in streets sitting on an elephant.

In other parts of the world, he makes sure he creates a stir wherever he goes. This nature of finding light hearted publicity at no significant cost finds its origins to his adventurous days of “Hot Air Ballooning” where he undertook many expeditious journeys across different terrains and regions to set world records and in turn, win a great brand for himself and his company, while having a great adventure all along.

In doing a great branding experience, he, in turn, creates a feeling of fun and warmth in people’s mind, people, who, one day, will become his customers and contribute to the growth of one of the most respected brands in the world.