Childrens Corner

The decisions to enter both the airline and cola markets, however,
were carefully considered. Although he gives the impression that he likes to climb business mountains simply because “they are there,” in almost every case Branson is responding to specifi c business opportunities that present themselves.

In the case of Virgin Cola, he was approached by a soft drinks
company with a high quality cola formula looking for strong brand name; in the case of Virgin Atlantic he was approached by Randolph Fields, a young lawyer who had already done much of the leg work for launching an airline but needed fi nancial backing. Both opportunities were too good to miss.

Sometimes, however, the logic is not clear at fi rst to the so-called experts, a point Branson likes to ram home when he gets the chance. Take the example of Virgin’s foray into the UK fi nancial services market.

“We looked long and hard at the marketplace and realized that although there were 600 companies selling Branson on tackling big
business: “If you take on established brands, many of whom have near monopolies, you expect everything to be thrown at you to weaken your position.” PEPs, pensions and the like, they all charged almost identically high prices. There was always an up-front commission (often hidden) a high annual fee and usually a Mr or Mrs Ten Percent sitting in the middle raking off a fat commission. It was like a giant cartel …”

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

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Branson is very good at positioning Virgin as the underdog
(even though when viewed as a group, Virgin is actually a big
company in its own right). It’s hard to think badly of a man who
picks on companies that are, or at least appear to be, much bigger
than his.

Branson on fi nancial services: “The consumer has been taken for a
ride for too long by an industry which has been able to hide its charges.” Sports fans know that the outsider will often attract the neutral observer to its side. The same seems to work in business. Positioning Virgin as the small guy has important psychological
advantages. It plays well with customers, especially those who
feel neglected or that they have been taken for a ride in the past. They are likely to be drawn to the plucky, tenacious style of the little guy who is prepared to stand up to the bullies. Faced with the prospect of some cheeky upstart taking on the might of a multinational, neutral onlookers can’t help but applaud Virgin’s audacity.

It’s also good for the motivation of Virgin employees to feel they are taking part in an epic struggle: Virgin’s entrepreneurial fl air and enthusiasm pitted against lumbering corporate beefcake. As the underdog, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose. At the same time, the arrival of a loud-mouthed “hippy” like Branson on their territory is almost guaranteed to incense the competition – forcing them to make mistakes.

It’s clear, too, that there’s something in Branson’s psyche that responds to the challenge. He delights in having the odds stacked
against him, and takes enormous pleasure in doing what the experts say can’t be done. Where that challenge involves administering shock treatment to a complacent market leader, it is all the more appealing.

When a Coca-Cola executive boasted that “without our economies
of scale and our incredible marketing system, whoever tried to duplicate our product would get nowhere,” Branson couldn’t
wait to have a go.

3 He also has an instinctive feel for what can be achieved. Of his decision to go into the airline business in 1984, he says: “It was a move which in pure economic terms everybody thought was mad, including my closest friends. But it was something which I felt we could bring something to that others were not bringing.”

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

Others see Branson more as a buccaneer than a crusader. The
appeal of the swashbuckling Virgin boss, they argue, is his complete
lack of respect for fi gures of authority. This, combined with a gleeful sense of fun, and the pleasure of being an irritant to big business, is what attracts them to his side.

On this reading, he steers a course for the most heavily armed
treasure ships, laden with the spoils of excessive market power.
Time and time again, he has hoisted the Virgin logo over a new
venture like a modern day skull and crossbones, as he and his
“If you go for big, fat, lazy brand leaders, it’s often easy to offer better value for money.” youthful pirate crew board the market
of one multinational or another.

Branson is well aware of this imagery and has used the pirate motif to
good effect, to generate publicity and to antagonize the competition,
something that he excels at. Shortly after the launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways, for example, Branson issued an invitation to photographers from the British national press to record his swashbuckling antics. The location: Heathrow, London’s main airport – where British Airways keeps a full-size model of Concorde decked out in its corporate livery.

At the appointed time, Branson appeared dressed as a buccaneer,
complete with eye patch, and lowered the Virgin livery onto Concorde, stealing the UK national carrier’s thunder and providing a fantastic photo opportunity. The newspapers the next day carried photographs of Branson and his Virgin pirates boarding the BA fl agship. Lord King, BA chairman at the time, was said to be so incensed when he saw the pictures that he almost broke the sound barrier himself.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

Branson’s greatest gift as an entrepreneur and a businessman is his
preoccupation with the consumers’ point of view. When he went into
the music business in the 1970s, for example, the long-haired – and later spiky haired – youngsters he was selling to hated the “straight” music establishment, which they believed ripped off fans and artists.
They saw Branson as a crusader for their alternative culture.

When he launched Virgin Direct, the fi nancial services company,
Branson expressly said that he was going to shake up the market.
It was a “dirty business” he said, that needed cleaning up.

“The Virgin name is trusted, especially by younger people,” he said. “The consumer has been taken for a ride for too long by an
industry which has been able to hide its charges.”2

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Branson has a remarkable ability to clothe almost everything he
does in a crusading cloak. This lends the Virgin brand moral
authority. When pitted against the immensely powerful forces
of “big business,” Branson-style capitalism looks almost saintly
by comparison. By targeting companies with dominant and often
aggressive market positions, Virgin is able to seize the moral
high ground from the outset, something that gives it a distinctive
edge with consumers.

Where other empire builders get involved in commercial dogfi ghts, Branson goes in for crusades – with Virgin invariably on the side of the angels. The strategy relies on the credibility of the brand, and public confi dence in the Virgin chairman himself, to “do the right thing.” (Incredibly for a businessman, Branson was one of a handful of people chosen in a poll of Britain’s youth as someone they would trust to “re-write the Ten Commandments.”)

In many of the markets Virgin has entered consumers sensed that they were not being treated fairly, but couldn’t see any other choice than the big players. They simply accepted that their best interests were not being served. Virgin offers an alternative. As one Virgin executive observes: “If you go for big, fat, lazy brand leaders, it’s often easy to offer better value for money.”

In addition, it allows you to be on the side of the consumer, who
will thank you for it.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
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“At Virgin, we have a strategy of using the credibility of our brand to challenge the dominant players in a range of industries where we believe the consumer is not getting value for money.”
– Richard Branson

Richard Branson has made a career out of playing David to the other guy’s Goliath. In the past two decades, Virgin has crossed swords with some of the most powerful companies on the planet. In the 1970s, the Virgin record label went up against the music establishment, including the likes of EMI. When he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways in the 1980s, Branson took on the big airlines, going head to head with British Airways. In the 1990s, Virgin entered the soft drinks market with of all things a cola – placing it in direct competition with the giants of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. In fi nancial services, Virgin Direct competes with the banks and other large-scale fi nancial institutions.

Where some entrepreneurs might take one look at the market
dominance of the big players and think better of it, Branson
actually delights in taking on, and outmaneuvering large corporations.
When Branson launched Virgin cola, one journalist noted: “I got the impression it was not the money but the prospect of taking on the mighty Coca-Cola corporation that really gave him his kicks.”1

“Virgin stands for a sense of challenge,” says Branson. “We like
to use the brand to take on some very large companies, whom
we believe exert too much power. There are cases where a brand
name has traditionally been almost synonymous with the product
it is selling – Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Hoover for example – with heavy advertising to keep it that way. In fact, many American brand names like these grew up during the so-called era of the robber barons which led to the introduction of America’s excellent anti-trust laws in the early 20th Century.”

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
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2003 Virgin Shops merges with Virgin Megastores. Virgin Cars opens the fi rst ever vehicle department store in Manchester.

2004 It’s up, up and away as Virgin announces the launch of Virgin Galactic – tourist travel into space. Virgin Atlantic celebrates its 20th birthday.

2006 The Virgin Atlantic Globalfl yer piloted by Steve Fossett breaks the record for the longest fl ight in history. Branson announces $3 billion investment in tackling global warming.

NOTES
1 Curiously enough, Virgin’s executives originally refused to let Branson use the Virgin brand on contraceptives, fearing it would be too controversial.
2 Jackson, Tim, Virgin King, HarperCollins, London, 1994.
3 Branson, Richard, BBC ‘Money Programme’ Lecture,
1998.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s