What is the secret to Virgin`s branding strategy? It is the value of PR. Below is a webcast about Virgin and how Richard Branson managed to create its unique Corporate Identity, simply by embracing public relations.
Richard Branson’s strategy involves
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Making a difference
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Be innovative
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Empower your employees
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Listen to your customer
The brand is then communicated through traditional use of PR, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and of course the use of social media.
The webcast covers a broad range of interviews Richard Branson gave on branding. One of the key points which Branson makes is the importance of a brand name: “Your brand or your name is simply your reputation, you have to fight in life to protect that as it means everything. Nothing is more important.”
UPDATE 2012-11-28: Richard Branson was recently in Egypt, where he spent some time talking to eniGma Magazine about life as the head of Virgin. Throughout the talk he told a number of fascinating tales, including how he first came across the idea of starting his very own airline.
“I’ve never thought of myself as a businessman, I’ve just come across situations in life where I’ve thought “dammit, we can do so much better than this!” There was one evening where I was flying from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands, where the love of my life was waiting for me,” explains the Virgin Group Founder.
“The American airline decided to bump us all and cancel the flight as there weren’t enough people on the flight, but I was determined to get there that night. I went to the back of the airport, hired a plane and borrowed a blackboard. I wrote on the blackboard “Single to the Virgin Islands: $29 – Virgin,” I walked around the airport and filled the plane with everyone waiting and managed to fill up my first plane.”