We mentioned that Sir Richard was doing a webcast recently, but due to scheduling conflicts, didn’t actually see the webcast ourselves. So, it’s great to see that Knowledge@Wharton has a good summary of the event. Branson covers several topics, including the perennial favorite question of how his own fame translates into branding opportunities for the Virgin Group. He also discussed the delegation required to run 350+ companies simultaneously… [Read more]

There’s lots of Rebel Billionaire press coverage to review, and we’ll get to that tomorrow (after watching one more episode tonight), but first, a couple other stories from the world of Richard Branson. I noticed the Tivo recorded a Jane Pauley Show episode yesterday, with Richard as her guest. More on that after I watch it. Also, several sites have the news that Virgin is exploring options to enter the UK casino arena. [Read more]

Fast Company asks: "What is the secret to Richard Branson’s branding success?" Click to cast your vote and and see the results. As of right now, the winning answer is "Be the brand." Excellent advice.

[This post on bransonblog.com was originally written for John’s stanforth.org blog.]

Fast Company has an article on the "Gonzo Branding" of Sir Richard Branson. I’ve designed a similar plan for B2B (vs his consumer approach), but the one notable area where we disagree is branding. As the article notes, he’s done a brilliant job branding a lifestyle, using the Virgin brand across all ventures (a condom brand and a modelling agency were the only exceptions, he’s noted). I prefer to grow ventures independently, with only "An XYZ Company" subtitle. That way, if your cola or your MP3 player end up with horrid reviews, you haven’t affected your airline brand. Also, when you sell off Virgin Music and then launch V2, it’s confusing that V2 no longer has the Virgin moniker and that the Virgin global brand is affected by what the new owners do with the acquired company. That said, he’s the billionaire with a 30-year record of success (and this site dedicated to his every move), so who I am to second-guess him?   [Read more]