Getting it Right: Brilliant Basics, Magic Touches
Julie Peters
Born in 1971, the Virgin brand was founded by Richard Branson as a small mail order record retailer. After years of risks taken and companies launched, the Virgin brand now has over 200 companies, employs over 50,000 and has a global reach to 30 countries.
Tackling new territories, like the US, in a time when competition is fierce, has been a challenge. Virgin has learned that they are no longer able to simply hang their hats on their rock-n-roll heritage or slap a coat of red paint on something and have a quick win with customers. They’ve had to grow up, begin to write things down, and truly understand what matters to consumers. Virgin does this by thinking cleverly and non-traditionally about innovation, learning from mistakes and not biting off more than they can chew. Because they have a colorful, always-changing portfolio of brands, they have created brand tools to leverage best practices across the group that ensure consistency but still give permission for personality and flair. They place important emphasis on a cheeky tone of voice and offer a refreshing transparency in markets that are typically deprived of human touches.
By never forgetting the basics (Virgin’s core brand values), and getting them right, Virgin has been able to leverage their strengths in innovation and design, and provide a magical experience to delight the customer across category and country.
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Supporting Documents
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