Virgin's detailed information collection

Virgin Group is the largest private enterprise in Britain, with nearly 2 companies. Richard Branson, chairman and president of Virgin Group, started at the age of 17 and is one of the most legendary and charismatic billionaires in the world today. He was knighted by the Queen of England. Basic introduction Company name: Virgin company foreign language name: Virgin Company headquarters location: British company nature: founder of private enterprise: introduction of Chad Branson, creating a new business model and making employees happy, introduction Like many children who are not good at reading books, Richard Branson can't learn from elementary school. At the age of 17, he started a student magazine for young people with a friend in a half basement with 4 pounds given by his mother for postage and telephone charges. In 1968, the magazine was officially released. The congratulatory message written for the publication by the president of Winston College, where Branson attended, is: Branson, I congratulate you! I predict that your boy will make a fortune if he doesn't take a cell in the future! The publication caused a sensation after its release. Mick jagger, the lead singer of the famous rock star Rolling Stones, and John Lennon, the lead singer of the Beatles, were interviewed by the magazine. Lennon also wrote a song specially for the magazine. A few years later, The Student was in trouble. Branson was inspired again and decided to advertise on the back cover of the magazine and sell music tapes by mail at low prices. At that time, due to the high price of selling audio tapes in British specialty stores, his pioneering work caused great repercussions and orders kept coming. By 1972, Branson had set up several Virgin video chain stores and a video recording room all over Britain. In 1973, the first recorded album "Guanzhong" by Mike oldfield was a hit. Subsequently, phil collins, Boyce George, Rolling Stones and other big-name stars and bands signed contracts with them. At this point, the Virgin brand was launched, and Branson took his first step of success. In the following 1 years, Virgin Records became a pivotal brand in the British entertainment industry. In 1984, Branson entered the aviation industry with a very high threshold and established Virgin Atlantic Airlines. This was regarded as "suicide" by many people in the industry at that time. To this end, he did not hesitate to fight a sensational lawsuit with British Airways, the leader of the British aviation industry. In the end, he won and kept the right to operate on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1994, Branson founded Virgin Cola Company. At present, Virgin Cola sells more in Europe than Pepsi. Virgin Railway was established in 1996, and it is ambitious to develop it into the best service company in Europe. Virgin Telecom was announced in 1999, and is committed to making it a global mobile phone company. In 29, Virgin officially entered the racing industry. In 29, the first sponsor of Brown GP, the new team of Formula One racing in the world, was Virgin led by Branson, and Virgin occupied the most conspicuous advertising space of BGP (Brown GP). Branson thinks he is not good at technology, and he is not good at computers. But in recent years, he has devoted a lot of efforts to e-commerce and the Internet. Virgin's online services have included financial services, air ticket booking, shopping and so on. He plans to make Virgin catch up with the digital trend in Britain, make Virgin's website among the top 1 websites in the world, and enable customers in Britain and all over the world to buy everything from cars to CDs from Virgin. Creating a new business model Branson often said, "I want to make Virgin brand as famous as Coca-Cola". Coca-Cola has always adhered to the position of soft drinks and never dared to set foot in areas where it is not good at, for fear of damaging its brand image. Virgin's tentacles are almost everywhere, from records to aviation, railways, telecommunications, hypermarkets, wedding dresses, cinemas, financial services, coke ... Virgin's products and services basically cover all aspects of people's lives. In fact, Branson is not as crazy as people think, but a reasonably sober manager and marketer. Branson often describes Virgin Group as a "puppy chasing after big companies". He deliberately selected the industries that were calm on the surface and consumers were not satisfied with the service as the target. "It's easy to make customers feel that spending with us is worth the money by competing with those brands that are rich and lazy." For example, Virgin Atlantic pioneered a service initiative in Australia that does not provide catering services on the plane, but implements low fares. Virgin Mobile Telecom was the first mobile communication operator to provide prepaid services when it entered the American market. Branson's greatest talent as an entrepreneur and businessman is that he pays attention to thinking from the perspective of consumers, and those consumers who don't follow the rules are his goals. The entrepreneur who can withstand risks most attaches great importance to risks: "I have to check the disadvantages, dangers and possible mistakes in everything I do." When he started an airline, he only bought one plane to avoid risks, and reached an agreement with Boeing, "If things fail, he can send the plane back". When entering the mobile communication industry, Branson thought that building a network was not as good as renting a network, and lent his brand to One2One, the fifth largest mobile phone operator in the UK, becoming the first mobile phone operator without its own network infrastructure. When Branson entered every industry, he was not the creator of new products, but he created a new business model, just like Dell Computer. Explaining why the company chose the controversial term "Virgin", he said that the name "Virgin" was sexy, easy to associate and unforgettable. Secondly, "virgin" means an attitude towards life: a free lifestyle, rebellion, openness, advocating freedom and extremely precious romance. When most consumers regard Virgin as synonymous with quality, value, innovation, entertainment and challenge, Virgin brand becomes "a lifelong relationship", so it will not limit its cross-industry extension. Branson is really the only spokesperson of Virgin brand. His long gray hair, eternal smile on his face and adventurous and maverick behavior are the best interpretations of Virgin brand. In Britain, Virgin's brand awareness rate has reached 96%, and 95% of them can correctly say that the founder of Virgin is Branson. This phenomenon of brand endorsement by founders was rare before, mainly in the luxury goods industry, such as Coco Chanel. It is worth noting that every time the Virgin brand is extended, Branson will personally make a unique show. He once only wore briefs and co-produced an advertisement for Virgin Nutrilite drinks with Pamela Anderson, the heroine of the American soap opera "The Beach Guard"; He once promoted Virgin mobile phones on the streets of London with 2 almost * * * models under the slogan "What you see is what you get"; He drove a tank into Times Square in new york to promote the Virgin record chain to enter the United States; He flew to New Delhi and rode a white elephant to address the Indian Parliament. He once ran naked along the beach of the English Channel. It is his outrageous actions that make his red and white Virgin brand rank first in the "Best Brand Selection for British Men" and third in the "Best Brand Selection for British Women". And he himself, in a poll conducted by BBC in 21, was rated as the second most inspiring person, higher than Jesus. Branson doesn't think of himself as a corporate hero. He believes that the key to Virgin's success "lies in what kind of employees you have. If your employees are happy, smile every day and enjoy their work, they will perform well. Customers will naturally like to deal with your business. I make great efforts to motivate my employees, and I write to them personally every month. We don't have a formal board meeting. Anyone who has any ideas can call or write to me directly and get my approval. " He divided the compensation of 61, pounds obtained in the libel case with British Airways equally with all Virgin employees at that time. Every Virgin employee received 166 pounds called "British Airways Allowance". The message to all employees is that they have won a great victory together. Nevertheless, many people in the industry are still worried about how the Virgin Group in the post-Branson era will develop if Branson is lost one day.