Influx

News coming out of Australia this week that Virgin is planning a complete overhaul of the airline’s identify and image. The airline’s CEO is not ruling out the idea of scrapping the Virgin name all together.

This comes as shocking news for many given our memories of an era when the Virgin brand could do no wrong and millionaires were lining up outside Branson’s office to get a blessing and a deal.

Sadly those days are long gone and for a brand that was long considered a renegade and a “David”, it now seems somewhat tired.

The problem for Virgin is that the brand has been so closely associated with Richard Branson and has he approaches his 60s, while rebellious for his age, he doesn’t quite have what it takes to appeal to C21st youth and young adults.

It’s been 40 years since Branson took the business world by storm with his radical direct mail music business. He’s no longer a radical and seen by most of the younger generation as a fairly typical billionaire who enjoys the luxury trappings of his wealth.

Branson’s image is now the problem- it can work well if he’s peddling luxury villas, islands and vacations, but the “brand radical taking on all comers”, doesn’t seem to work anymore. 

If Branson wants to create a brand with a last legacy for his heirs and help those who already have a lot at stake in the Virgin name- he needs help finding a way to shift the brand’s image and equity away from him (the fleece-wearing billionaire) and into something more relevant, tangible and focused.

Posted by Ed Cotton