Branson's+Stunts+and+Public+Relations


 * Branson's Stunts and Public Relations**

Richard Branson made world record-breaking attempts after 1985, when in the spirit of the Blue Riband he attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing. His first attempt in the "Virgin Atlantic Challenger" led to the boat capsizing in British waters and a rescue by RAF helicopter, which received wide media coverage. Some newspapers called for Branson to reimburse the government for the rescue cost.

In 1986, in his "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II", with sailing expert Daniel McCarthy, he beat the record by two hours. A year later his hot air balloon "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" crossed the Atlantic. With its 2,300,000 cubic feet (65,000 m3), this was the largest hot-air balloon, and the first to cross the Atlantic.

media type="youtube" key="Jt-TxlwAnEk" height="390" width="509" align="left" In January 1991,Branson and Lindstrand achieved impressive hot-air ballooning world records, flying the “Virgin Atlantic Flyer” across the Atlantic ocean. The Virgin Atlantic Flyer was the first, and largest hot-air balloon, at 2.3 million cubic feet (65,000 m³), ever to cross the Atlantic ocean. In January 1991, Branson and Lindstrand crossed the Pacific from Japan to Arctic Canada, 6,700 miles (10,800 km), in a balloon of 2,600,000 cubic feet (74,000 m3). This broke the world record, with a speed of 245 miles per hour (394 km/h). The journeys were harrowing and dangerous – almost as if they were scripted from a cliff hanger movie.

In the end though, Branson is disappointed with his Swedish partner Per Lindstrand. After a dramatic flight, Branson says, “I wondered whether I was mad to consider ever going with him again.” He goes on to say of Lindstrand, “Certainly, we have been though more together than most people experience in a lifetime.” But finally concludes, “But it was sad that we hadn’t developed a stronger bond with each other. I get close to most of the people with whom I spend a long time. But Per is not a team player. He’s a loner. He’s often difficult to read. He’s quick to criticize. I’d always been brought up to look for the best in people. Per somehow always seemed to find the worst.” ([|swedenSon])

Between 1995 and 1998 Branson, Per Lindstrand and Steve Fossett made attempts to circumnavigate the globe by balloon. In late 1998 they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii but were unable to complete a global flight before Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in Breitling Orbiter 3 in March 1999. ([|Goldenberq, 2007])

In March 2004, Branson set a record by travelling from Dover to Calais in a Gibbs Aquada in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 6 seconds, the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. The previous record of six hours was set by two Frenchmen. The cast of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, attempted to break this record in an amphibious vehicle which they had constructed and, while successfully crossing the channel, did not break Branson's record. ([|Goldenberq, 2007])

In September 2008 Branson and his children made an unsuccessful attempt at an Eastbound record crossing of the Atlantic ocean under sail in the 99 feet (30 m) sloop Virgin Money. The boat, also known as Speedboat, is owned by NYYC member Alex Jackson, who was a co-skipper on this passage, with Branson and M ike Sanderson. After 2 days, 4 hours, winds of force 7 to 9 (strong gale), and seas of 40 feet (12 m), a 'monster wave' destroyed the spinnaker, washed a ten-man life raft overboard and severely ripped the mainsail. She eventually continued to St. George's, Bermuda. In March 2010 Richard tried for the world record of putting a round of golf in the dark at the Black Light Mini Golf in The Docklands, Melbourne, Australia. He succeeded in getting 41 on the par 45 course. ([|Wikipedia])

Branson has parlayed a lifelong disdain for conventional business wisdom into a $3.5 billion international conglomerate and one of the world's most powerful and recognizable brands. Under the ubiquitous Virgin banner, Mr. Branson has ventured into a panoply of businesses - from condoms to wedding gowns, from airlines to financial services - and in the process has taken on entrenched giants and wrested market share from them.

All the while, the flamboyant and irreverent Mr. Branson has tweaked the business establishment, particularly in Britain, and displayed a P.T. Barnum-like command of publicity and showmanship to gain priceless cachet for the Virgin brand. He has been, for much of the past 30 years, one of the most admired Britons, and his fame has spread in recent years around the globe as Virgin has expanded its reach and its luster.

Mr. Branson loves nothing more than a daunting challenge; he views the impossible as just another business opportunity. Who else but Mr. Branson would put the vibrant Virgin label on the decaying British Rail with hopes of turning the dilapidated railroad into a sleek, profitable business? And throughout his career, he has cleverly embraced the David role, taking on Goliaths like British Airways, EMI Music and Coca-Cola, with the intent of becoming the best rather than the biggest and working under the assumption that there are significant profits to be made in small pieces of big markets.

His trademark is outlandish publicity stunts. He will do almost anything to promote the Virgin brand: driving a tank down Fifth Avenue in New York to introduce Virgin Cola to the United States, risking his life in high-profile hot-air balloon adventures or portraying a drowning victim on television's "Baywatch." Indeed, so crucial is the continued high profile of Virgin that Mr. Branson says his highest paid and most important employee is Will Whitehorn, his public relations and communications director. "I suspect in most companies, the public relations person is down at No. 20 in the pecking order," Mr. Branson says. "But, here, he is fighting incredibly important battles. If a negative story starts running away with itself in the press and is not dealt with fast, it can badly damage the brand. And so we put enormous weight on our public relations people."

Mr. Branson reportedly sets aside at least 25 percent of his time for public relations activities, and Mr. Whitehorn has a staff member whose sole responsibility is devising the headline-catching publicity stunts for which Mr. Branson has become known. "If your staff works enormously hard to create something they are proud of, it's foolish if you don't let the world know about it," Mr. Branson states. "Using yourself to get out and talk about it is a lot cheaper and more effective than a lot of advertising. In fact, if you do it correctly, it can beat advertising hands down and save tens of millions of dollars."

But Mr. Branson stands for more than balloon trips and powerboat races across the Atlantic. Behind the brash and insouciant huckster, there lies a sharp business visionary who has created a formula for success that is rife with lessons for chief executives in any country and any business. The Branson magic is not about smoke and mirrors, but rather is a kind of chicken soup for the moribund, tradition-bound corporate soul. Mr. Branson's success reflects an uncanny ability to take the consumer's point of view as his own ways to embrace that view for profit. ([|Rifkin, 1998])