Sir Richard Branson and the Butter Joke

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. Branson's first successful business venture was at age 16, when he published a magazine called Student.[1] He then set up a record mail-order business in 1970. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores and rebranded as zavvi in late 2007. With his flamboyant and competitive style, Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s - as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label. Richard Branson is the 245th richest person according to Forbes' 2008 list of billionaires as he has an estimated net worth of approximately $2.8 billion USD.[2]

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Richard_Branson>

Does he define British contemporary culture? Probably his success has less to do with his culture in that sense, as much as it is fueled by his unique Personal Culture. That is why his vision is one that leads because instead of following the same people his competitors are paying attention to, he is being inspired by someone in a completely different world (enterprise circle). He knows how to spot other people who have a personal culture that can be leveraged by others for profit and he starts a new business, defines or puts a new market on the charts that his competitors are paying attention to.

http://en.wikipedia.org

He signed a song no one wanted and those with conditional interest wanted to add lyrics. That song became the theme for the Exorcist and sold millions of copies.  What did he hear and feel in those songs that became Tubular Bells, the album from a previously unknown artist Mike Oldfield?

I find it interesting that he seems to be able to mitigate his risk because he is paying attention to what inspires him. Does that in fact hone one's intution because the destination is not what many watching may have assumed? Is it possible that Branson has defined success by is own terms and has found the freedom not only of wealth, but having been liberated from the limitations of those who don't yet know what they don't know they know.

Why has his journey into social enterprise positioned him to dramatically increase his own wealth and at the same time positioned him as a strong brand in emerging markets in clean/renewable energy? It is not just the positioning of brand leader on both ends of a market (supplier and retailer) it is that his entry into the social enterprise brings a distinctive vibe with it. That is not to say whether it is good or bad- or that it is the only one, but today it got my attention and has prompted my consideration more than once.

I notice that it is distinctive and there is no substitute for it- know one else you could mistake it for because it has an actual vibe that successfully holds his companies together. (or so it feels)

And what defines your brand?

How people feel about it. It doesn't matter what you say it is, or what your logo and tag line says it is.

What allows some people to create charismatic brands while others struggle to define their brand? I believe it is connected to the issues associated with Personal Culture.

Now while everyone is looking there, following Sir Richard and others, what new opportunities are they completely overlooking?

And the cool part of that question is that you don't know what you don't know until you know it. At which point it is no longer what you don't know because that has been replaced with something else that you don't know that you know.

Twitter is a great example of how most people understand these kinds of issues connecting what is known to what is waiting to be known (discovered).

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Then just for the fun of it have a laugh....