You probably know that Richard Branson owns the Virgin Group.
But did you know Virgin employs 70,000 people and has a net worth estimated at £3 billion?
It’s a huge business made up of many individual units.
Virgin wasn’t always this big, and not everything it turned its hand to was successful.
However, it’s always been innovative.
For example, Richard Branson started many new ventures with little cash.
To grab publicity and sales for his new launches, he used stunts.
Specifically, activities that raised the profile of a fledgling business unit.
Some of these stunts were life-threatening, like his attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a giant hot-air balloon.
In a recent documentary (Branson, Sky Documentaries), RB explained that he and his co-pilot were extremely lucky to come out of the adventure alive (watch it, and you’ll see why).
On the other hand, having a tank smash through thousands of soda cans in Times Square was much less perilous but still highly newsworthy (Virgin Cola later failed).
The lesson?
The stunts generated a value many times greater than the cost.
And each has built the image of Virgin as a different, fun and less stuffy enterprise.
The good news is that if you want to raise the profile of your business, there are less dangerous ways to do it.
One that’s highly undervalued is to secure speaking slots at your industry’s leading conferences and events.
They’re invaluable because they generate profile-raising opportunities before, during and after events.
They also position a business or speaker as a leader in the field.
And that’s where we can help.
We can source events, frame the approach, write the synopsis, pitch organisers and help you measure the results.
Nothing dangerous in that.
If that’s an area you’d like to develop, email david@theexhibitionagency.com
Very best,