Virgin on ridiculous: Four businesses showing how Richard Branson likes to “fail fast”

It was only a year ago that Richard Branson was prancing around in a red kilt during the opening of Little Red, his domestic airline for the UK, which was designed to provide competition after British Airways owner International Airline Group acquired BMI. 

 

Since its launch, though, Little Red has been dogged by rumours of low passenger numbers and even lower revenue. 

 

And even though in May, Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Keeper told http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10882835/Virgins-Little-Red-flies-60pc-empty.html The Telegraph rumours of its demise had been “greatly exaggerated”, this weekend its future became uncertain. https://www.cityam.com/1410146740/dark-clouds-hang-over-little-red

 

If Little Red does end up in the great airport in the sky (Boris Island?), it won’t be the first time one of Branson’s enterprises has ended badly. His success hasn’t come by accident: he’s built his empire on a principle of experimenting lots and failing fast. Here are some of Branson’s less-than-successful ventures.

 

Virgin Cola

1994-2009

 

Anyone of a certain age will remember Virgin Cola well: launched in 1994, Branson even took it to the US in 1998, where he tried to challenge Pepsi and Coke, aka the “cola duopolists”. Its arrival in the US wasn’t subtle: Branson launched Virgin Cola by riding a Sherman tank through Times Square, crushing rivals’ bottles as he went.

 

Alas, it wasn’t to be: despite frequent attempts at resurrecting the brand, which included the 2000 launch of “Mini-V”, a caffeine-free version with 30 per cent less sugar on which the brand spent £3m, it was quietly withdrawn from sale at Asda, one of its last major stockists, in August 2009. 

 

A month later, manufacturer Silver Spring went into administration, and production and distribution ceased in the UK. While Silver Spring itself was resurrected by a private equity company, “we took the strategic decision… not to take over the Virgin contract”, said a spokeswoman. Probably a wise choice.

 

Virgin Megastores

1970-2007 (in the UK)

 

Technically, Virgin Megastore isn’t a write-off – it still has locations in the Middle East, including six stores in Beirut. But it’s a shadow of its former self, having ceased trading in the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.

 

The closure of Virgin Megastores was perhaps Branson’s saddest failure – his first business, a record shop, was launched in 1970 in Notting Hill, and in 1971 he opened the first Virgin Record shop at 24 Oxford Street (which now contains a Lloyds TSB). 

 

But by the mid-2000s, iTunes had become Virgin Megastore’s biggest competitor, and in 2007 it was the subject of a management buy-out, becoming Zavvi. A year later, even that couldn’t cope, and in February 2009 Zavvi closed all its stores, putting an end to Branson’s first-ever venture.

 

Virgin Brides

1996-2007

 

Having shaved and donned a nice lacy number for its launch in 1996, Branson launched Virgin Brides as a London boutique selling designer frocks, which then expanded to Manchester. But it turned out brides didn’t want to buy their frocks from a store whose name was a bad pun, and in 2003 the London shop was closed, followed by the Manchester store in 2007. 

 

Hilarious to the end, in a blog last year http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/why-virgin-brides-failed Branson quipped Virgin Brides failed “because we soon realised there weren’t any”. Now there’s a man every girl dreams of buying her wedding gown from…

 

Virgin Ware

2002-2005

 

Another indication Branson doesn’t quite “get” the female market came during the brief life of Virginware, his foray into ladies’ underwear. We’ll be honest: things started badly when he made the slightly odd decision to hire Steve Richards, former Manchester United merchandising director and, presumably, secret pants expert, to head it up. 

 

The brand was sold through standalone stores and online retailers like Figleaves.com, and was designed to fill the “gap in the market” between expensive lingerie brands and high street stalwarts like TopShop.

 

Not surprisingly, given its leadership, Virgin Ware collapsed into administration just three years after its launch. Administrator Hodgsons was left in the rather awkward position of being stuck with 35,000 Virgin-branded pairs of knickers, bras, g-strings, basques and bikinis, prompting it to launch a £2m fire sale. Sounds  pants to us…