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As the Virgin brand grew it began to collect inventory – a radio, an airline, a train, a fizzy drink, a way to communicate and so on. Each new incantation of the brand was delivered with promotion, advertising and always with a fanfare of publicity through some quirky PR event which captured media attention and the public’s imagination. As Virgin blossomed, so did the persona of Branson and it wouldn’t be long before he became a central figure within each of these PR gambits. It could be argued his self-inclusion was the misguided narcissism of a CEO desperate for the limelight; but Branson was not just an entrepreneur, he was also a true adventurer.

When the ‘Virgin Atlantic Flyer’, the largest hot air balloon ever built, crossed the Atlantic in 1985 in record time, this PR stunt didn’t smack of glorification for its owner…it smacked of originality and a big chunk of bravery. If anyone doubted this, Branson’s efforts to circumnavigate the Earth in the 90’s was boy’s own stuff! His ballooning feats gave him credibility…but what he also had was column inches: loads of them. All adding power to his Virgin brand and its ever-growing list of products: brand image and desirability driven not through traditional paid-for advertising but by the ability to make people get emotionally involved through the spirited actions of one man.

Many feel Branson has established himself as PR royalty: king of the publicity stunt. The approach he’s adopted hasn’t always been something from the Eagle Comic and Branson has often chosen a lighter approach when selling his company: dressing up in bridal gear for Virgin Brides; showing off his backside and fashioning himself as a Zulu Warrior for Virgin Atlantic; driving an armoured tank down Fifth Avenue in New York and aiming shots at Pepsi and Coke signs for Virgin Cola. But it’s the daredevil stuff which really gets the consumers going and the press love to report another Branson bungey-jump or him driving a car across the Channel: it sells as many Sun newspapers as it does Virgin mobile phones.

Of course, when you get it so right every time, there’s always the chance it can go horribly wrong. When Virgin America’s reservation system went ga-ga in 2011 after the brand had launched its new strapline, “we’re shaping up our back end”, it showed how consumer opinion can quickly change. Virgin remained defiant and maintained there was no problem as customers were blogging the issues around the world. No amount of brand coolness takes away a bad customer experience and lessons needed to be learnt.

For a company like Virgin, where image is everything, they were quickly back on track as they do understand if you’re going to tell everybody how good you are…and you’re going to shout…well, then, you’d better be able to back it up.

Virgin, and Mr. Branson’s, PR stands as a benchmark to others. From the shocking to the spirited, there barely seems a time when the bearded one hasn’t been all over our chip paper. Since the police raided his shop in London to tear down a ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ poster in the window, Branson has championed the power of PR.

Is there such a thing as bad PR? Yes there is. That’s why Virgin do it right.