Abstract

This case is about British entrepreneur Richard Branson’s (Branson) new venture, Virgin Galactic, which he started with the aim of making space travel available to the general public. Over the years, Branson had launched hundreds of ventures with the portfolio including cola, aviation, and financial services, by extending the Virgin brand name. Some experts felt that by extending the Virgin brand name to unrelated categories, Branson ran the risk of diluting the brand. However, Branson was unperturbed and quite upbeat regarding the prospects of his new ventures including Virgin Galactic which was expected to commence its first commercial trip in 2010.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Brand decisions
• Brand extension strategy
• Niche Marketing
• and Entrepreneurship.

Keywords

Richard Branson, Virgin Group, Virgin Galactic, Brand extension, Brand dilution, space tourism, space travel, Burt Rutan, Paul Allen