MainIdea
Theconventionalwisdominbusinessisthatyouneedtostickwithwhatyouknow.Timeaftertime,companiesthathaveattemptedtotransfertheirbrandstonewmarketshavefailedtomakedecentheadway.Virginisanotableexceptiontothisrule.Between2000and2003,Virgincreatedthreestartupcompaniesinthreedifferentcountriesandtwodifferentindustries,andeachofthesecompaniesbecamebillion-dollarenterprises—VirginBlue(Australia),VirginMobile(UK)andVirginMobile(America).ThiscontinuesVirgin'sproudtrackrecord—overthelastthirty-fiveyears,Virginhascreatedmorebillion-dollarcompaniesinmoreindustriesorsectorsthananyothercompany.
TheonlycommonfactorinallthesecompaniesistheVirginbrand.Sowhat,precisely,doestheVirginbrandstandfor?