The Virgin Group is one of the most famous brands in global business. Its owner, Richard Branson, is often seen hitting the headlines, receiving both positive and negative praise for his innovations. You may have seen the distinctive red tick logo on numerous products, from fibre broadband to trans-Atlantic flights. But do you know all the weird and wonderful ventures it has been featured on?
Virgin Drinks
People who grew up in the United Kingdom will remember Virgin Drinks fondly. But for others, it may come as a surprise that at one point, Virgin was trying to rival Coca-Cola and Pepsi with its soft drink empire.
Launched in 1994, Virgin Cola was extremely successful and lined convenience store shelves for several years. It only started to decline when Coca-Cola began to take on exclusive licenses and distribution, meaning the drink became quite hard to find. It was later sold to a company named Silver Spring Soft Drinks.
Cola was not the only drink released though, as the company had previously attempted to release a range of energy drinks similar to Red Bull.
Virgin Games
The online casino and gaming industry has grown exponentially over the past few years. As people have increased their desire for entertainment in the home, along with the improvements in mobile technology, the digital casino industry has become extremely competitive. Thus, it makes sense that a trusted brand name such as Virgin would be willing to get into the market.
Virgin Games provides one of the most competitive experiences and is frequently voted one of the best online casinos. This is partly down to its attractive offers for new players, allowing them free games of bingo or slot machines. It is hard to see how Virgin Games will expand any further as it already offers a large selection of table games as well, but it is sure to remain one of the biggest providers.
The venture should not be confused with Virgin Interactive, which was Virgin’s videogame development wing. They are known for several classic console and PC games released in the eighties and nineties. They also licensed many games for distribution, particularly in Europe.
Virgin Comics
One of the wildest Virgin ventures was its comics company Virgin Comics LLC. Founded in 2006, the company took a different path, aiming itself at an Indian audience instead of taking on the Marvel and DC Comics pairing that had dominated the mainstream industry for many years.
Helmed by the author Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, it came from a planned venture known as Gotham Comics. This then morphed into Virgin Comics and Animation with Branson onboard. In 2008 the company was sold and rebranded itself as Liquid Comics.
There have been many others that didn’t make the list but probably should have done. These included Nigerian National Airlines and even commercial space travel companies. No doubt, Virgin will continue to invest wherever they see opportunity and we can expect many more to come.
