Richard Branson Built His 11-Figure Personal Brand—Here's How

Richard Branson.

The OG CEO-lebrity.

You know him. I know him.

Everyone knows him.

One of the most followed accounts on LinkedIn with nearly 20 million followers.

The man whose personal brand is estimated to be 100x more valuable than his billion-dollar chain of businesses.

6 best-selling books, millions of views on the blog, and over 17 million views on his YouTube channel.

Knighted by the Prince of Wales.

Damn, that’s way too much to achieve for a lifetime.

How did Sir Richard Branson get here?

Use stories to drive your mission statement

At this point, I’ve explained this principle in so many ways in pretty much all of the previous newsletter editions.

But I’m still going to continue it until it sinks in your head.

Richard Branson is the perfect example of this.

And why not?

After all, he has amazing stories to tell.
Be his Stephen Colbert interview, where he tells how his entire empire originated just from his mother’s necklace.

Or when he tells his ‘dyslexic dropout’ story in his Diary of a CEO podcast episode.

The more stories you tell, the deeper connection you build with your audience.

Richard Branson deeply believes and embraces it.

Now, there are 5 types of stories you can tell, we’ve covered them during our last edition. Have a look. 

Create an unconventional character

In our first newsletter edition, we discussed:

Richard Branson took this playbook and went one step further.

He created a whole character (avatar) for himself, that no one in the industry expected.

To understand that, answer this:

What comes to your mind when you think of an airline entrepreneur?

I bet you thought of a buttoned-up, calm and composed, glasses-wearing, silent man.

But Richard is completely opposite of it.

A rebel, risk-taker who goes on trekking, gets injured, lives a playboy lifestyle.

He’s the man who throws a glass full of water on Mark Cuban.

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Now, he may not have done that intentionally, but he’s following what’s known as ‘Brand Archetypes.’

In simpler terms, there are 12 categories of brand personalities.

1. The Creator

Desire: Create the perfect product/service

Goal: Innovation

Strategy: Use creativity to solve problems

Brand Message: “Think different”

Traits: Innovation, Originality, Expression, Vision, individualistic

Fears: Stagnation, Duplication, Familiarity, Disillusion, Indifference

Brands: Apple, Lego, Adobe, GoPro, Crayola

2. The Sage

Desire: Find the Truth

Goal: Understanding

Strategy: Seek information and knowledge

Brand Message: “The truth will set you free”

Traits: Wisdom, Intelligence, Expertise, Information, Influence

Fears: Lies, Misinformation, Ignorance, Inaccuracy, Stupidity

Brands: TED, Google, BBC, Discovery Channel, The Times

3. The Caregiver

Desire: Care, protect and nurture

Goal: Helping Others

Strategy: Do things for others

Brand Message: “Treat others as yourself”

Traits: Compassion, Caring, Reassuring, Nurturing, Warm

Fears: Helplessness, Selfishness, Ingratitude, Instability, Neglect

Brands: Unicef, Johnson & Johnson, NHS, Pampers, Volvo

4. The Innocent

Desire: Love, peace, and happiness for all

Goal: Happiness

Strategy: Do the right thing

Brand Message: “The glass is half full”

Traits: Optimistic, Charming, Honest, Loyal, Simplistic

Fears: Depravity, Deceit, Complexity, Punishment, Confusion

Brands: Dove, McDonald’s, Innocent, Coca-Cola, Volkswagen

5. The Jester

Desire: Enjoy life and have fun

Goal: Entertainment

Strategy: Be playful, be fun

Brand Message: “If you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong”

Traits: Playful, Humorous, Positivity, Togetherness, Funny

Fears: Boredom, Negativity, Seriousness, Gloom, Misery

Brands: Paddy Power, Budweiser, Skittles, Old Spice, M&Ms

6. The Magician

Desire: Turn dreams into reality

Goal: Magical Moments

Strategy: Create a unique vision and stand by it

Brand Message: “Make the impossible, possible”

Traits: Transformational, Charisma, Imaginative, Idealistic, Insightful

Fears: Repetition, Boring, Stagnation, Doubt, Ignorance

Brands: Disney, Dyson, TUI, Polaroid, MAC Cosmetics

7. The Ruler

Desire: Control

Goal: Success

Strategy: Lead and create exclusivity

Brand Message: ”Laughter is the world’s best medicine”

Traits: Power, Status, Success, Wealth, Loyalty

Fears: Losing power, being undermined, rule breakers, rebels, xxx

Brands: Microsoft, Rolls Royce, Rolex, Hugo Boss,

8. The Hero

Desire: Mastery

Goal: Improve the world through courage

Strategy: Motivate and encourage

Brand Message: “Where there’s a will there’s a way”

Traits: Bravery, Courage, Honor, Inspiration, Growth

Fears: Weakness, Incapability, Injustice, Cowardice, Incompetence

Brands: Nike, BMW, FedEx, Adidas, The Royal Marines

9. The Everyman

Desire: Connection with others

Goal: Belonging

Strategy: Down-to-earth and trustworthy

Brand Message: “Live together in harmony”

Traits: Dependable, Realistic, Pragmatic, Inclusive, Equality

Fears: Exclusion, Standing out, Hostility, Isolation, Separation

Brands: Tesco, Lynx, Ford, Levis, Ikea

10. The Rebel

Desire: Revolution

Goal: Disruption

Strategy: Shake things up and do things differently

Brand Message: “Rules are made to be broken”

Traits: Disruptive, Liberator, Confrontational, Independent, Change

Fears: Conformity, Rules, Repetition, Rigidity, Status Quo

Brands: Harley-Davidson, Uber, Diesel, Greenpeace, Red Bull

11. The Explorer

Desire: Freedom of discovery

Goal: Excitement and Fulfillment

Strategy: Take your own path

Brand Message: “Seek out new things and set yourself free”

Traits: Discovery, Adventure, Independence, Exploration, Pioneering

Fears: Aimlessness, Conformity, Safety, Confinement, Short Sightedness

Brands: NASA, Jeep, The North Face, Subaru, National Geographic

12. The Lover

Desire: Connection

Goal: Intimacy

Strategy: Be desirable

Brand Message: “Love makes the world go round”

Traits: Passionate, Committed, Romantic, Affectionate, Indulgent

Fears: Rejection, Isolation, Loneliness, Unloved, Invisible

Brands: Victoria’s Secret, Godiva, Anne Summers, Alfa Romeo, Chanel

While everyone in the airline industry might come under archetype #7: Ruler, Richard Branson went out in the world with a perfect representation of Archetype #10: Rebel.

After having a look at all these archetypes, all you gotta do is follow these 3 steps:

And Boom!

You have separated yourself from the crowd just like how Richard Branson did in his industry.

So there we have it.

And there we have it.
The #1 secret to becoming the Richard Branson of your industry.

I firmly believe that reverse engineering the top leaders of the industry can create magic for your personal branding journey.

And that’s what I promise to bring to your life. Magic.

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Also, send it over to your friends too. Thanks :)

Let’s meet next Thursday.