BRANSON SAYS BAD BUSINESSES ‘SHOULD DIE’

Sir Richard Branson addressed a packed house of media owners, marketers and Toronto mayor David Miller Wednesday, as Advertising Week attendees listened in on an hour-long live interview with the Virgin founder.

Toronto Star media and culture critic Geoff Pevere interviewed Branson at Toronto’s Filmport movie studio facility as part of Advertising Week’s third day of programing.

Branson recently met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to offer advice on dealing with the global recession. When asked for his thoughts on the current economic climate, the U.K.’s most famous businessman was frank.

“I’ve been through four recessions in my lifetime,” Branson said. “This one certainly is the worst. It doesn’t seem to have hit Canada the same way it has America or the U.K. Sadly I think it’s more likely than not that it will, and that it will be rather grim in the next year or two.”

However, Branson was equally frank about the role government should play in aiding the private sector through tough times. “I hate the idea of government’s intervening to save business.

Companies should be like trees. If they’re inefficient, they should die and make way for new trees. [Although] saving banks was an absolute necessity. Not saving the banks would have been horrendous.”

Though he has long been the face and flamboyant spokesperson for Virgin’s many businesses—including two airlines, mobile phone companies and radio stations—Pevere asked if Branson was nearing a time when he would step back.

“I’ve done my job as far as putting Virgin on the map on a global basis goes. If my balloon pops tomorrow or my spaceship goes up in smoke,” he said, referring to his penchant for adventure, “I think Virgin will live on without me. I’ve reached an age when I want to use my wealth and position to tackle some of the social problems of the world. I’m spending a lot more time on that than I am creating new businesses.”

Following the interview, Branson judged a student competition held in conjunction with Advertising Week and sponsored by Astral Media. Students from several post-secondary advertising programs visited Toronto ad agencies today to create a campaign for Virgin Unite, Branson’s charitable foundation. The winning concept will be developed and presented on Astral out-of-home and radio properties in Toronto and Vancouver this summer.