Whether it’s music, cruises, trains, or planes, the Virgin Group has a long record of taking the status quo and upending it. Now, Richard Branson’s company is doing the same thing with the way people view dyslexia, reframing it as a positive genetic difference rather than a negative health issue. As a dyslexic himself, Sir Richard has the perfect platform to help remove the stigma around dyslexia. By changing perceptions of something widely considered negative, Virgin proves to the world once again that they are a brand dedicated to changing the way people view the world around them. 

The word “dyslexia” has an outdated stigma and negative perception - particularly in the workplace. But many highly successful people are dyslexic, including Sir Richard Branson. So Virgin partnered with Made by Dyslexia, LinkedIn, and Dictionary.com to shift focus to the term “Dyslexic Thinking” - a phrase that highlights all the positive skills people with dyslexia possess. To raise awareness, LinkedIn changed its platform to feature Dyslexic Thinking as an official skill available for the 810 million users to add to their profiles. Dictionary.com then vetted it through their rigorous accreditation process and added it to their dictionary. By recognizing dyslexic thinking in such high-profile ways, we were finally able to begin shifting people’s perceptions.  

The campaign was immediately taken up by international media outlets, gaining coverage from over 250 major global publications including the BBC, the Independent, Business Insider and Bloomberg with an opportunity to see of 150 million and an earned media value of £1.5M+. Tracking public sentiment across social media, we saw positive mentions about dyslexia increase by 1562%, while negative mentions decreased by 4450% from pre-campaign levels. A clear indication that the campaign was resonating and starting to change the perception of dyslexia. Within 30 days, 13,000 HR and recruitment leaders had also viewed the film explaining how Dyslexic Thinkers could help take their company to the next level. Finally, and most importantly, over 10,000 people had added “Dyslexic Thinking” as a skill on LinkedIn, a number which continues to grow to this day, and which global companies including Facebook, EY, HSBC, and Microsoft are already seeking out in their recruitment.