“I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
This quote from Voltaire has a connection to Ryanair, in my eyes.
Here’s how.
To start with, let me just say that I hate Ryanair.
They fly from, and to, obscure airports, their customer service is horrendous, they charge ridiculous prices for things like paying online with a debit card (unless you are one of the three people with a Visa Electron card), and frankly, their website is an eyesore.
Despite all of this, I can’t help but admire one thing about Ryanair – their strategy.
Not so much the actual strategy, but the fact that they have one. A clearly defined one. Because without a clearly defined strategy and vision, it is like sailing around the world without a compass.
Their strategy is low cost, no frills flights – and everything they do shows evidence of this strategy. All standard costs are stripped out, and made to be ‘extras’ that you can avoid paying (i.e. getting a Visa Electron card). They regularly do £5 flight deals. They don’t do refunds – ever.
They show no evidence of spending money on big flashy TV campaigns, or a nice website, thus giving the impression that every spare penny they make goes into continuing to fund cheap flights.
And it is a strategy that must be working, with customer numbers expected to increase by nearly 20% in 2009 compared to 2008. It is like we are all masochists, willing to go through Ryanair hell to save a few pounds.
To connect this back to the quote at the top of the page, here is my Voltaire-esque quote:
“I don’t agree with your strategy, but I will defend to the death your right to have one.”
Well, maybe not to the death – but I will blog positively about it at the very least!
If you want to read more into the Ryanair strategy, check out this interview with their CEO, Michael O’Leary.
