Ryanair will need to tackle deep-rooted perceptions if its professed desire to improve its image is to succeed, writes Steve Dunne, executive chairman of Brighter Group
I always remember, as a child, booing the pantomime villain as they entered, stage left, and proceeded to berate the audience, their fellow actors and the hero of the show.
I would join in with the jeering of the villain and I would sit enthralled as they got their comeuppance at the hands of the hero.
However, had the pantomime villain suddenly turned into a nice sweet individual I would have been confused, perhaps even disillusioned – for every story needs a villain.
From ugly to cuddly
All over Europe right now, travellers are experiencing that very feeling – it’s what marketers know as cognitive dissonance.Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort we experience when a brand we feel we understand, performs in a contradictory way.
Ryanair’s recent volte face from the growling, sneering, take-it-or-leave-it no frills airline – into a soft, warm and cuddly brand that loves its customer, is doing just that for the travelling public.
Whatever one thought of the Ryanair brand, one thing was for certain: you knew where you stood with it.
From a booking process of 17 plus clicks, with opt out options at every stage, to punitive charges at the airport for printing out a boarding pass – we all knew the rules.
In exchange for some of the lowest fares around we knew it was strictly one piece of hand baggage in the cabin; we knew we might have to run the gauntlet of hawk eyed ground staff weighing your hand luggage on bathroom scales immediately prior to boarding the aircraft. It came with the territory.
And Ryanair’s chief, Michael O’Leary was unapologetic about it.
So Ryanair’s latest change of heart, and new television advertising campaign, sets forth an interesting experiment in changing public perceptions and remodeling a brand’s reputation.
Ryanair image has changed
When I first saw the Ryanair TV advertisement talking about a second piece of hand luggage being allowed in the cabin for free, a colleague, sat next to me, immediately said: “Yeah, and I bet the second piece of hand luggage needs to be tiny”.
Others asked me if you had to pay for the first bag to get the second one free. And debate about the new Ryanair amongst friends and clients revealed a theme in their perceptions – they’ll be a catch somewhere, there always is.
And that is the issue facing Ryanair.
The turnaround of the Ryanair image needs to tackle the deep rooted perception and reputation, in part built by Michael O’Leary, that customers will put up with anything if fares are cheap enough. That if you want a brand that loves you and focuses on you then try another airline.
However Ryanair, as usual, is showing its street smart thinking with its new advertisements – the self lampooning tone will go a long way to meeting the initial cynicism that their advertisements will no doubt face.
And the airline needs to be committed to this new approach for the long haul, it will take a long while and it will be a slow process.
Because, just like the pantomime villain suddenly turned good guy, the audience will want to see continual positive actions not words before they embrace the new image and change the brand’s villain status to that of hero.