Easyjet

Why is easyJet successful?

Four key criteria are used to evaluate easyJet's strategic marketing success.

Strong Financial Performance

Shareholder value is ultimately driven by bottom-line financial success, which at easyJet has been fuelled by capacity expansion, cost control and tapping in to highly price sensitive segments of the market.

Rapid Sales growth - Between 1998 and 2003 revenues grew by a factor of twelve and profits grew by a factor of almost nine.

Cash management - With the mindset of an aggressive start-up, easyJet has not paid a dividend to date, preferring to retain profits to fund future expansion. In 2003, the company had enough cash reserves to fund a complete year of operations.

Exponential Market Share Growth

A key metric in the air transport sector for measuring market share is number of passengers carried. This is despite the fightback by traditional airlines over the last two years, which has seen several adopt a low-cost operational model or launch their own low-cost airlines.

Outstanding Resource Utilisation

Airline efficiencies are commonly measured using the metrics in table 3. easyJet has the highest load factor and keeps its aircraft flying longer than its main no-frills competitor. Relative staffing efficiencies are also significantly better than those of its main traditional competitor, British Airways.

Creation of Strong Brand Awareness

In a market populated by heavily branded traditional airlines, easyJet recognises the importance of establishing a brand that sets it apart from competitors.

An omnibus survey in January 2004 found that easyJet's brand awareness was 85% in the UK. In addition, easyJet was ranked as the fifth most popular search term on Google in 2003. easyJet is also the most popular air transport website and the second most popular travel website visited in early 2004.