What exactly is EasyGroup's business strategy?

 

Most of us have heard of or even used EasyJet, some may even have rented a car from their sister company EasyCar but how many have bought a product from EasyValue or music from, you guessed it, EasyMusic? Nowhere near as many, just take a look at the kind of traffic just a few of EasyGroup’s websites receive:

 

(Higher is better)- Many of EasyJet’s sister companies don’t even register

 

My question is, what exactly is Stelios doing? To answer this question I braved the glaring orange EasyGroup website and found my answer. The EasyGroup’s overarching strategy is to build on brand values which they list as the following:

1. great value
2. taking on the big boys
3. for the many not the few
4. relentless innovation
5. keep it simple
6. entrepreneurial
7. making a difference in people’s lives
8. honest, open, caring and fun

It seems that EasyGroup want their brand to convey the idea of being the people’s champion, offering better value than its established competitors (‘the big boys’) whilst maintaining the agility to remain both innovative and entrepreneurial. Certainly, the rate at which a number of Easy brands have appeared and subsequently disappeared indicates a degree of agility but only a few seem to get much attention.

To be fair Google does the same sort of thing, releases a new product, often with little or no fuss, but the difference is Google has built itself into an iconic brand and the transient nature of many of Google’s dalliances are very much in keeping with Google’s brand as a whole, lynch pinned by their ubiquitous search engine. EasyGroup appear to be trying to do the same thing but I’m not sure EasyJet (their first and largest brand) commands the kind of iconic status that deserves proliferation, especially when taking into account EasyGroup’s own measurement of brand value. I doubt I’m the first person here to hear someone on an EasyJet flight refer to the airline as “SleazyJet” or the even “QueazyJet”, and that can’t be good (although I give them points for having a brand popular enough that I can make jokes at their expense. Thank you.)

    

When your brand is associated with vomit you may have a problem

Virgin Group is an obvious comparison, with a finger in what seems like every pie, but am I the only one who thinks their brands have a little more cohesion than those of EasyGroup despite often appearing to be as disparate? Additionally, I think we also have to take into account the iconic figureheads of these organisations, on one hand you have Richard Branson, a well-spoken, charismatic, silver-haired fox (if I do say so myself) and on the other you have Stelios, an overweight, balding tycoon with an unpronounceable surname. Is it just me or does it all of a sudden seem a little silly to compare? 

 Who would you take your mum to meet?

I think my biggest problem is the lack of care that appears to go into some of the brands under the EasyGroup name, just scrolling down on the EasyMusic website reveals some garish Google Adsense ads and a poor integration with CDWOW (the company which EasyGroup is using it’s brand as a middleman for). Easy4Men appears to offer a single product (or deviations thereof) that exploits a gap in the market created by enhanced security at airports only allowing 100ml of liquids to be brought on to planes. And finally, EasyWatches sells, you guessed it, watches, that look like the ones you’d get from the Sunday market. Another thing you’ll notice is that some of the Easy companies are moving into a franchise business model which if not executed correctly could also damage the Easy brand.

Yeah, you guessed it, they do pizza too (I’m really not joking)

On the other hand, I can’t help but admire Stelios; EasyJet may suffer as a result of the recession but his other businesses are cash rich and may very well be the decider when it comes to long term survival of EasyGroup as we know it. I just wish he would pay just a little more attention to the strength of his brand!

 

New series of BBC’s The Apprentice leaves a bad taste

So, I’ve managed to overcome my unease at watching BBC’s The Apprentice. The problem with it was that seeing a bunch o’ city boys n’ girls arguing just reminded me a little too much of group meetings during the MBA (some of them at least). People fighting to be heard and lots of talking over each other combined with some monumentally bad ideas seen through to completion used to make for uncomfortable viewing, now it just makes me laugh. For the most part I am enjoying the series so far.

His beard is made of pubes

The one thing doesn’t sit well with me at all though lies at the very heart of the program and that is the “greed is good” mentality that Sir Alan Sugar is such an advocate of. Meanwhile, his 15 acolytes are responsible for some of the most sickening and reprehensible sound bytes I’ve ever heard. Here a just a couple:

“…when I wake up in the morning I can taste success in my spit!”

“To me making money is better than sex!”

“Being successful is more important than being popular, you don’t have to make friends on the way up when you’re not coming back down”

In the current economic climate, caused at least in part by this level of blind ambition and ethical ambiguity, I find it hard to relate to any of the characters in the program. I love to hate most of them and just plain hate the rest but it is enough to keep me watching, albeit with a slightly bad taste in my mouth. I’m also somewhat convinced that these people don’t actually exist and are just some kind of manifestation invoked by Sir Alan calling upon ancient spirits buried deep in the East-end of London… Guv’nor.

This series’ contestants

In a video on the BBC News website Sir Alan says that this series is taking the recession into account with certain tasks. One in particular is to restore a seaside town which has been hit by the recession. However, I’m not sure I’m convinced. How much economic rejuvenation can actually occur in the 2-3 days they have to complete a task?

In my opinion this whole series should have have been reworked thematically to draw more attention to corporate social responsibility and steering away from the usual capitalism on steroids mentality. Additionally, I think every task should be focused on beating the recession either by encouraging investment and/or by helping struggling local businesses to thrive. Then again, ask yourself next time you decide to watch it whether or not you would trust any of these lot with your flagging business. I certainly wouldn’t.

Let me know what you think…