Ryanair’s marketing boss: We are not a brand people need to fall in love with

Ryanair’s new marketing boss, Dara Brady, describes his first three months in the job as “a bit helter-skelter”. Brady, who took over when former CMO Kenny Jacobs departed in April, has led the brand as director of marketing and digital as it navigates a pandemic and global lockdowns in the most significant blow to the aviation industry ever.

On the flipside, Brady notes that the suspension of air travel actually eased workload in some ways. “It’s not being thrown in the deep end too much,” he says.

That’s not to downplay the “unprecedented challenge” of coronavirus, but Brady wants to put that challenge into context. It is not the first risk Ryanair has faced, with strikes and cancellations causing big problems in the past two years.

He explains: “Everything is in context. In the context of Covid, we are faced with immediate challenges at the moment. First, is getting back flying, second is ensuring the safety.”