easyJet, 1995

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easyJet
In 1995, the new order arrived in the form of two enduring brands fit for a brave new world –easyJet and Sony Playstation. Each brand has since revolutionised their industry.

No-frills airline, easyJet, led by larger-than-life Greek entrepreneur, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, helped make the world a smaller place. By cutting out free drinks and meals on flights and cutting out travel agents, enabling travellers to book their own flights online or on the phone, easyJet could pass on savings to its customers.

The orange-coloured budget airline was shaking up its industry. Later, even British Airways would get in on the act with a no-frills spin-off Go, an airline easyJet would buy in 2002.
Meanwhile, Sony Playstation took the world of consoles and computer games firmly out of the children’s bedrooms into a must-have recreational habit for young men, partly helped by the arrival of cyber heroine Lara Croft.

It was a good year for technology and engineering. Microsoft launched Windows 1995 and Netscape Navigator was the browser of choice for those online. And the Dyson DCO1 made cleaning more fun as the best-selling vacuum cleaner in the UK.

Noteworthy ad campaigns came from the Ambassador who was really spoiling us with Ferrero Rocher and a more straightforward ad from Ronseal that “does exactly what it says on the tin.”
Finally, British teenagers were delighted with two product innovations from the alcohol industry – lemonade alcopops called Two Dogs and Hooch.

Snapshot 1995
Brand Value – Methodology
Books: Pat Barker writes The Ghost Road
Events: British troops sent to Sarajevo; Brixton riots; Shell agrees not to dump Brent Spar
Films: The Usual Suspects
Music: Blur sings “Country House”