By almost every measure of how customers feel, Ryanair is failing. It finished last in Which?'s annual survey of short-haul airlines in February 2026. Its Net Promoter Score sits at -3, with 39% of customers classed as detractors.

But, by every measure of how customers behave, it is winning. It made €1.92 billion in net profit and carried 183.7 million passengers. September 2026 traffic was up 4% year on year.

This gap between what people say and what they do is not a fluke. It shows something most brand measurement misses: being liked is not what gets you chosen. Being relevant is.

Relevance beats likeability

People don't choose brands in the abstract. They choose at a moment, triggered by a need: what marketers call a category entry point. "I need to get away cheaply" is one. "I need to be in Frankfurt for a meeting" is another.

The moment the "cheap" entry point fires, Ryanair comes to mind first. Nobody needs to love it at that moment. It just needs to be the obvious answer, and it is. That is mental availability at the point of purchase, and it overrides how people say they feel in a survey.

To be fair to the sceptics, Ryanair's low fares are real. Its cost base, routes and airport slots give it a structural advantage. But plenty of low-cost airlines have had cheap seats and still failed. Ryanair turns cheapness into growth because the brand is unmistakably tied to "cheap" when people go looking.

There is emotion here too, just not the kind satisfaction surveys measure. It's the small thrill of a £19 flight to Barcelona, the feeling of having beaten the system. Ryanair doesn't win without emotion. It wins on magnetism.

What makes a brand magnetic

Magnetism is the pull that makes a brand the one people reach for when the need arises. It isn't luck, and it isn't popularity. It is built from three things.

• A magnetic brand is impossible to mistake for anyone else. Ryanair's yellow and blue, its blunt tone and its unapologetic fares look and sound like nobody else in the category.
• Ownable assets. Distinction is held in assets the brand owns outright: the logo, the harp symbol, and one idea that never changes, the lowest fare. Each asset is a shortcut back to the brand.
• Relevance, not purpose. Magnetic brands earn their place by being the right answer to a real need, not by telling people what they stand for. Ryanair has no lofty mission. It has an answer to "how do I get there for less?"

Together these let a brand own a category entry point. The idea is expressed the same way at every touchpoint, so when the need comes up, the brand comes up with it. Ryanair owns "cheap". Very few brands can say what they own that clearly.

Magnetism now has two audiences: people and AI

More and more, the first answer to "find me a cheap flight to Lisbon" comes from an AI assistant, not from memory or a search results page. AI is becoming a second gatekeeper at the point of purchase.

AI models link brands to needs in much the same way people do: through repeated, consistent association. A brand that means one clear thing, said the same way everywhere, is easy for a model to connect to the right request. A brand that means something different on every channel gives the model nothing to hold on to.

So the same three drivers apply. Distinction makes a brand recognisable. Ownable assets and a consistent idea make the association strong. Relevance to a real need makes the brand the answer. Brands built this way will be magnetic to both audiences. Brands that are vague will be skipped by both.

The mistake competitors make

The tempting response to Ryanair is to fight it on price. That is a battle almost no one else can win, because Ryanair owns that entry point and has the cost base to defend it.

British Airways shows the risk. On short-haul it has moved towards low-cost tactics, such as hand-baggage-only fares and a stripped-back cabin offer. Each step makes sense on its own. Together they blur what BA stands for. Is it the premium choice, the national carrier, the convenient Heathrow option, or the cheaper one? If the brand can't answer that, neither can customers or the AI assistants they ask.

BA has entry points it could own: business travel, long-haul, the trip that feels like an occasion, loyalty through Avios. Its growth lies in being magnetic at those moments, not in being a slightly more expensive Ryanair.

The limits of being disliked

None of this argues that brands should try to be disliked. Ryanair's reputation has costs. It limits how far the airline can raise prices. It leaves Ryanair exposed if a credible rival ever undercuts it. It also hands regulators and the press an easy target.

The lesson is narrower and more useful. Likeability is a nice-to-have. Magnetism, being the relevant answer at the moment of choice, is what drives growth.

Start with why people buy, identify the moments you can own, and build recognisable assets around one consistent idea that people can recall and AI can easily recommend. Answer that need before reaching for a bigger purpose. And if a rival already owns the moment, find another where you can be the obvious choice. Being relevant, not just liked, is how you come to mind when it matters.

Nir Wegrzyn is CEO at BrandOpus