Glasgow Business . 25
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
Glasgow Talks… with Mark Logan, Chief Operating Officer, Skyscanner
Richard Muir, Deputy
Chief Executive, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce with Mark Logan, Chief Operating Officer, Skyscanner
IDEAS PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF SKYSCANNER’S SUCCESS
S
kyscanner is well known as one of Scotland’s leading technology companies – but developing its people is crucial for its long-term
success, a Glasgow Talks event heard. Mark Logan, the Chief Operating Officer of
the travel search engine, explained his personal passion for developing teams and giving them the room to come up with ideas that may work – while making room for ideas that may fail. He spoke about the importance of
one-to-one sessions with every member of staff, even a new arrival that might be working on reception. “Oſten you get some ideas that are worth
considering. Tere is no reason why the leaders in a business should have all the best ideas,” he told an audience of Chamber members and guests. “We firmly believe in encouraging people to
own their own job. It’s about trust. I want the business to be run by the people on the front line, not from some far off ivory tower. If you get people into the right frame of mind, they’ll take care of the rest,” he said. But the job is all about creating the most
trusted and most used online travel brand in the world. Te company is now third in its market place behind Expedia and TripAdvisor,
and has been closing the gap on its rivals. Te company now has 60 million unique
monthly visitors. “We’ve celebrated double-digit revenue
growth for seven consecutive years, and continue to grow at an accelerated rate.” But the major success has all been on
mobile devices. “We launched our first app in 2011. Now,
our apps have been downloaded more than 40 million times. In 2014, we acquired Distinction, bringing their 30-strong team on board to accelerate our already strong app development talent at Skyscanner. “In 2015, we saw mobile visits increase by
60 per cent, and mobile bookings grow 24 per cent, comprising 42 per cent of all conversions.” He spoke about the important role played
by social media and the matrix of communities. “Facebook is a network of people,
connected by relationships and actions. Without the network, Facebook’s applications have zero value. With a huge network, they are extremely valuable, and their existence symbiotically strengthens the network.” Te same applies to eBay, which is a
two-sided network of buyers and sellers. Google is another example; a two-sided network of advertisers and searchers.
“And Skyscanner is a two-sided network of
users (travellers) and partners. Te more users we atract, the more partners we atract, the more users we atract etc. Te value of our network increases as we add users. Te key to winning in flights is to strengthen this network until it is dominant. Te greater the strength of the network, the more ways in which we can exploit it. And the greater its strength, the more defensible it becomes.” However, the significant difference between
Skyscanner’s network and other social networks is that the frequency of usage by the customer is much lower. “In many respects that doesn’t change the
tasks required to accelerate the network. But there is one very important difference – the frequency characteristics of travel outlast the human short-term memory, which impacts the formation of habit, and in turn requires us to take a growth marketing approach where awareness marketing is a relatively more important element of retention.” It means that Skyscanner has to work harder
to be the first choice for those wanting a flight. Te brand has to remain front of mind for the traveller. Tat, in turn, is all about engaging employees so they come up with the best ways of achieving this goal.
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