MARKETERS REACT: JAGUAR’S CONTROVERSIAL REBRAND
Social media was abuzz last weekend following one of the most controversial marketing shake ups in recent memory, as British motoring icon Jaguar ditches its monotone, masculine, super-villain-esque aesthetic for something bright, bold and a little bit bonkers.
We caught up with our marketing team to discuss whether this headline grabbing rebrand is the start of an exciting new direction, or a complete misfire which has failed to understand its own audience.
Jaguar’s Rebrand
Unveiled on the 18th November as a ‘fearless, exuberant and compelling’ reimagining of the Jaguar brand, their new webpage introduces bright colours, a softer (and arguably less identifiable) logo and what they themselves have labelled ‘Unexpected and original thinking’. Whilst on Instagram, followers of this British racing manufacturer were treated to a short video which featured brightly dressed models wearing their best Paris Fashion Week attire, yellow sledgehammers, pink rocks in a pink desert and people walking in reverse… Have we just witnessed a stroke of marketing genius?
Siren’s MD Gives His Thoughts
As a self-proclaimed petrol head, our MD, Harps Sohal casts light on the change in direction from a business and marketing strategy perspective. For him, this U-turn from Bond Villain advertising to pastel colours and music-video aesthetics is a stroke of brilliance from the marketers at Jaguar.
“This is very obviously a sign of a new start for Jaguar, which is probably much needed for the brand and the fact that this is making waves on socials is the sign of a successful relaunch campaign. Obviously for them, the old ways we’re no longer successful and ultimately, you cannot continue to do the same things over and over and expect the result to change.
Sometimes you need to step away from the ordinary and make real changes to the way you operate to continue to be successful. Perhaps by choosing not to show their new cars and departing so heavily from their historical identity, we can infer that they are looking at acquiring a new audience, entering a wider market and expanding their audience’s perception of the Jaguar brand beyond its current identity as a British sports car manufacturer. For me, from a marketing perspective, this has been incredibly successful”.
Insights From Our Luxury Brand Expert
We reached out to our Senior Paid Social Executive James Scambler who has significant experience in managing luxury brands who dives into the connections between Jaguar and another stable British brand from a very different industry.
“At its core, Jaguar’s rebrand boldly breaks away from tradition and follows an increasingly popular road to modernisation. By abandoning heritage in favour of a future-oriented identity, Jaguar stands out in a highly saturated market and they can establish themselves as a somewhat visionary leader.
We’ve all seen this playbook before with Burberry, whose shift from tradition to modern luxury successfully attracted younger audiences. However, Jaguar risks alienating loyal customers & abandoning decades of brand equity, leading to confusion about its category. Without clear ties to its strong luxury automotive roots, we’re all wondering, ‘What does Jaguar actually stand for now?’.
Despite the initial backlash, Jaguar’s rebranding has generated significant buzz & led to substantial organic reach. In an age of short attention spans and crowded digital spaces, this alone is a victory & half the battle is already won!”
Views From Siren’s Organic Team
Meanwhile our Organic Social Executive Sean Hanley gave his two cents to the topic which had the brand trending on X for the first time in year.
“While I am not necessarily a fan of this new direction, I think that if Jaguar – as an old luxury brand slowly falling into obscurity – was looking to barge itself back into the headlines, fuel speculation and incite conversation with a new, broader audience then this was a genius tour-de-force move from marketing.
When was the last time that Jaguar made headlines, or trended on X, aside from local news about factories closing and mass layoffs? I couldn’t tell you, and therein lies Jaguar’s problem. To be a pillar of any industry is accept that you will be static and unchanging… Reliant on past success. Given current manufacturing issues faced by Jaguar and economic hardship felt around the world, this rebrand is probably a sign that a shock reinvention is more ‘do or die’ than we might initially realise.
My hope is that over time, the discourse from diehard fans will become more kind and confident once Jaguar releases its latest electric vehicles and that vocabulary used to describe this new style in the media will evolve over time from ‘off-brand’, ‘uninspired’ and ‘unimaginative’ to ‘brave’, ‘forward thinking’ and ‘visionary’.
The only question is… Has Jaguar alienated their current customers so much that they will shift to the company’s main competitors? If so, this new direction will almost certainly demolish any current brand loyalty and Jaguar will be solely reliant on new audiences to keep them both relevant and profitable”.
Final Thoughts
From the lens of a digital marketing agency, this rebrand, with its lack of cars, futuristic fashion sense and complete lack of conformity to the company’s heritage is possibly the smartest move Jaguar could have hoped to have made, even if some of its current customers may be confused and frustrated by the decision. Jaguar is due to unveiled its new vehicles on the 3rd December 20224, and we have all been told to prepare for a ‘seismic change’. For the sake of the brand, we hope they can deliver a magnitude 9 earthquake to the heart of the motor industry because if not, it might be time for this icon to head to the scrapheap!
We’ll be taking one last look over this rebrand and the discussions around the future of Jaguar in a future blog, so stay tuned and fire us a follow on our socials to stay unto date!
