Substance must overtake style if Jaguar’s to stay in the race
Jaguar, whose corporate rebranding exercise sparked a wave of mockery and confusion last week, has met the backlash with a plea for people to “reserve judgment.”
This optimistic request suggests that, despite the achingly progressive sentiment behind the carmaker’s new attitude, it doesn’t really understand the internet. Asking social media users to reserve judgement is like asking a hungry shark to embrace the notion of delayed gratification.
Jaguar must have known that its “bold” new look would generate opinions as quickly as it divided them.
However, let’s step back from the subjective row about “woke” and dissect what’s actually going on here.
In 2021 the firm announced it would relaunch production in 2026 as an all-electric manufacturer. It has been selling only about 60,000 vehicles annually in recent years, while its cousins Land Rover and Range Rover (all part of the Tata-owned JLR) have left the ailing big cat in the dust. Elsewhere in the luxury market, BMW and Mercedes-Benz (traditional Jag competitors) see millions of cars drive off the production line each year.
So, dramatic surgery was required in order to resuscitate the 102 year-old brand. All hopes now rest on a new range of models which will be designed and built in Britain. That’s a rare bit of good news that got lost among the reaction to the “fearless” new adverts that, were it not for the inclusion of a new Jaguar logo, could have been designed to sell anything from paint to fast fashion.
Ahead of the launch of these new vehicles, Jaguar wants to pump-prime the market with its “break the rules” ad campaign. The company is also unashamedly moving away from (perhaps breaking up with) the stereotype of its existing customer. Nigel Farage serves as a fair example, and Jaguar’s MD, Rawdon Glover, told the Sunday Times he’s relaxed about losing the Farage demographic: “the average age of the Jaguar client is quite old and getting older…we’ve got to access a completely different audience.”
While the controversial rebrand is (for now) the most visible part of this effort, it’s only one element of a much more audacious commercial, operational and manufacturing overhaul.
The business deserves much of the ridicule the rebrand has earned them, but it also deserves a fair hearing when their new models enter the market – at which point, we hope, substance will overtake style.