Brand News: Jaguar's Bold Rebranding - Innovation or Identity Crisis?

Jaguar has taken a daring leap, but have they risked losing their identity in the process? Join us on Digital Horizons as we dissect Jaguar's bold rebranding effort that has both stunned enthusiasts and sparked a wave of reactions on social media. Unveiling a reimagined logo at Miami Fashion Week, Jaguar is steering towards a younger, eco-conscious crowd, but at what cost? Even Elon Musk joined the fray, questioning whether Jaguar still makes cars. We unravel whether this move is a strategic masterstroke or a controversial misstep that might leave its loyal supporters feeling forgotten.

Amidst falling sales figures, is a radical makeover the lifeline Jaguar needs, or does it risk alienating the very fans that once revered it? We draw parallels with the brand's iconic 2015 Rendezvous Campaign and ponder if it's possible to embrace the future without sacrificing heritage. As we explore this branding enigma, we also consider the impact of Jaguar's deviation from traditional automotive elements—an absence keenly felt in their fashion-centric campaign. Tune in for an engaging conversation on the fine line between innovation and tradition as Jag attempts to carve out its place in the rapidly evolving automotive landscape.

The Digital Horizons Podcast is hosted by:

James Walker - Managing Director WHD
Brian Hastings - Managing Director Nous

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome back to Digital Horizons.
This is our brand new segmentand we've got some big brand
news for this week James.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, anyone who hasn't heard yet or seen on
their social media which I feellike is probably pretty likely
is that Jaguar did a rebrand,which I feel like is probably
pretty likely, is that Jaguardid a rebrand.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yes, did they ever?
I think there's still a fewpeople out there hoping that the
rebrand is a bit of a troll andthat they're going to come out
with the real rebrand, but Ithink, as time goes on, it's
becoming more apparent it isn't,and this rebrand is, in fact,
where they've shifted to.
So what do we mean by a rebrandis, in fact, where they've
shifted to.

(00:45):
So what do we mean by a rebrand?
The logo has changed andthey've released a sort of
teaser video of the new branddirection.
So there's still more to come.
It was released at MiamiFashion Week, I believe, and
they keep saying, oh, it's allin the execution.
Just wait, you'll see.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, I saw there was a tweet from Elon Musk asking
Jaguar to their page if theymake cars.
Yes, and their response was wehave something coming.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Pay attention.
So I don't think that'shappened yet.
Whatever they gave a date orsomething, I don't think that's
actually happened.
So I mean, it's definitely gotthe world talking, hasn't it?
Yes, and I think that's whateveryone was hoping for that.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
this is, you know, even the logo shift.
That that was a joke, becauseit is arguably not very good.
It's blending a capital letterof the G with lowercase letters.
For the rest of the Jaguar it'sscrapped the Jaguar icon or
graphic.
There's a lot of elements ofthe heritage of Jaguar that has

(01:43):
just been forgotten or ignoredand I think in their brief,
which is to align the brand to afuture-focused electric vehicle
manufacturer that isenvironmentally friendly and
appeals to new, youngeraudiences, I think they've
potentially overcooked it Lostwho they were, yeah lost who
they were and are attempting tobe someone completely different,

(02:06):
and it's not feeling legitimate, it's not feeling believable.
So it's really got a lot of thepeople who, like the brand, are
being sort of left behind.
Almost there's just, I guess,not enough of what this new
brand is going to be out thereyet, but from what we have seen,
the logo shift is scrapping theheritage and the fashion
forward style.

(02:27):
Runway video snippet has notone car in it whatsoever, just a
lot of different fashion modelswalking down, up and down a
runway, being very artsy.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
And that is concerning for car people, for
car guys and people who love theJaguar brand, like I can't
remember the last time I eventhought of Jaguar as a brand
prior to this coming up.
So I guess I don't know wheretheir market position was or
anything, but potentially theyneeded to make this shift to
make it continue to work,because it's not like from well,

(02:59):
I guess, my level of awarenessof the cars that are coming into
my sphere.
It's not one that's coming upvery often.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Well, you're absolutely right.
They needed to do somethingbecause their sales over the
last seven years, focusing onthe US and it's the same here in
Australia have been decliningsignificantly.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
It's been on a path to nothing basically, so maybe
it's like, fuck it, let's justgo for a whole different market.
Let's like maybe no one thatare going to be our future
customers give a shit about theold logo or the brand and
they're trying to go for a newaudience.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, I see an element of that.
I think the marketing teamcould argue well, it was heading
in this direction.
Anyway, Where's our oldaudience when we need them?
They weren't buying our cars.
Now they're going to complainabout it changing, but I still
think there was a way to shiftthe towards being future focused
, without alienating yourexisting audience, but

(03:56):
leveraging the best of what thebrand had to offer.
I thought about this newcampaign launch and I thought I
remember the last ad I saw forJaguar was spectacular.
It was called the RendezvousCampaign.
It was back in 2015 and it wasto align with one of the James
Bond movies.
It was back in 2015, and it wasto align with one of the James

(04:17):
Bond movies Spectre, where theJaguar brand is always used by
the villains in Bond movies.
So it was a Bond villain,effectively, or a villain
campaign, and it had TomMiddleton.
Oh sorry, how do you say it?
Tom Middleton, Loki.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Okay, that guy from.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Marvel and it had Ben Kingsley, mark Strong, nicholas
Holt.
It had all these Britishvillains and they're explaining
to the camera why do you thinkvillains are always British?
And they're describing allthese things like we're always
one step ahead, we've always gotthe best suits and we're
obsessed with power.
And it was effectivelydescribing the new Jaguar F-Type

(04:52):
, which is an awesome sports carV8.
That campaign worked really,really well for them.
Around that time that theylaunched the Jaguar F-Type,
sales in the US increased by 41%.
So they can do branding well.
I just think they've been out ofmarket.
Their product has been waningin the past.

(05:12):
So it's not just this lack of acampaign, it's lack of product.
But coming back with thisproduct, it just feels so tone
deaf and so you know they'resaying copy nothing, but it
feels like they're copyingeveryone by doing this shift to
all inclusive and ignoring everypart of their history.
I think, from what we've seenso far, it's a massive miss and

(05:35):
they could have leveraged moreof their heritage, not done the
same as all of those otherde-branding fashion logos like
Saint Laurent, burberry,balenciaga.
Their beautiful branding hasshifted to just static, boring
lettering in recent years, andJaguar has done the same.
So thumbs down from me so far,but hopefully We'll see what

(05:57):
they pull together with this.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, hopefully we'll turn it around so there'll be
more to come to it, right?
Yeah, definitely, hopefully.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
If not, then we'll just, we'll just Report back in
a year and see what those salesdollars look like.
Goodbye, jaguar.
That's Digital Horizons forthis week.
Thanks for tuning in, thanks.