A bold move to capture new audiences
Our sector has been revolutionized due to the rebranding that the brand presented in November, which represents a total break with its previous identity. In today’s minute to think about (excuse us as this one will be over a minute long…) we will see the different implications it has and how they have reached this point.
In the last 5 years Jaguar has plummeted from selling 180,000 cars a year to just 67,000, all with global brand recognition and relevance at historic lows. Orphaned of a positioning that would connect with new audiences, they found themselves wandering in the limbo of luxury brands (Aston Martin, Porsche and Maserati) and premium brands (BMW and Mercedes).
This no man’s land was doing a lot of damage to a centenary brand like Jaguar, whose last attempt to position itself was nine years ago with the campaign “Too good to be bad” where they connected without much success the idea of “villainy”, British actors and Jaguar, under the umbrella of geographical origin. This campaign concept did not help either in the creation of new meanings, which should have been based on a solid brand strategy with a medium-term vocation and not on a one-off advertising campaign.
The rebranding launched a few weeks ago has generated a generalized negative response based on two main points. The first is the rejection of the total loss of the brand’s heritage and the radical break with an image and equity built up over the years, as well as the near-abandonment of the iconic jaguar that gives the brand its name. Here, we ask ourselves: was such a break necessary to rebuild its positioning? Rather than a brand evolution, doesn’t this seem like a newly created project using the same name?
From Jaguar they defend the concept of “copy nothing” change, based on the founder’s words, and materialized through what they call “exuberant modernism” as the way to build a new great meaning for the brand, arguing that “Jaguar was always at its best when it defied conventions”. However, does this exuberant modernism truly defy convention or rather add to a trend? Is there a real profound change at the company that links it back to that pure, bold, unbiased creativity or does it create a limiting imaginary that pushes it further away?
We hope this is not a cosmetic approach to a good idea. For the answer to these questions we will have to wait for the successive designs of their cars (although the ones that have been launched for the first time are not very surprising), and then we will see the truth of the brand.
The other point that is criticized is that they have forgotten their current audience, the people who have been consuming the brand and do not feel identified with its new image. Being such a radical change, it is difficult for many customers to remain loyal, feeling that it is something completely different and that it has lost its essence.
But it is not all criticism. Within the sector there have also been voices in favor of this evolution, with arguments that revolve precisely around sales data. They argue that traditional consumers were no longer buying Jaguar cars, so they see the change to “the new rich” as a good thing. Although they do not omit that this is a risky move, they consider that the brand has achieved something that Jaguar had not experienced for years: to be talked about.
This change in positioning sets them against an industry increasingly focused on the technical aspects of vehicles to propose a strategy based on values and brand purpose, trying to create a community guided by very specific ideals around them.
The fact that all their cars are going to be 100% electric is the only point in the proposal where they are aligned with the rest of the sector, this being a bet in itself due to the possible problems there may be regarding the supply of batteries and micro-drivers coming from Asia.
Time will tell if this move has been the right one or just the last nail in the coffin of what has been one of the main English automotive brands.