If the old maxim that ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ is true, then Jaguar have cracked it with their rebrand.
It’s fair to say it’s lit up the airwaves and the social media channels alike with a plethora of reviews ranging from broadly negative [‘don’t like it’] to raging anger [‘it’s heresy and whoever did it should be burnt at the stake’]. There’s something about social media and the disconnect of commenting via a device that seems to make people feel that they can vent in a way they probably wouldn’t do face to face, even factoring this in it’s been pretty vitriolic.
Everyone has expressed an opinion, including Elon Musk, somewhat inevitably, although at least he has skin in this particular game being a car manufacturer amongst many other things. Then there was one Nigel Farage who doesn’t have skin in the game other than probably owning a gold coloured XJ from the Arthur Daly era. Unsurprinsgly he didn’t hold back and in his typically erudite fashion said:
“I predict Jaguar will go bust. And you know what? They deserve to.” No doubt all the factory workers and the employees are saying ‘cheers Nigel’.
As a graphic designer firstly, and a car enthusiast secondly, I can’t resist the pile on, although personally I have, perhaps, got a more empathetic opinion - no, no, no, don’t throw your pint over me yet Nige, please let me explain.
As that car enthusiast, I was a regular viewer of BBC’s Top Gear programme especially in the Clarkson, May, Hammond era. Setting aside all the laddish nonsense, and the divisiveness of Mr Clarkson, he is - love him or loathe him - an excellent motoring journalist. However, you knew that whenever he reviewed a new Jaguar it would always start with a lot of chat about ‘Jaaaags’ and old men in sheepskin coats with crochet-backed driving gloves going to the golf club for a brandy and a Hamlet. Once he got that out of his system, he was generally positive about the cars themselves and to be fair there were some absolute crackers. The i-pace for example won dozens of awards including the European car of the year:
“The all‑electric Jaguar I‑PACE has completed an historic treble at the 2019 World Car Awards. Not only has it won the coveted 2019 World Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year titles – equalling the success of the F‑PACE in 2017 – it has also been named World Green Car. I‑PACE is the first model ever to win three World Car titles in the 15‑year history of the awards.”
Then there was the F Type, which was - and still is - a thing of beauty, although 2024 marks the sad end of the line with 2 final special editions, the 75 and R75. I suspect it will go on to be a collectible classic car and when Jaguar first released pictures of the F Type I was so excited, in an admittedly small boy getting a Scalextric kind of way, that I went straight to a dealership to put my name down on what I felt sure was going to be a long waiting list.
Sadly, when the car was actually launched, it was as a pure 2 seater and I’d expected at least a gesture of a back seat, like a TT or a 911. Something that I could make an excuse around being OK for the kids, but without this I had to pull out. I did, however, put my name down when they announced the release the new XF model. Whilst this was a 4 door saloon and nowhere near as sporty as the F Type, I thought this too was a very attractive car, especially the rear which I felt had a hint of Aston Martin about it. It was a lovely drive and the cockpit was a truly pleasurable place to be with its beautifully crafted leather interior and you never tired of the gear selector rising out of the central console every time you pressed the start button. Then there was the sound system. I upgraded to the Bower and Wilkins option which was simply magnificent - there’s a reason they put them in Bentleys. As I’d been on a waiting list, I was one of the first people on the road with an XF. It drew admiring glances and many appreciative comments from friends as well as random people in car parks - ‘nice car mate, is that really a Jag?’
So I was very happy with my Jaaaag. Until one day my wife ruined it. This is not the first time this has happened, but it marked the beginning of the end... of the Jag I should stress, not our marriage, which has now passed 30 years in case you were worrying. Anyway, after around 9 months or so of happy driving, more and more XFs started to appear on the roads as they were no doubt added to company car fleets, a point not lost on my wife:
“I’ve seen a lot more of your car driving about...” This was true and my feeling of exclusivity was being slowly eroded, but I knew this would happen so I was fine about it. Until the killer blow. “...and they’re all being driven by old men.”
Paranoia set in and every time I passed one I would to peer in to evaluate the age of the driver, often getting some confused looks and the occasional two-fingered salute in return. I quickly established that, despite being in my mid-forties, I was comfortably the youngest XF driver on the road. Not for long though, as I swapped it for a black S5 Audi in a true knee-jerk over reaction.
All of which, in a roundabout way, sums up where the Jaguar brand is, and why it needed to change as highlighted by Rawden Glover the Managing Director of Jaguar in his response to Nigel:
“People love us for our history and our heritage, but that has not led to huge commercial success. The average age of our Jaguar client is quite old and getting older. We've got access a completely different audience. That audience isn’t centred around people of the demographic of Mr Farage.”
Saying that Jaguar isn’t a huge commercial success is something of an understatement. Sales have slipped to 60,000 cars a year which is put into perspective by BMW's and Mercedes's annual sales which are both over 2 million.
“The inconvenient truth for the Jaguar brand is that it hasn’t consistently made money in years. Rather than abandoning their customers, their customers have been abandoning them in droves – that’s why they have to do something drastic. The brains trust at JLR have concluded that going upmarket and targeting a new segment of customers is the route to Jaguar turning a profit.” David Pugh, Marketer.
In terms of what they’ve actually done with the rebrand, this falls into three parts, some of which are more successful than others.
Firstly, and the worst bit, is the launch video which combines the outfits from a FIFA opening ceremony, with a Eurovision entry from somewhere like Estonia and a haute-couture cat walk. Weird for weird’s sake and a somewhat generic way to express the ‘break the mould’ concept”.
Secondly, the logo. This seems to have attracted widespread derision, but the old logo is very dated and ‘aggressive’ from a graphic design perspective - the leaping big cat, all caps font with a hint of serif - all very 80s. Coincidentally, many car brands have been through a logo refresh process recently, most of which have been to simplify and ‘flatten’ their logos by removing embellishments and any 3D effects, and the new Jaguar logo certainly does simplify things.
The pure circle letterforms are softer, friendlier and undeniably simple shapes. But another word for simple is basic, and this is pretty much the first font that anyone who dabbles in typography comes up with when they start doodling a new typeface, but the quirky cap G adds a little sophistication and contemporary drama. The jaguar cat hasn’t been entirely ditched and has been given a fresh treatment for use as a decorative motif. It’s clean and modern and the cap G stops it from being bland. These things generally become accepted as we get over the shock of the new and awareness of the brand builds, although success will rest on the quality of the new products to back this up. If the cars are great it will become a symbol of this.
Finally, the best bit, the strapline: ‘a copy of nothing’. This is really interesting and apparently links back to the founder William Lyons to evoke the brand’s history. As a statement it is simple and easy to understand, it’s memorable, alludes to originality and is a real differentiator to what other car brands are saying.
To back this up however, Jaguar has really got to follow through with some fantastic car designs which the teaser shots provide a tantalising but encouraging glimpse of. And then they’ve got to hope that they attract a new audience who likes what they see, and then buys it.
With this rebrand, Jaguar are accepting that this new audience is not going to be found in the club house at the golf course, reading car magazines or chatting to Nige in The Dog and Duck, it’s on X, Instagram and TikTok.