As your fellow colleague (Product and Graphic designer) I can say without doubt, its Complete Disaster for Jaguar in every possible way. Strategically, economically, visually, etc. First of all those targeted minorities don't by cars, they even don't have a drivers license. And point number 2 is marketing agency, oh boy where to begin.... According to their report, Jaguar's marketing worked on the entire campaign for 3 years with 800 employees, let this sink in, 800 people in 3 years.
It seems like Jag is working within a self-imposed delusion. I just don't see how this is going to actually work from an economic standpoint. Either way, it's going to become a case study for the ages.
I had the very same thought at first: only what if JaGUar were to reinvent itself as a TaaS (Transport as a Service) enterprise? For brands operating within the TaaS sphere, it would seem a natural evolution to embrace the ethos of high fashion for their branding-imagine a beguiling chimera of Hermès, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, sprinkled with the opulent charm of a Ritz-Carlton lobby. A TaaS brand, one suspects, would concern itself less with bravado, ownership, or even cutting-edge technology. This new breed of clientele appears entirely uninterested in the status games of prestige watches or luxury cars. Instead, they busy themselves with what they call “re-creation”-a clever little practice of blending what happens to be lying about, as long as it strikes their eye as sufficiently chic and polished. Someday, undoubtedly, we shall see the emergence of a company offering autonomous driving services, leveraging the refined precision of Lidar-based navigation, perhaps courtesy of a firm like Sensible4. Their approach will deliver a seamless, minimalist transport experience in the vein of Apple’s signature aesthetic. And no, it won’t be JaGUar, nor the eccentric musings of Elon Musk. Most likely, it will be Apple itself. The only minor vexation? Samsung’s TaaS hubs might, irritatingly enough, edge ahead in every conceivable aspect of the customer journey.
Jaguar was originally a motorcycle side car company called Swallow Sidecars, When they started making cars they switched the name to SS Cars. After the war they thought SS has a bad connotation to it so they renamed themselves Jaguar Cars. They could go back to Swallow.
Ah! I didn’t know the origin of SS Cars. Thank you. And, “Swallow Cars” might be a good name given all the nonsense they’re asking us to swallow with this rebrand.
They should now go back to their original SS name, as the threatening memo the CEO sent to his employees who didn’t like their new brand certainly didn’t seem very inclusive to their opinions.
Unfortunately the Jaguar grunts likely to fall hard - without job / dealership unlike the CEO and marketing team & Top Manager - probably get sweet pay off and landing themselves in another role to practise their Woke nonsense rubbish.
@@eleanorcrume-bg4ny they are down from 102.000 in 2019 sold vehicles to 64.000 in 2023... they die anyway... We'll see if they are Icarus, a phoenix or a roast chicken.
Very few people (at least where I live) care whether you are black, white, orange, gay, straight, trans, fat or skinny. They just want you to make whatever your company makes as well as possible. Build a car everyone wants. That's your job.
I love the speech every company gives about being dedicated to diversity and equity and inclusion. Someone it’s telling them, “read this speech once a day into a microphone and all your wildest dreams will come true” I hear it once a week at my company. It makes fucking over the customers and employees seem brighter and more fun.
Brit here, also gay, with - until now - a positive image of Jaguar as a brand and as a car. Now, though...yikes, I genuinely couldn't work for a company as woke as this. I'm not even kidding. DEI might have come from a good place, originally, but this is woke overload. I'd end up getting a written warning within my first week if I had to work at a place like that. I feel particularly sorry for any straight, "conservative" people working for JLR, who must feel like they've woken up in a nightmare. Dare to scream, and you'll be terminated. Not good.
I used to think there was really no such thing as "bad advertising" but the last few years has taught me there absolute is when it craters your brand perception along with sales
@@MikeGastinThat’s the mindset of the “look at me” influencer generation. For them, any attention is good. They fail to understand that controversy and views alone don’t translate to profits when you’re in the business of selling expensive tangible goods like luxury cars. Billions of people viewing and talking about this ad means nothing if the overwhelming reaction is immediate disdain for the brand and outright confusion about what the brand is even trying to sell them.
I suspect so. I can't see this working UNLESS they really moderate their approach going forward. Well, that and they actually ship great cars that people want to buy!
Extreme advertising works if you can deliver an extreme product that clicks with people. Like the cyber truck. (I know the actual sales disappoint, for various reasons)
As Mike said, it could actually work, the reason why it will not is that Jaguar will not release their version of the Mac in the same way a company like Tesla did
Gosh Mike, great insight on this commercial. I watched it the other day and had a visceral reaction, I did not like this ad at all but did not even know why. I think you explain this so well. I am no marketing dude but I saw the new logo and thought what a waste of the name and symbol of a jaguar- to me it evokes something so powerful, beautiful and classic but now it just seems soft and blah!
If you liked the boulder then you’re gonna love the vacuum cleaner on the right hand side of the Jaguar home page. I always wanted to cruise around on a pile of rocks or a Dyson while dressed like I’m performing at a childs birthday party. Looks like jaGUar has me covered.
The most interesting part is that the "unique" people in the Jaguar ad look the same as the drones in the Apple ad, but colorized. The avantgarde look is so old, its from the first half of the previous century.
That slogan alone ... 'copy nothing' ... while this is nothing, but exactly that. Another soulless clone of this unbearable, mandated pseudo-inclusive DEI 'rainbow-revolution'. Unbearable and hilarious at the same time.
There is s suspicion that this ad was intended to shock, in order for it to go viral. In that they have succeeded beyond any marketer's dreams. If that was the case, they would keep a stiff upper lip in response to the negative reactions, and then follow up with adverts featuring the cars etc.. Everyone would be interested to see what follows due to the viral spread of the initial ad. But, they didn't do that at all: instead they came out and insulted the public, calling them "vile and intolerant" for not liking the initial ad. That tone deaf response kind of blows the above theory into the weeds. Sad..
Finally some intelligent analysis - thankyou. whichever way you look at it, Jaguar has not been profitable for decades. The people complaining the loudest about the rebrand, weren't buying Jaguars. I don't think it will work either but they have to try something.
Yes it was. And the Macintosh was revolutionary as well. And it failed in the market. Gates won, Jobs lost. And with all due respect, Rawdon Glover is no Steve Jobs.
Thank you for making me more interested in this rebranding. Yes you noticed "the blonde" from Apple's 1984 ad (which I guess was in 1984, after you said you were too bored to research it 🤷). You have a very definite pov, so I'm glad you display it so obviously.
Not a designer or marketer so appreciated your “technical” analysis, but I am older English professional who has a gut affection Jags. This close to destroys the whole historic fabric of what that ineffable affection has been built on - hundreds of cultural, movie and personality “touch points” have been erased with this ad in the most egregious manner imaginable. It will no longer be Jaguar.
I was taken aback by this ad, though I picked out the 1984/Apple reference immediately. The more I consider it though, the more this seems like a smart marketing ploy - much like when Puffin announced their re-written editions of Roald Dahl - which earned miles of outrage from columnists. And off the back of that, they announced a "Classic/Heritage" edition as well a couple of weeks later. Just as nobody really pays attention to a new Roald Dahl edition (unless you generate some rage bait), nobody has been talking about Jaguar. So this has got the world's attention - no such thing as bad publicity. People loved the 2015 "Good to be Bad" adverts - but they didn't actually translate into robust sales. Mike says Jaguar aren't doing well and have been running down stock. They are running down stock, but this misses the big picture. This is not just a branding play - it's a reaction to the changing automobile market. Five years ago, JLR sold 660,000 cars per year at an average price of £44k (and mostly from the Land Rover/Range Rover side. Not Jag). This was loss-making. In 2023 they sold just 300,000 units, but at an average price of nearly £80k - and made a profit. They've been slimming down to a smaller-volume marque under their 2021 Reimagine strategy. Having a cross-market range is not affordable for a company like Jag, who don't have the volume of BMW or VAG, and they're not going to be able to compete on price with the Chinese manufacturers. They've made a decision to go all-electric and abandon the mid-market. They won't be releasing a "range". There will be one or two cars at price points >£100k to compete with the likes of Aston Martin or Porsche's most premium cars (911 GTs, Jag are not interested in competing with the 718). And forget the SUV/Crossover stuff (which didn't fit the brand heritage well anyway). Mike says they're limiting their market - but that's *the point*. They're pivoting from doing mass-market badly to being a super-luxe small-volume brand. The reason they're running down stock is that they've put a stop-sell on all ICE cars. Dealers are currently twiddling their thumbs because you cannot order a new Jag today. If they just said "here's our new EV" at the Paris motorshow, it would only get a few column inches in trade press. By blowing their brand out the water with this ad and killing their entire legacy line all at once, whatever they release in Miami on Dec 2nd is going to get significant coverage. It's a bold play, and I'm also not sure how well it'll work. But it's a part of a longer term strategy, which takes into account the growth of Chinese and Indian EV manufacturers and the difficulty competing in the
Tata also own Landrover. The advertisement w/ Theo James driving their SUV up the stairs of s gigantic British manor house was cool. Hard to believe it's the same company (but different divisions).
I think another problem is that they go all in on electric but that trend is already starting to reverse. I am sure there will be some market for it in the future but it’s not going to be as big as many people expect/want it to be. Look at Polestar, they are struggling badly, been sold off by Volvo and lost 80% of their value since 2021
PS It’s a teaser trailer and working, as we are all talking about it. It’s a luxury brand at £100,000 +, if I’m correct they only sell 20-30,000 a year.
You hit the nail on the head, Mike. Copy Nothing? As a marketer who lived through the original Mac '1984' Superbowl ad and the fruity Gen1 iMac / pastel iPod launch campaigns, this JaGUar 'reset' ad(?) smacked of a retread (but lacking the dynamism / confidence of Mac Superbowl ad or the fun / approachability of iMac / iPod ads). Perhaps the creatives behind JaGUar thought no one would notice the recycles from Apple LOL?
Thanks! I wonder if they were doing a big “wink wink” to create a sense of in-crowd, cool-kids vibe. Who knows? The proof is going to be in their new car line up. Can’t wait … I can only imagine.
“He who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new”
The only Jaguar had been a brand with 100 years of history. That is what has caused them to get away with lousy quality in the last 30 years. Resetting the brand and starting with electric cars means that you end up behind all the Chinese cars in the queue and are guaranteed to make worse products than them significantly cheaper. They will solve a problem that doesn't really exist by creating another problem that will cause their only customer base today to boycott the car, while they certainly won't spend a fortune to solve the big problem that is the quality of the cars.
Finally someone comparing the Jaguar campaign with the iconic Apple 1984 commercial, thanks! There's no problem that they don't actually show a car, Apple didn't show a computer either. But there are many other things the spot is lacking: Joy, individuality, and most importantly: Character. Everyone looks like boring copy-paste puppets, more similar to the skinheads in the Apple spot rather than to the protagonist. Not to mention that a graphical user interface for the masses was indeed groundbreaking in 1984, while Jaguar is very late to the game in every aspect.
Great analysis. If the product is “out of this world” (I think that’s what they’re trying to say with the different planet in the ad) they might actually pull this off. Here is what I don’t understand: if this ad was for a fashion brand or a new perfume.. no one would bat an eye. Why did this one break the internet?
I mean... personally... I think it's just fine. I think it's great if you ignore that a commercial is supposed to sell a product and not an ideology. Avante-garde? It's more like garde arrière. More nostalgic than innovative. Ah, well. For what they cost those cars are under-powered. So, I don't know if they'll really be missed.
Their I-Pace has had a bunch of recalls, and they are now going to buy back those cars due to fire danger. Seems like they can't make a normal EV.. 5 recalls to the dealer? With no fixes? Ouch. That's a No Buy to me....
Rebranding seems to be the realm of the desperate, and boy, they must be hurting bad to hitch their star to a small fringe market. Henry Ford worked out you have to sell a lot of cars to make money and you have to sell those cars to 'ordinary' people, this they will not do.
Jaguars are known for expensive, but so so car with reliability issues with crazy value depreciation. Any fool who fall for this marketing strategy deserve all the woes that comes from owning a Jaguar without the classy elegant image that the company tried to nurture for decades.
For someone who doesn’t really want to talk about this you found 17min on your opinion, pulling you punches and saying nothing. So safe it was frustrating to watch.
I agree that a big part of what will differentiate cars in the EV age is their UX and tech. In this regard Jaguar is way behind even the cheapest Asian cars and tbh pretty much most Western cars.
Re: 15:00 Apple's Macintosh was competing with Microsoft's DOS (running on various machines). It was old-fashioned and dull. But Jaguar are competing with Tesla, who are so stylish and forward-looking and groundbreaking that THEY have a claim to be the "Apple" of the EV industry. That sledgehammer is not Thor's hammer - it doesn't require you to be worthy before you can lift it. Let's see if Jaguar can live up to their implicit promise.
I'm not in on hating the commercial, it's a mission statement. The real scary thing is making a Jaguar that's electric. They're trying to tell you it won't be like the old Jaguar, but how much? They have 5 new cars in 2025, so this will be interesting. I think you did well in your criticism of the commercial. At least you didn't go the "wOkE" route and went in tovthe commercial and its possible impact. I honestly want to know what their cars are going to be like 😂
People say “This is getting people talking”. Yeh, but when all they are talking about how shit it is then you SHOULD know you’ve screwed up. BUT this has been done by a committee of YES men who are to deluded or to scared to say anything about it to those who created this. 95% plus of the employees of Jaguar I’m sure are also unhappy with this and are shaking their heads in disappointment. I do hope they learn and survive, but if the bosses are not going to listen and just gonna hold their hands over their ears and say “NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO…” then it’s going to be difficult to survive..
Good take on it Mike. ''There is only one thing worse than being talked about.That is not being talked about'' (Oscar Wilde). Jaguar is being talked about and watched big time. Is there something miraculous coming out of the bag that will blow us away and get us to forgive them? Not optimistic, Cheers
The worst thing an advert can be is pretentious. When I first saw the ad I assumed it was targeting the upper class elites as many of them subscribe to a certain political ideology. To hear it was targeted towards regular working class people was insane to me. Way to miss the mark entirely.
See? The cultural Marxists are even attacking the language! ;) And, yes, it should be “vividly”, however ad agency copywriters never let a little rule get in the way of great copy.
All Jag had to do was update their line with electric motors and compete with Audi Tron. Unveiling an AWD fully electric E Pace in their modern hard lined aesthetic to compete with Range Rover Evoque customers those things would have been selling by the thousands with a 7 year unlimited km warranty.
Nobody wants e Cars aside from a few woke .... Ford Germany in Cologne had to set iff 2000 of their 12000 employees because their eCars flopped so hard.
This makes me sad. As a creative professional, this was a huge missed opportunity. I appreciate how they pushed the envelope but they took it too far. If they had not included any of the taglines (create exuberant, live vivid, copy nothing, break moulds etc.), it would've been a far more impactful campaign. Also, they should've made the reference to the car more obvious. I really think that the slab of rock at 3:25 is an abstracted outline of the upcoming concept car, but it is just to subtle. Let's see what they end up unveiling in a few days.
Agree on the slab. As to creative, well they made the mistake of making it all about them and nothing about their customers. That's what artists do-and should do: express their vision come hell or high water. However, Jaguar is not a gallery. It's a car brand and that's all about solving problems, meeting needs, and creating solutions that are at once elegant, pleasing, and effective. Right now, the brand seems to be drinking its own CoolAide. Not a good look.
Jaguar is taking the same path BudLight took, and we all know how it ended……. it can be summarises in one sentence : “Go woke or go broke” ….. so I think Jaguar will ended broke at the end of the day
I am embarrassed by how many of these videos that I have watched. You were the first that I saw to pick up on the Mars and 1984 references. Well done. I think that the commercial is awful. That said, Jaguar was almost dead and had tried all of the smart stuff (except, oddly, making beautiful cars again) so swinging for the fence in desperation was not a terrible strategy. Also, they probably had this in the can before the election and "inclusive" marketing was still looking like a good strategy.
Three words come to mind: left-wing Tesla. They want to capture all the people who loved Tesla and Elon a decade ago, but are now estranged by his political leanings. The campaign feels extremely well thought out. It goes so deep, I think you’re on the money with everything. Only problem is that when you put it all together, people hate it. I don’t blame them.
Tesla is indeed about to lose their customer base however Jaguar wants to compete with RR and Bentley while Tesla is more competing with VW or Ford after the price drops. I do think Jaguar wants to expand the brand to other luxury products. They want to bet on multiple horses. Becoming a luxury electric Bentley like car company, is not something they will pull off. Tesla has unlimited budget and is not capable to come up with reliable, well build electric cars. How is Jaguar going to do better with no budget? The only thing that Tesla did is copy a Lotus and launch a stupid car (cybertruck) that isn't even allowed on the road in most countries.
The Name Logo is JaGUar--that's actually very cool, because it presents the proper (the British) pronunciation, not the unholy JAG-wire of the Americans...
The whole idea that queer people are jettisoning their past and making themselves anew is undermined somewhat by the fact that for the past few decades they've argued that they were 'born this way.' You can't reinvent yourself into what you claim you were originally made as. Maybe they're dropping the 'born this way' idea but that was crucial to anti-discrimination arguments, protesting that a sexual preference was an orientation, sealed in from birth, therefore a characteristic like race and so protected from discrimination, like race. Of course, I don't believe that as the left will argue whatever they can to gain power and will happily argue the exact opposite the following year for more of a different kind of power but it's a turn-around that might cause some to ask difficult questions.
it's always about breaking something, never about building
Excellent comment !!
As your fellow colleague (Product and Graphic designer) I can say without doubt, its Complete Disaster for Jaguar in every possible way. Strategically, economically, visually, etc. First of all those targeted minorities don't by cars, they even don't have a drivers license. And point number 2 is marketing agency, oh boy where to begin.... According to their report, Jaguar's marketing worked on the entire campaign for 3 years with 800 employees, let this sink in, 800 people in 3 years.
It seems like Jag is working within a self-imposed delusion. I just don't see how this is going to actually work from an economic standpoint. Either way, it's going to become a case study for the ages.
If that many people were involved in this, I'm not surprised about these results. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
"When it comes to corporate marketing, nobody is as dumb as all of us." As another in your field recently commented.
I had the very same thought at first: only what if JaGUar were to reinvent itself as a TaaS (Transport as a Service) enterprise? For brands operating within the TaaS sphere, it would seem a natural evolution to embrace the ethos of high fashion for their branding-imagine a beguiling chimera of Hermès, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, sprinkled with the opulent charm of a Ritz-Carlton lobby.
A TaaS brand, one suspects, would concern itself less with bravado, ownership, or even cutting-edge technology. This new breed of clientele appears entirely uninterested in the status games of prestige watches or luxury cars. Instead, they busy themselves with what they call “re-creation”-a clever little practice of blending what happens to be lying about, as long as it strikes their eye as sufficiently chic and polished.
Someday, undoubtedly, we shall see the emergence of a company offering autonomous driving services, leveraging the refined precision of Lidar-based navigation, perhaps courtesy of a firm like Sensible4. Their approach will deliver a seamless, minimalist transport experience in the vein of Apple’s signature aesthetic. And no, it won’t be JaGUar, nor the eccentric musings of Elon Musk. Most likely, it will be Apple itself. The only minor vexation? Samsung’s TaaS hubs might, irritatingly enough, edge ahead in every conceivable aspect of the customer journey.
Don't marketers use focus groups, like product designers would?
Jaguar was originally a motorcycle side car company called Swallow Sidecars, When they started making cars they switched the name to SS Cars. After the war they thought SS has a bad connotation to it so they renamed themselves Jaguar Cars. They could go back to Swallow.
Ah! I didn’t know the origin of SS Cars. Thank you. And, “Swallow Cars” might be a good name given all the nonsense they’re asking us to swallow with this rebrand.
Hahahahhahhahahaaha
They should now go back to their original SS name, as the threatening memo the CEO sent to his employees who didn’t like their new brand certainly didn’t seem very inclusive to their opinions.
Jaguar Spit - great name for a sports car.
Jaguar is learning the hard, very expensive way!
When Jag falls, they fall hard.
You explained very well Mike. It’s a real good analogy.
Thanks, Eleanor! Great minds ... ;)
Unfortunately the Jaguar grunts likely to fall hard - without job / dealership unlike the CEO and marketing team & Top Manager - probably get sweet pay off and landing themselves in another role to practise their Woke nonsense rubbish.
@@eleanorcrume-bg4ny they are down from 102.000 in 2019 sold vehicles to 64.000 in 2023... they die anyway... We'll see if they are Icarus, a phoenix or a roast chicken.
You are giving them too much credit. They are so young that they have probably never seen the 1984 advert.
I think he’s right because the Apple commercial is an iconic add and well known in the world of marketing.
Very few people (at least where I live) care whether you are black, white, orange, gay, straight, trans, fat or skinny. They just want you to make whatever your company makes as well as possible. Build a car everyone wants. That's your job.
Echo chamber sums it up. Nothing enters when the doors close. Now we have to watch this icon expire.
So sad. Jaguar just committed suicide. I’m a Brit and will never set foot in another Jaguar dealership. I’m so embarrassed.
After 100 years of being the elite standard, Jaguar made owning a Jaguar embarrassing in only 30 seconds.
Kinda like wearing Crocks. lol
@@MikeGastinthat's a real brilliant comment, really love it! Please jaGUar could you please make a Pandemonia alike Crocks version of a jaGUcar?
...by the way, what has to be proven do new jaGUar really not break your privacy with data surveillance?
...and they not only copied the sledge hammer, they also copied the bald head idea...
I love the speech every company gives about being dedicated to diversity and equity and inclusion. Someone it’s telling them, “read this speech once a day into a microphone and all your wildest dreams will come true”
I hear it once a week at my company. It makes fucking over the customers and employees seem brighter and more fun.
Brit here, also gay, with - until now - a positive image of Jaguar as a brand and as a car. Now, though...yikes, I genuinely couldn't work for a company as woke as this. I'm not even kidding. DEI might have come from a good place, originally, but this is woke overload. I'd end up getting a written warning within my first week if I had to work at a place like that. I feel particularly sorry for any straight, "conservative" people working for JLR, who must feel like they've woken up in a nightmare. Dare to scream, and you'll be terminated. Not good.
I used to think there was really no such thing as "bad advertising" but the last few years has taught me there absolute is when it craters your brand perception along with sales
They truly are putting the old saw, "There's no such thing as bad publicity" to the test, aren't they?
@@MikeGastinThat’s the mindset of the “look at me” influencer generation. For them, any attention is good. They fail to understand that controversy and views alone don’t translate to profits when you’re in the business of selling expensive tangible goods like luxury cars. Billions of people viewing and talking about this ad means nothing if the overwhelming reaction is immediate disdain for the brand and outright confusion about what the brand is even trying to sell them.
Ratners - Bud Light - Disney - Gillette - Jaguar - Evergreen College
Jaguar ad actually works - it’s got everyone talking … bout NEVER ever going to buy a Jag. Congrats! 🎉🎉🎉
BMW approves.
I wonder if this is going to be a huge case study of that popular saying: "Get woke, go broke"
I suspect so. I can't see this working UNLESS they really moderate their approach going forward. Well, that and they actually ship great cars that people want to buy!
Extreme advertising works if you can deliver an extreme product that clicks with people. Like the cyber truck. (I know the actual sales disappoint, for various reasons)
As Mike said, it could actually work, the reason why it will not is that Jaguar will not release their version of the Mac in the same way a company like Tesla did
The talk is they are going up market, while targeting a section of the population, most of which can't even afford a Jaguar key fob.
Hahahaha well said about the key fob lol😂 and so painfully true
When the end is near, you start doing stupid things.
It's admirable how you found meaning in this mess 😂
Just doin' my job. ;)
The point about recreation and rejection of heritage was a spot-on observation.
Gosh Mike, great insight on this commercial. I watched it the other day and had a visceral reaction, I did not like this ad at all but did not even know why. I think you explain this so well. I am no marketing dude but I saw the new logo and thought what a waste of the name and symbol of a jaguar- to me it evokes something so powerful, beautiful and classic but now it just seems soft and blah!
Thanks! Yeah, it's such a weird, seemingly delusional move by Jag. I can't wait to see what their new car line up is going to be!
A very good analysis, I agree.
"I am going to change completely".. still a human. But I do love the care that they presented in the end, almost didn't recognize it was a car!
If you liked the boulder then you’re gonna love the vacuum cleaner on the right hand side of the Jaguar home page. I always wanted to cruise around on a pile of rocks or a Dyson while dressed like I’m performing at a childs birthday party. Looks like jaGUar has me covered.
The most interesting part is that the "unique" people in the Jaguar ad look the same as the drones in the Apple ad, but colorized.
The avantgarde look is so old, its from the first half of the previous century.
It's wearisome, isn't it?
Great point!
The spinning man painting stripes on the US flag gives me NIN “closer” music video vibes.
And that’s the point. All of it has been done before. It’s not “edgy” anymore.
That slogan alone ... 'copy nothing' ... while this is nothing, but exactly that.
Another soulless clone of this unbearable, mandated pseudo-inclusive DEI 'rainbow-revolution'.
Unbearable and hilarious at the same time.
Yup. The Hive Mind being so "creative and original" just like all the other "creative and original" corporations and brands out there. Lol.
There is s suspicion that this ad was intended to shock, in order for it to go viral. In that they have succeeded beyond any marketer's dreams. If that was the case, they would keep a stiff upper lip in response to the negative reactions, and then follow up with adverts featuring the cars etc.. Everyone would be interested to see what follows due to the viral spread of the initial ad. But, they didn't do that at all: instead they came out and insulted the public, calling them "vile and intolerant" for not liking the initial ad. That tone deaf response kind of blows the above theory into the weeds. Sad..
Finally some intelligent analysis - thankyou. whichever way you look at it, Jaguar has not been profitable for decades. The people complaining the loudest about the rebrand, weren't buying Jaguars. I don't think it will work either but they have to try something.
Very thoughtful analysis, sir. I think you are right over the target.
Refreshing to listen to this commentary on the topic of the moment, in a calm level headed way.
Subtleties? Subtleties? Are you kidding me?!!
the apple ad was amazing,
Yes it was. And the Macintosh was revolutionary as well. And it failed in the market. Gates won, Jobs lost. And with all due respect, Rawdon Glover is no Steve Jobs.
Thank you for making me more interested in this rebranding. Yes you noticed "the blonde" from Apple's 1984 ad (which I guess was in 1984, after you said you were too bored to research it 🤷). You have a very definite pov, so I'm glad you display it so obviously.
Not a designer or marketer so appreciated your “technical” analysis, but I am older English professional who has a gut affection Jags. This close to destroys the whole historic fabric of what that ineffable affection has been built on - hundreds of cultural, movie and personality “touch points” have been erased with this ad in the most egregious manner imaginable.
It will no longer be Jaguar.
Love this content!
Thanks!
I was taken aback by this ad, though I picked out the 1984/Apple reference immediately. The more I consider it though, the more this seems like a smart marketing ploy - much like when Puffin announced their re-written editions of Roald Dahl - which earned miles of outrage from columnists. And off the back of that, they announced a "Classic/Heritage" edition as well a couple of weeks later.
Just as nobody really pays attention to a new Roald Dahl edition (unless you generate some rage bait), nobody has been talking about Jaguar. So this has got the world's attention - no such thing as bad publicity. People loved the 2015 "Good to be Bad" adverts - but they didn't actually translate into robust sales.
Mike says Jaguar aren't doing well and have been running down stock. They are running down stock, but this misses the big picture. This is not just a branding play - it's a reaction to the changing automobile market. Five years ago, JLR sold 660,000 cars per year at an average price of £44k (and mostly from the Land Rover/Range Rover side. Not Jag). This was loss-making. In 2023 they sold just 300,000 units, but at an average price of nearly £80k - and made a profit. They've been slimming down to a smaller-volume marque under their 2021 Reimagine strategy.
Having a cross-market range is not affordable for a company like Jag, who don't have the volume of BMW or VAG, and they're not going to be able to compete on price with the Chinese manufacturers. They've made a decision to go all-electric and abandon the mid-market. They won't be releasing a "range". There will be one or two cars at price points >£100k to compete with the likes of Aston Martin or Porsche's most premium cars (911 GTs, Jag are not interested in competing with the 718). And forget the SUV/Crossover stuff (which didn't fit the brand heritage well anyway). Mike says they're limiting their market - but that's *the point*. They're pivoting from doing mass-market badly to being a super-luxe small-volume brand. The reason they're running down stock is that they've put a stop-sell on all ICE cars. Dealers are currently twiddling their thumbs because you cannot order a new Jag today. If they just said "here's our new EV" at the Paris motorshow, it would only get a few column inches in trade press. By blowing their brand out the water with this ad and killing their entire legacy line all at once, whatever they release in Miami on Dec 2nd is going to get significant coverage.
It's a bold play, and I'm also not sure how well it'll work. But it's a part of a longer term strategy, which takes into account the growth of Chinese and Indian EV manufacturers and the difficulty competing in the
Should've stuck with classic British elegance, some things never go out of style.
Almost right. Its the next lemon.
certainly the next lemon
Excellent analogy
*Those who bravely defying gravity* ---------- by jumping without a parachute --------- *Soon discover - that gravity doesn't care*
2:37 the fact its a beautiful image is meaningless. What are you talking about?
The Apple ad was the first thing that came to mind (Blond with a sledge hammer)...copy nothing indeed.
Great analisys
Thank you.
Well, they've certainty made everyone keen to see what this new Jaguar will look like. Isn’t that marketing ?
Perhaps we're the fools here.
i like your debrief on this better than most i have heard.... Apple 84 parallel was too good. nicely done
A company that puts out this kind of advert is not likely to be doing brilliant work behind the scenes on its cars. We'll see.
Apple?! …..More like the next LEMON
Jaguar lost its soul when it was bought by Tata. Also, the emotion people associae with car brands is not the same as sales/profit for the company
I need to do a deep dive on Tata. I think there's a story waiting to be told.
@ they also own Volvo, which has been doing well with the ev transition.
Tata also own Landrover. The advertisement w/ Theo James driving their SUV up the stairs of s gigantic British manor house was cool. Hard to believe it's the same company (but different divisions).
They're trying to tell us that the marketing guy is obsessed with identity politics. Don't try to overthink this, its exactly what it looks like.
A logo with this sign: ♂ says it all... and one from which they take away this: 🐆 too.
I think another problem is that they go all in on electric but that trend is already starting to reverse. I am sure there will be some market for it in the future but it’s not going to be as big as many people expect/want it to be. Look at Polestar, they are struggling badly, been sold off by Volvo and lost 80% of their value since 2021
This is the best analysis so far of this scandal
If you want to rebrand your company, at least have a new sensational car to launch.
We'll see what they come out with soon ... I can't wait. lol
Jaguar is more like the new Kumquat…
It’s the next Apple Records.
is the product actually different like they say?
Yeah, I noted the Apple 1984 reference.
PS It’s a teaser trailer and working, as we are all talking about it. It’s a luxury brand at £100,000 +, if I’m correct they only sell 20-30,000 a year.
You hit the nail on the head, Mike. Copy Nothing? As a marketer who lived through the original Mac '1984' Superbowl ad and the fruity Gen1 iMac / pastel iPod launch campaigns, this JaGUar 'reset' ad(?) smacked of a retread (but lacking the dynamism / confidence of Mac Superbowl ad or the fun / approachability of iMac / iPod ads). Perhaps the creatives behind JaGUar thought no one would notice the recycles from Apple LOL?
Thanks! I wonder if they were doing a big “wink wink” to create a sense of in-crowd, cool-kids vibe. Who knows? The proof is going to be in their new car line up. Can’t wait … I can only imagine.
“He who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new”
Jaguar going the way of Morris. Austin. Rover. Daimler. 😢
Jaguar is the new Jimmy Saville
Nice analysis!!
Direct from planet, Jaguardoz.
really interesting analysis
Thanks.
But actually becoming the next bud light.
The only Jaguar had been a brand with 100 years of history. That is what has caused them to get away with lousy quality in the last 30 years. Resetting the brand and starting with electric cars means that you end up behind all the Chinese cars in the queue and are guaranteed to make worse products than them significantly cheaper.
They will solve a problem that doesn't really exist by creating another problem that will cause their only customer base today to boycott the car, while they certainly won't spend a fortune to solve the big problem that is the quality of the cars.
Finally someone comparing the Jaguar campaign with the iconic Apple 1984 commercial, thanks! There's no problem that they don't actually show a car, Apple didn't show a computer either. But there are many other things the spot is lacking: Joy, individuality, and most importantly: Character. Everyone looks like boring copy-paste puppets, more similar to the skinheads in the Apple spot rather than to the protagonist. Not to mention that a graphical user interface for the masses was indeed groundbreaking in 1984, while Jaguar is very late to the game in every aspect.
Great analysis. If the product is “out of this world” (I think that’s what they’re trying to say with the different planet in the ad) they might actually pull this off.
Here is what I don’t understand: if this ad was for a fashion brand or a new perfume.. no one would bat an eye. Why did this one break the internet?
I think that in our society cars are treated like a „masculine” thing. And this commercial is seen as a threat to that.
I mean... personally... I think it's just fine. I think it's great if you ignore that a commercial is supposed to sell a product and not an ideology.
Avante-garde? It's more like garde arrière. More nostalgic than innovative.
Ah, well. For what they cost those cars are under-powered. So, I don't know if they'll really be missed.
Their I-Pace has had a bunch of recalls, and they are now going to buy back those cars due to fire danger. Seems like they can't make a normal EV.. 5 recalls to the dealer? With no fixes? Ouch. That's a No Buy to me....
Well, I have never bought an apple product. I probably will never buy a product from apple or jaguar.
Rebranding seems to be the realm of the desperate, and boy, they must be hurting bad to hitch their star to a small fringe market. Henry Ford worked out you have to sell a lot of cars to make money and you have to sell those cars to 'ordinary' people, this they will not do.
I suspect there's an internal delusion going on with management.
Jaguars are known for expensive, but so so car with reliability issues with crazy value depreciation. Any fool who fall for this marketing strategy deserve all the woes that comes from owning a Jaguar without the classy elegant image that the company tried to nurture for decades.
Santino, YOU ARE FIRED!!!
So . . . the COPY NOTHING folks copied Apple.
For someone who doesn’t really want to talk about this you found 17min on your opinion, pulling you punches and saying nothing. So safe it was frustrating to watch.
I agree that a big part of what will differentiate cars in the EV age is their UX and tech. In this regard Jaguar is way behind even the cheapest Asian cars and tbh pretty much most Western cars.
Do they sell cars?
To take a big swing like this, this ad had to be undeniably cool. And this is not it.
It certainly isn’t.
Re: 15:00 Apple's Macintosh was competing with Microsoft's DOS (running on various machines). It was old-fashioned and dull.
But Jaguar are competing with Tesla, who are so stylish and forward-looking and groundbreaking that THEY have a claim to be the "Apple" of the EV industry.
That sledgehammer is not Thor's hammer - it doesn't require you to be worthy before you can lift it. Let's see if Jaguar can live up to their implicit promise.
I'm not in on hating the commercial, it's a mission statement. The real scary thing is making a Jaguar that's electric. They're trying to tell you it won't be like the old Jaguar, but how much? They have 5 new cars in 2025, so this will be interesting.
I think you did well in your criticism of the commercial. At least you didn't go the "wOkE" route and went in tovthe commercial and its possible impact. I honestly want to know what their cars are going to be like 😂
People say “This is getting people talking”. Yeh, but when all they are talking about how shit it is then you SHOULD know you’ve screwed up. BUT this has been done by a committee of YES men who are to deluded or to scared to say anything about it to those who created this. 95% plus of the employees of Jaguar I’m sure are also unhappy with this and are shaking their heads in disappointment. I do hope they learn and survive, but if the bosses are not going to listen and just gonna hold their hands over their ears and say “NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO…” then it’s going to be difficult to survive..
Good take on it Mike. ''There is only one thing worse than being talked about.That is not being talked about'' (Oscar Wilde). Jaguar is being talked about and watched big time. Is there something miraculous coming out of the bag that will blow us away and get us to forgive them? Not optimistic, Cheers
“Jag-U-Ar”😂
The worst thing an advert can be is pretentious. When I first saw the ad I assumed it was targeting the upper class elites as many of them subscribe to a certain political ideology. To hear it was targeted towards regular working class people was insane to me. Way to miss the mark entirely.
Isn't the adverb "vividly"? Is "live vivid" even grammatical?
See? The cultural Marxists are even attacking the language! ;) And, yes, it should be “vividly”, however ad agency copywriters never let a little rule get in the way of great copy.
No amount of brand marketing will save crappy products.
Oh well if you don't like it that just means that you're a bigot and an istaphobe. So when Jaguar tanks it will be the customers' fault.
This is a desperate move by a failing company. They’re the next blackberry. Remember how many radical shifts they made in their dying years?
All Jag had to do was update their line with electric motors and compete with Audi Tron.
Unveiling an AWD fully electric E Pace in their modern hard lined aesthetic to compete with Range Rover Evoque customers those things would have been selling by the thousands with a 7 year unlimited km warranty.
Nobody wants e Cars aside from a few woke ....
Ford Germany in Cologne had to set iff 2000 of their 12000 employees because their eCars flopped so hard.
Bars
This makes me sad. As a creative professional, this was a huge missed opportunity. I appreciate how they pushed the envelope but they took it too far. If they had not included any of the taglines (create exuberant, live vivid, copy nothing, break moulds etc.), it would've been a far more impactful campaign. Also, they should've made the reference to the car more obvious. I really think that the slab of rock at 3:25 is an abstracted outline of the upcoming concept car, but it is just to subtle. Let's see what they end up unveiling in a few days.
Agree on the slab. As to creative, well they made the mistake of making it all about them and nothing about their customers. That's what artists do-and should do: express their vision come hell or high water. However, Jaguar is not a gallery. It's a car brand and that's all about solving problems, meeting needs, and creating solutions that are at once elegant, pleasing, and effective. Right now, the brand seems to be drinking its own CoolAide. Not a good look.
@@MikeGastinby all accounts the MD snd CEO are fully on board after drinking too much Coolade!
This is what happens when you get so inspired from 'Putney Swope' that you loose the track of market reality.
These poeple always takeover some thing, not start from zero. If you copy nothing, you get my respect if you start from zero. Ohterwise, no.
Jaguar is taking the same path BudLight took, and we all know how it ended……. it can be summarises in one sentence : “Go woke or go broke” ….. so I think Jaguar will ended broke at the end of the day
It was 1984 based on the book 1984
I am embarrassed by how many of these videos that I have watched. You were the first that I saw to pick up on the Mars and 1984 references. Well done.
I think that the commercial is awful. That said, Jaguar was almost dead and had tried all of the smart stuff (except, oddly, making beautiful cars again) so swinging for the fence in desperation was not a terrible strategy. Also, they probably had this in the can before the election and "inclusive" marketing was still looking like a good strategy.
Right! And no one had the guts to speak up; bit like a co pilot who know they're going to crash but too intimidated by the captain to take over😢
I think you are looking for somethink that does exist. Sorry. The images make my rear end ontract.
Three words come to mind: left-wing Tesla. They want to capture all the people who loved Tesla and Elon a decade ago, but are now estranged by his political leanings.
The campaign feels extremely well thought out. It goes so deep, I think you’re on the money with everything.
Only problem is that when you put it all together, people hate it. I don’t blame them.
I agree with you: left-wing Tesla. In fact, I like that so much I wish I had thought of it when I recoded last night! Nice one. ;)
Tesla is indeed about to lose their customer base however Jaguar wants to compete with RR and Bentley while Tesla is more competing with VW or Ford after the price drops. I do think Jaguar wants to expand the brand to other luxury products. They want to bet on multiple horses. Becoming a luxury electric Bentley like car company, is not something they will pull off. Tesla has unlimited budget and is not capable to come up with reliable, well build electric cars. How is Jaguar going to do better with no budget? The only thing that Tesla did is copy a Lotus and launch a stupid car (cybertruck) that isn't even allowed on the road in most countries.
The Name Logo is JaGUar--that's actually very cool, because it presents the proper (the British) pronunciation, not the unholy JAG-wire of the Americans...
The whole idea that queer people are jettisoning their past and making themselves anew is undermined somewhat by the fact that for the past few decades they've argued that they were 'born this way.' You can't reinvent yourself into what you claim you were originally made as. Maybe they're dropping the 'born this way' idea but that was crucial to anti-discrimination arguments, protesting that a sexual preference was an orientation, sealed in from birth, therefore a characteristic like race and so protected from discrimination, like race. Of course, I don't believe that as the left will argue whatever they can to gain power and will happily argue the exact opposite the following year for more of a different kind of power but it's a turn-around that might cause some to ask difficult questions.