"Trust and Reserve Judgement" Jaguar Rebrand Draws Controversy

This past week, Jaguar announced to the world their rebranding campaign that is a total departure from the storied automaker's past. Ahead of their relaunch as an electric-only brand in December, the company posted a video on their social media channels that stirred a ton of reactions. Most comments have been negative, but there are supporters of the move.

Elon Musk commented on X, "Do you sell cars?" Others gave comments such as "Go woke, go broke." Many brands have faced the consequences of new campaigns recently, the most famous being Bud-Light. That company has since reverted course and laid off those responsible for the tone shift since sales declined.

However, some claim that the move has had the intended effect. Jaguar is completely changing its product line, so a new brand does sort of make sense. The company's sales have been slipping for years, so some argue that anything can be better than the status quo. People are talking about the brand more than ever before, including many that don't typically follow the automotive industry if that's any indicator of the splash this has made. "Earned media" is a concept where a company gets media coverage that they didn't pay for, and it's kind of a gold mine for marketers. If that was the goal, Jaguar has hit it out of the park.

"We had to break rules and do something that would get us cut through," a spokesman told the BBC. It seems the company has decided to stick with the choice, as the Jaguar account has replied to many critiques on X with one response stating that "To live is to evolve." Maybe Socrates is managing the account.

The crazy thing is, the company isn't even selling any 2025 model year cars. You can't buy one because they paused production for the whole year. That's unheard of for the industry, so clearly things are in a pinch.

"I have no idea what this is all about, but it’s genius. Everyone is talking about Jaguar in a moment of time when they’re not actually making cars." - Martin Brundle, ex F1 driver and current F1 broadcaster

On 2 December 2024, at Miami Art Week, Jaguar will present “Copy Nothing”, the first global public installation for its new brand that will include the physical manifestation of its Exuberant Modernism creative philosophy, in a Design Vision Concept.  

It has yet to be seen how this move will turn out for the company that was founded in 1935 and has produced beautiful classics such as the Jaguar E-Type and the XJ220 over the years. The December event and subsequent product launches will give a better picture as to what's to come from the company, because so far there have only been hints. The picture below is the only teaser shown so far for their upcoming concept car.