Viewpoint: A (Big) Cat Amongst the Pigeons - What on Earth is Going On at Jaguar?

If you don't like it, I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it - this is the new Jaguar logo. Whose idea was it to only capitalise the G?! (Image credit - Jaguar)

Regardless of whether you're interested in cars or not, I'm willing to wager that you've seen Jaguar's rebranding announcement in some place or another over the last few days. The story appears to have taken the mainstream media by storm, which, at the end of the day, isn't really a surprise; Jaguar is one of the great British automotive institutions, that happens to be blessed with a loyal fanbase and a rich and illustrious past that others would dearly love to have for themselves.

On paper, then, this sounds like the absolute dream scenario for a rebrand; as long as you still appeal to those loyal fans, and utilise the unbelievable history of the brand that you have at your disposal with a name like Jaguar, you're pretty much half way there already. Easiest relaunch in history. Only that isn't what has happened. Not at all. Instead, Jaguar (or should it now be 'JaGUar'?) has seemingly thrown all of its history in the bin, opting instead to completely and utterly reset the company and its direction, which is an interesting approach to say the least. What has resulted from this is the complete alienation of the fanbase that were originally attached to the brand, and a backlash unlike anything else I have witnessed within the car industry. So, have Jaguar made a terrible, terrible mistake? Actually, I'm not entirely sure they have. Let me explain.

A teaser image released by Jaguar of their highly anticipated new design study that promises to show the company's direction after their highly controversial recent rebrand (Image credit - Jaguar)

Quickly though, just to be absolutely clear on where I stand regarding this new rebrand - I think that, so far, it's been very strange and incredibly risky. Firstly, I think the idea to completely ditch the brand's history that so many people are proud of, in favour of a completely unnecessary and unprovoked corporate 'woke' direction, doesn't appear as a brand 'reset', but rather as complete and utter blinding arrogance. By doing so, both within the complete U-turn in the marketing philosophy of the company, as well as through the minimalist and lazy new logos, the bosses of JLR have simultaneously alienated and even disrespected the group of people who were previously loyal to, and passionate about, the Jaguar brand exactly because of its history and heritage. That is an incredibly dangerous game to be playing, and it could very well prove to be the undoing of the company before it has even started out its new life, which is something that time only holds the answer to.

The way that the company and some of its representatives have been behaving since the announcement really hasn't helped things along either. The bizarre and ridiculous nature of the brand campaign, produced by an apparently outsourced marketing agency (which is a red flag in itself), was seemingly matched by similarly bizarre and ridiculous reactions across social media. Firstly, smug retorts like 'we're evolving' and 'copy nothing' were offered as responses to online criticism, which only further provoked the angry mob that had quickly started to develop after the announcement, before all negative comments were completely removed altogether, which is pretty low on the pecking order of how to deal with a social media account. In other words, oh dear. However, things managed to then get even worse, as Santino Pietrosanti, one of the company's leading brand executives, was actually quoted saying that Jaguar were transforming away from cars and towards 'new ways of thinking'. Oh dear, part two.

A still from Jaguar's new brand campaign, that, as many have since pointed out, doesn't actually suggest that the company makes cars (Image credit - Jaguar)

For the outside world looking in, Pietrosanti's comments, as well as the brand campaign itself, begs the question: will Jaguar actually still be making cars? As many have pointed out, including a certain Mr. Musk, nothing within the initial announcement had anything to do with cars, which is absolutely bizarre. Of course, I think they must have realised this mistake, as only a few days later Jaguar released a teaser image for their new concept car which is due to be unveiled in December (which I'll come back to in a bit) but this approach only further contributes to the confusion that this whole rebrand has created. In summary, then, the new era for Jaguar has so far been confusing, misleading, insulting to the most devoted fans of the brand, and a victim of the modern, joyless, copycat corporate mindset. The contrast between where Jaguar were only six months ago compared to today, and the shift in the apparent attitudes and ideals held by the company within this time, is startling. And not in a positive sense.

In other words, I deeply dislike the direction that this new marketing campaign is suggesting Jaguar will take; and I know that I'm not alone in feeling this way, as the story really has blown up everywhere, including non-car channels. In truth, I've never seen a reaction to anything in the automotive world that compares to this one, and the general feeling appears to be one of both complete disillusionment and anger. However - what if this was precisely what Jaguar were trying to achieve? What if everything that has happened over the last week or so was perfectly engineered, and things have played out exactly as Jaguar have planned? Now, this is where things get more interesting, and where seemingly idiotic decision making could actually turn out to be very, very clever instead.

Another of Jaguar's new logos that has caused a major reaction. across the media and within the automotive sphere (Image credit - Jaguar)

Now, I appreciate that's a pretty major U-turn, but bear with me. The first thing you have to take into account, that not many people seem to be doing, is that you can't actually order a new Jaguar right now, and won't be able to do for a while longer. The F-Pace went off sale a few months ago, marking the end of production of the old generation of Jaguar's cars, and the first new Jag that's due to go on sale post-rebrand won't arrive until Q2 2026. That's a long way away, and an incredibly long time for a car manufacturer to not be building any cars. Maybe, then, the most important thing for Jaguar was to stay relevant; something they could have very easily have lost during the two year hiatus within sales if nothing was done to avoid it. Well, like it or not, Jaguar have certainly maintained their relevancy over the last week or so, that's for sure. Even though the vast majority of feedback on the new direction of the company has been negative, it's an undeniable fact that Jaguar have been more of a talking point this past week than any other point over the last decade, which is exactly what they needed given their current predicament. It doesn't matter how upset this new campaign is making people right now; the only thing that does matter is that it's got those people, and many more besides, talking about the company during a period where they aren't actually selling anything.

This leads nicely onto the other thing that needs to be accounted for - if Jaguar's next car is good, who is really going to care about the rebrand? Yes, it's making the Jaguar diehards angry now, but what those same people want more than anything is for Jaguar to succeed and build a genuinely world-beating car. If they manage to do so, then the marketing quickly becomes irrelevant, and suddenly people will go back to wanting to buy one. Which is very clever. However, what is even cleverer is that Jaguar have, through the controversial nature of this rebrand, introduced themselves to a much bigger audience than they had before, given how mainstream media have been all over the story for the last week or so. Now that they have everyone's attention, if they can go ahead and launch an amazing product, this whole strategy could go on to completely reinvigorate the Jaguar brand. Then, things like the respect for their motorsport history and heritage can return, and suddenly, Jaguar have completely rebuilt themselves. Like I said, while things may look bleak now, if JLR play their cards right this could be an utterly genius play.

Jaguar's apparent disassociation with their history over the last few weeks has certainly caused a stir; I just hope it has been a deliberate PR stunt to garner attention, and that they quickly return to it (Image credit - Jaguar)

Of course, this is purely speculative - I have no idea what is actually going to happen, and even if things do play out like I think they might, the success of the company hinges on a few critical points. The first is that the new Jag has to be nothing short of brilliant - if it isn't, then the whole scheme will make Jaguar more of a laughing stock than they have already become, as the self deprecation of the company that has occurred this past week will have been for nothing, and they will fall down faster than you can pronounce 'Capital G'. The other important thing is that, for the sake of this great marque, I hope they haven't pushed things too far for the diehards. Like I said earlier, this could be a major problem in the future; even if the new car is brilliant, this recent approach to things could have been enough to completely scare off the Jaguar loyalists, as this new Jaguar is pretty indistinguishable from the old one right now. If Jaguar loses those people, it could also be something that inspires the downfall of the brand.

Saying this though - the opposite could also happen, and those people may fall in love with the brand again if they can make a brilliant car, along with many more people besides. And, if the new concept is anything to go by, which looks to me like a modernised interpretation of something that Autounion would have built in the '30s, the future could be pretty interesting. So things are very much on a knife edge, and the risks are very, very high. I just hope that all of this has been a deliberate, cleverly engineered plot to boost engagement with the brand, and the idea is to reintroduce the respect for the company's history later on. Because if it isn't, then I think the Jaguar name will struggle to survive without it.

So, Jaguar have made their splash, which I really hope has been intentionally provocative for the reasons stated above. What they now need to do is put their money where their mouth is, and back up this rage-bait marketing campaign with a truly great car to get themselves back on the rails. If they do, Jaguar could very well reach heights they have never before achieved. But, if they don't, I fear that we've just witnessed the death of one of the world's great car makers. No pressure then, JLR.

The next few months will be immensely important for the Jaguar brand, but the biggest test - and the potential deal breaker for the company - will be the new model coming in 2026 (Image credit - Jaguar)