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In recent weeks, it hasn't been politics or Thanksgiving events in the US that have dominated social media discussions.
Instead, it was an automobile manufacturer.
That's right. Jaguar's bold rebranding, including a new logo, new visual style and everything else, caused the internet to lose its collective mind.
There's a saying: “If you put four marketers in a room, you'll get five opinions on the best way to do something.” This cliché came into focus as everyone seemed to have an opinion on Jaguar – the genius that The beauty, the strategy, the horror, the wokeness and the ridiculousness of it all.
But was it one of those things?
Or was Jaguar trolling to get everyone talking?
After all, at least a dozen global automakers have changed their logos in the last five years, including Jaguar. But Jaguar's 2024 iteration appears to be the only one garnering meme-worthy attention.
Is this the only way to get people aware and talking about your bold new look? Or is something else going on?
We asked these questions to CMI's chief strategy advisor, Robert Rose. Read on or watch this video to hear his opinion:
Jaguar is revolutionizing the brand like no other
Fun fact: Jaguar was originally founded as the Swallow Sidecar Co. over 100 years ago. The company manufactured sidecars for motorcycles.
Jaguar vehicles have been around since shortly after the Second World War and have always been associated with British luxury, attention to detail and a focus on performance.
But Jaguar – the company – did something bold, and yet it's the least mentioned in this brand debate. Jaguar pressed pause and restarted. The iconic brand stopped producing gasoline-powered cars and switched to fully electric luxury models. There will even be a one-year break in production for the reinvention.
Jaguar will focus sales on exclusivity rather than volume. In 2026, three electric models will be sold, each priced at over 100,000 British pounds (approximately $126,000) and supported by a more selective dealer network.
Rawdon Glover, managing director of Jaguar, puts it succinctly: “This is a complete reset. Jaguar is transforming to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation.”
Image source
Given this roadmap for the company, how would you have shaped the creativity, logo and tone of the new brand?
Well, Jaguar's internal creative team has taken all of this to heart and turned the traditional automotive brand on its head. In a subtle change, the jaguar in the logo was flipped to leap forward instead of backwards.
But that wasn't the reason for the collective toxic freakout. The Copy Nothing campaign caused a huge reaction. The ad didn't show a car. Let me remind you why: The all-electric luxury line won't hit the market until the 2026 model year. (This week, two weeks after the video's release, Jaguar unveiled a design vision concept that certainly fits the new branding.)
Image source
The new brand identity looks modern and colorful. It exemplifies what Jaguar wants to go beyond the familiar conservative colors of classic British luxury, such as Carmen Red, Fuji White, Ultra Blue and of course British Racing Green.
This change seemed to upset so many people. The social media posts came fast and furious. People called it a huge mistake. Others wondered who would be fired because of the renaming. Still others posted and called it woke and ridiculous.
Why did people seem so completely disturbed by the Jaguar renaming? After all, the Jaguar team had nothing to go on except 100 years of history and the context of their current business strategy.
The real lesson from this controversial creative rebrand
As you can see, I don't hate the rebranding. I don't love it either. I realize I'm not the target audience for this new Jaguar.
What I really love is that Jaguar did what modern marketers always claim every brand should do. It did what speaker after speaker at conferences talked about. This happened years later as motivation when the brand won awards.
Jaguar did something bold, creative, outside the box – and did so knowing that people would either love it or hate it. This reminds me of the famous Apple ad from 1984, which was considered the worst ad they had ever seen in terms of persuasiveness.
I'm not suggesting that Jaguar's rebranding is another Apple ad from 1984.
But Jaguar as a company is changing dramatically. The company's complete relaunch is based on the complete self-awareness that it must change to remain relevant in the next 100 years. The focus is on ceasing production for a year, redesigning the product portfolio and rebuilding the dealer network.
I suspect that with the creative rebranding, the only thing remotely permanent is the leaping jaguar insignia and the logo itself. The cool, incredibly strange and varied circus video is just what's happening this month.
With this company rebrand, the Jaguar team has plenty of room to move and express themselves in new ways. This is the modern brand strategy.
Don't box yourself into the legacy. Don't limit where you can take your creative ideas.
Jaguar even says it will. It even calls this chapter “Don’t Copy” and the site’s meta description simply states, “Inspire like no other: Challenge convention.”
The brilliance of this brand campaign – and the lesson learned from it – is not how much it resembles the past. This is how much leeway Jaguar has given itself to lead the brand into the future. It can continue to create strange moments that get people talking and attract new people. Or it can just settle in.
And that's a testament to Apple's brilliance. The 1997 Think Different campaign featured iconoclasts from history who all thought differently and offered no product photos. Apple neither described itself as iconoclastic nor said it thinks otherwise. The campaign tells viewers that they are the iconoclasts. Apple said, “Here’s to you – those who think differently.” We’re the one for you.”
What Jaguar does is everything, whether it succeeds or not. Jaguar doesn't say it's the inspiration. It is said that Jaguar is the brand for those inspired to challenge convention.
And that leaves a lot of scope in the brand creative world.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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