Anyone seen the new jaguar ad?

[Hungrycaterpillarsmummy]

Omg what have they done?!

They'll go under in a matter of months I think!

My meaning was that it’s stupid to ignore your base in favour of potential customers you might or might not get.
The two don’t need to be mutually exclusive but this is how many companies now proceed with their advertising.
Some adverts including this one are quite off putting to middle aged / older buyers.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush comes to mind.
By all means grow your target audience but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
(Clearly my day for sayings today!)
Being middle aged or older may not be perceived as sexy and current by young marketing executives but these are often the people with the money to buy the products.

But older buyers are v unlikely to drop 200k on a very out-there EV car. So why do you propose Jaguar should keep them sweet?

Given that we don't know what they're planning to offer in 2026 then who knows.

@BuzzieLittleBee the difference there is that Cadbury wasn't going for a rebrand with that advert.

Ah, right. Gotcha. So a JLR vehicle says, "a fool and their money are soon parted."
Message received.

Her point about brand marketing not being product marketing stands though. There is a reason it exists; the former makes the latter quicker, cheaper, and easier.

@senua no, I'm not the brand, I just deal with customers and I'm way down the pecking order
JLR are obviously aware of the Land Rover reputation and issues and trying to fix them but cars are so so complex now when you've got the things like WiFi, heated steering wheels, all the electronics and tech

Customers will be well aware and have had issues with the car and will choose by themselves to stay with the brand

Thank you!

@SirChenjins - I didn't say they were going for a rebrand, I was using that as a good example of an ad that has nothing to do with the product (for all the people who are saying you can't possibly advertise a car brand without a car)

No I know - but what I meant was that when there's an attempt to rebrand a product then it's needs to be clear what the product is you're trying to rebrand. The Cadbury ad was clever in that it used the Cadbury 'glass and a half' and the purple, so it was obvious what was being advertised - and it was humorous, which the Jag ad definitely isn't. If the product they unveil in 2026 is rubbish then this attempt at a rebrand is going to look silly.

M&S have gone for a rebrand recently which has got a lot of people talking - but the customers still know what they're buying. They're just seeing it in a very different way.

They're not rebranding a product. They're changing their brand, absolutely completely from the ground up.

The product will come later when the brand is established. From the early shots they'll all be part of a very coherent aesthetic campaign.

Still not sure I like the look/feel/tone of voice but they're not making mistakes here, they're making choices.

It's very clear which brand they are re-branding! That's why there are so many people talking about it. There is no doubt about what brand it is!

Brand and product are 2 different things and this ad is nothing to do with product whatsoever.

Re M&S rebranding... Have they?! M&S tweaks things here and there all the time, and every few years tells us it's rebranding, but really, not a great deal has changed in the past 10/20/30 years. Not really. It's not something I've heard anyone talking about (and I work in marketing).

MillyMichaelson - I don't think I've ever been on a thread where I couldn't agree more with everything a poster says, but this thread puts that to bed! It's like you're saying out loud what I'm thinking!

I think this comment sums it all up nicely:

"Still not sure I like the look/feel/tone of voice but they're not making mistakes here, they're making choices."

I had no idea that violent trans activists were such wealth magnets!

Lol

Ah thanks @BuzzieLittleBee and same!

It's easy to go 'they've got it wrong, sack everyone' but it's a process they've likely spent the entire year building. I'm fascinated by branding exercises, absolutely love watching it all unfold.

I've rebranded automotive companies and the pushback internally if you go too far from THE HERITAGE is unreal, so I admire the fact that they've gritted their teeth and gone all in, knowing that it's a firm 'no thank you' to their existing customer base.

You can certainly repoint to the EV market without scaring the horses, but they've chosen not to. Love the commitment if not the execution exactly.

but this ad isn't about that. People are interpreting it so literally!
The ad is part of a bigger picture. I get that. My point is, I don't much care for this first picture. I don't trust this advert. I don't trust those sneery people. They are giving me mean energy and I'm not here for that. I don't want to be in their gang. So cometh the car...I'm out. (And I would LOVE an alternative to Elon).

I get that. The CEO said the rebrand is about inclusion etc, but it has a very stark futuristic vibe that isn't really all that appealing.

I think a couple of certain posters on here must work for Jaguar. 🙄 The insistence that they've done nothing wrong/out of the ordinary and are amazing LUXURIOUS cars (from certain posters) is weird. 'It SO feels like luxury. Oh yes it does!!!' LOL!

Why do YOU care if they sell or not? Why so obsessed with defending them? Odd!

!

And male rockstars and artists have been putting dresses on to be all avant garde for fifty odd years now, it’s not especially edgy and futuristic any more!

Exactly this. ^ No 25 year old is going to be buying a Jaguar FFS. They really have fucked up spectacularly with this advert!

I don't work for them, and I've said multiple times that I don't think the final execution is perfect.

However, I am an automotive photographer/marketer and I know what's good and what's not, and that photography is cracking.

You don't have to like it; I like certain elements of it and not others. What I'm finding annoying is people who don't know shit about it shouting in all caps that people should be fired.

You've no skin in the game but you want people to lose their jobs. Weird.

It doesn't. It looks dated, 70s vibe not in a good way. It looks glum and unethical (freely associating 😂). It looks creepy, Epstein-y. Opposite of ethical and conscious consumerism. Really, it's tacky, all of it. 😎

Fair enough if you find it so. Design is subjective 🤷‍♀️

@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway nobody suggested that many 25 years old will buy these; I am guessing their target according to the brief would have been:

mid-30s urban couples, professionals, no kids, like luxury holidays, wear designer clothes, and are theoretically eco-conscious (but only because it's good to be seen as being so).

😂lol

"Design is subjective" I'm 100% sure none of my lecturers at art school ever muttered these words. Oh dear.

So their new brand is now what...young, joyless people who look like they wouldn't drive a car because environment and certainly not one costing £££££?!

I can see why they've gone for a rebrand but it appears they've gone down one narrow path when they should have gone down another broader one.