I’m not a petrolhead but I do kind of like the old-school Jaguars. Cars built for a time when unashamed masculinity wasn’t a thoughtcrime. Ahhh those heady days. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about Jaguar lately since it was in the news and it reminded me, as these things do, of something in my past.
A couple of decades ago, my co-founders and I decided to do something wild. No, not base jumping or setting out on a Himalayan trek (we abseil off high things for fun and most of us don’t really consider Himalayan trekking wild. Zen, yes, but not wild). Anyway, what we did do was arguably something riskier: we hired a business consultant.
You’ve got to picture this. We three scruffy, noodle-fueled guys—who’d spent more time dirtbagging around various outdoor pursuits rather than anywhere remotely resembling polite society—headed off to a fancy bed-and-breakfast. The kind of place where they dusted the antiques and the guests. This was all thanks to our local economic development agency, who agreed to split the bill with us for this brush with sophistication. (Spoiler alert – the pastries at breakfast were pretty ace)
The consultant? A genuinely nice bloke, but let’s just say he didn’t exactly speak “factory grime.” After a few days of brainstorming about whether we were a Lexus or a Mercedes (when really we’re a beat-up old Toyota Landcruiser), he delivered his verdict: the answer to our future was… complexity. That’s right—more brands, more logos, more confusion.
So, we did it. Our brand was split into three distinct sub-brands, each with its own colour palette and logos. Predictably, it bombed. Customers scratched their heads trying to figure out which one was the real thing.
In time, common sense prevailed. We ditched the consultant’s gospel, scrapped the sub-brands, and embraced our original ethos: tough, no-nonsense gear made for people who’d rather be outside than fussing over logos. The lesson? If you’re gonna rebrand, don’t forget what got you there in the first place.
Now Enter Jaguar:
Fast forward to 2024, and Jaguar has decided it’s time for a glow-up. The iconic brand is shifting gears (boom boom) into an electric future, unveiling a “sleek” new logo to match. Out with the fierce and iconic all-caps JAGUAR, and in with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters—because nothing says precision engineering borne from decades of V8-throbbing sex appeal like a softer font.
Jaguar’s ad campaign doubles down on the artsy abstraction, featuring models strutting in avant-garde outfits with nary a car in sight. Some critics have dubbed it “bold” (read: baffling). Others miss the good old days when Jaguar’s ads screamed “fast, sexy sports cars.” I mean, this is a brand that lends itself to James Bond scenes with car chases, elegant women, and Martinis shaken, not stirred.
Sure, the shift makes sense on paper. Jaguar is trying to reinvent itself for a world that cares about carbon footprints and silent acceleration. But here’s the rub: in trying to leap forward, they’re at risk of losing the soul that made people care about Jaguars in the first place.
I saw a post purportedly from Subaru which welcomed Jagaur’s new look by saying “at last there is a car brand gay-er than our own.” It just goes to show.
Rebrand Roulette
This all feels a bit familiar to me. Just like us, Jaguar seems to be standing at a crossroads between embracing the future and honouring the past. While we had the defence of being naive twenty-somethings with no clue and no budget, Jaguar has a multimillion-dollar marketing and some allegedly smart brand people.
We learned the hard way that piling on layers of branding doesn’t necessarily make the message clearer. It took scrapping the consultant’s advice and getting back to basics—solid products, simple branding, and zero fluff—for them to thrive. Jaguar could probably take a page from that playbook.
Because at the end of the day, whether you’re stitching backpacks or building EVs, people don’t fall in love with complexity. They love a brand that knows what it stands for and sticks to it. Unashamedly.
The Moral of the Story:
Rebrands are tricky beasts. You’ve got to keep things fresh without losing the thing that makes people care. Sometimes, that means big changes (like going all-electric); other times, it’s about doubling down on what you already do best. Either way, the people living and breathing the brand usually know what works better than any consultant.
So, hats off to Jaguar for taking the leap, but here’s hoping they don’t stray too far from what got them roaring in the first place. Because if history’s taught us anything, it’s that customers are smarter than a focus group. And sometimes, simple is better. Just ask James Bond.
