JaGuar are you OK?

JaGuar is moving to an all EV future and because of such a dramatic change, will need a change in brand. This is difficult to dispute. In the EV only space there is Tesla and a load of Chinese Dishwasher companies all waiting to take your cash. The ace up JaGuar’s sleeve is the heritage and history they have over and above these far newer companies. So what has JaGuar gone and done with this rebrand?

That font and the lack of heritage

One of the main issues I have with the new JaGuar brand is that godawful font. It’s generic and rounded with a random capital “JaGuar”. It looks like something from a child’s toy. It’s feminine and the “leaper” is no longer atop the word Jaguar. The leaping cat is consigned to a strange design pattern elsewhere and the “growler” motif has also gone (insert your own joke).

The new logo/font has nothing to link to JaGuar’s illustrious past and any sense of masculinity or British-ness (admittedly not fashionable in 2024) has been erased. Strange, because when you look at other successful “British” brands like MINI, Bentley or Aston Martin, they are keen to express their British-ness. So JaGuar decided on a generic futuristic font with a random capital letter instead. Great.

That weird video

I don’t mean to deliberately trigger people, but the word “woke” often does. It’s often used when people comment on the new JaGuar brand. It essentially describes a person or thing that is hyper sensitive to social issues, both real and imagined. Usually accompanied by bouts of hysteria, especially if “inclusivity” or “representation “isn’t prioritised.

Well fortunately this “bold” and “brave” (Maybe in c.2005?) video has ticked all the boxes for representation and inclusivity with strangely dressed alien fashion models. No car was visible on the advert, just meaningless buzzwords. I’ve tried to decipher these below:

Copy Nothing – JaGuar has not copied anyone. They are pioneers in the EV space… Not.

Delete Ordinary – Well they deleted comments on Instagram and replied with some very smug and meaningless responses.

Breaking Moulds – More of the same, a generic “bold” & “brave” advert from early 2000s and following other manufacturers into the EV space – so far unremarkable. Not a broken mould in sight.

No wonder it’s caused a reaction. But with sales dwindling, “experts” on twitter are saying the brand needs to be feminine to sell to women. This is possibly the most ridiculous response I’ve heard. Do you think women want stuff because it’s pink and fluffy?

Porsche, Bentley, Aston Martin have all pitched themselves to the female market but have maintained their historic links to the past. They’ve kept similar fonts and styles, the badging has been updated but keeps important elements like the horse on the Porsche badge. Anyway, What’s to say a woman doesn’t want a masculine brand?

The other odd element to this story is the interview with a marketing guy at JaGuar that had setup various new DEI groups within the company. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a business model focused on promoting diversity and reducing discrimination. While this sounds positive, it’s often used to justify increased spending and compliance with specific quotas. Surely that’s a fallacy for the Human Resources to sort out, not the marketing guy?

In summary

The importance of the font and brand cannot be underestimated; Jaguar has no proprietary EV technology, no special batteries or motors. Effectively the same as everyone else (or worse). So common sense would say to lean on your history and heritage; something the Chinese companies can’t do.

And finally I’m critical of this, not because I’m some kind of awful human being, but because I’m a petrolhead (running a car blog passion project) and I love Jaguar and Jaguar’s. The last thing I want is for Jaguar to go down the pan, but it looks that way now.

Further reading:

• Attitude on the rebrand – It’s been called a gay rebrand, so see what Attitude thinks of it
• The Unmistakables – Another interesting take
• Marketing Week – Mark Ritson at Marketing Week