Jaguar boss speaks out after backlash to the car brand's latest ad campaign — which didn't include any cars
Jaguar's managing director is defending the British luxury-car maker's rebranding campaign — calling out some of its online critics and characterizing their reaction as "vile hatred" and "intolerance."
The company, embarking on the biggest change in its 102-year old history, released a new logo and a so-called "social media tease" this week, ahead of its relaunch as an electric-only brand in early December.
The teaser video has faced backlash, with many critics pointing to the fact it doesn't feature an actual car. Others have praised the company for being bold and shaking things up.
Either way, the rebrand has grabbed people's attention and Jaguar has since admitted it not only expected such debate - but it wanted it.
In the 1960s, Jaguar launched the E-Type and XJ which have come to be known among some of the most iconic cars of all time.
Now the company is trying to do the same again by unveiling its new "design vision" in Miami next month.
Teasing the vision online, the 30 second advert features models in extravagant, brightly-coloured outfits who reveal the new company logo written as JaGUar.
No cars, no suave men in suits, no big cats.
"Do you sell cars?" was the response on X, from owner Elon Musk, who is also the boss of electric car firm Tesla.
"This is surely a joke?" added one user, while another suggested the move would "cost jobs and do real damage". Some said "Go woke, go broke".
In an interview with the Financial Times, Rawdon Glover said the campaign's intended message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance" and that the controversial promotional video was not meant to be a "woke" statement, as some critics have argued.
The video, which features models in brightly colored clothes, didn't feature any cars — notable, the critics said, for a car brand.
As Martin Brundle, the former Formula 1 racing driver turned broadcaster, put it: "I have no idea what this is all about, but it’s genius.
"Everyone is talking about Jaguar in a moment of time when they’re not actually making cars."
Lee Rolston is the chief growth officer of global branding agency Jones Knowles Ritchie and has worked on rebrands of household names such as Burger King and the RSPCA.
In an "ideal world" the rebrand leads to buzz and a positive reaction, Mr Rolston adds, but to achieve that you need to "make sure people understand the context".
"Don’t ever just launch a logo - when people see a logo they tend to subjectively respond to it. It’s always good to show as much as you can," he explains.
"Unless you want that response. Maybe Jaguar did actually want this kind of response" Mr Rolston ponders.
Watch video below.
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