Genius or accident? An examination by the Beeb.
The iconic carmaker's rebrand has certainly caught people's attention, but will it pay off?
www.bbc.com
Either way, the rebrand has grabbed people's attention and Jaguar has since admitted it not only expected such debate - but it wanted it.
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But it's clear, as Erin Baker, editorial director at AutoTrader puts it, that the carmaker is trying to ditch the "sage" image, that its cars are only for older, white men, who perhaps frequent golf clubs, or wear cravats and smoke cigars.
"It’s been languishing in terms of sales for years now," she said. "Something has to change fundamentally with the brand."
But Ms Baker is a fan of the rebrand ad. "I think it needs to really stir emotion, it needs to stir curiosity, get people asking questions," she says.
I remember reading, long ago, that a Cadillac exec was worried that eventually, 'the average age of our customers will be "deceased".'
The point is, everyone is now asking 'What about the car?' That's exactly I would want people to be asking if I was a marketing exec. Now let's see if they can follow up.
SUVs are the biggest sellers these days but it makes strategic sense to launch the new brand with a GT that has niche appeal because while a lot of people buy SUVs, they don't talk about them much. Analysts used to say 'loss leader' to describe a product that would not make a profit itself but which would raise or remake brand awareness so that overall the producer would see enlarged appeal by virtue of suddenly being 'cool.' Now marketing types call the products 'halo' cars, eggbeaters, or whatever, because it doesn't have the word 'loss' in it. A halo product adds appeal to the brand overall. When you buy an SUV to transport your kids to soccer practice, you choose a cool brand so that you can pretend just a bit that you aren't middle-aged because that same brand makes something really desirable that you fantasise about.
Harley Earl understood this way back in the 50s when he was designing for GM. He said that he wanted buyers to think that they were going on a vacation when they bought cars. Thus, he designed cars that looked like jet fighters so that drivers could imagine that they were pilots. Cosplay, as we call it now.
'Brand' is a wider concept that spreads from individual special products in a manufacturer's range to their more mundane products.
Jaguar does have the advantage of being in the JLR - Jaguar Land Rover group - because the Land/Range Rover products are successful and produce reliable revenue. This could allow that net losses on the Jaguar brand for the next few years while the GT raises awareness might be worth the risk until the more SUV, which will be hopefully be profitable on its own terms, comes online.
Consider this: Audis, Volkswagens, and Skodas all share platforms. Audis are expensive, Volkswagens are not so expensive, and relatively speaking, Skodas are bargains. If you're rational, a Skoda is the best buy and they sell very well, but Audi is also successful and brings in revenue through its higher margins. Volkswagen tried to sell a Mercedes S-class competitor called the Phaeton and by all accounts it was mechanically competent... but it flopped because no-one would take a Volkswagen luxury executive car seriously, even if it was cheaper. In that sector, saving money is nothing to boast about - being able to spend too much is.
Jaguar has long tried to match German brands and failed. It's always had only niche appeal. To be fair to Ian Callum, the cancelled models I presented above are incredibly boring but I don't think that was his fault. The C-X75 supercar shows what he can do, for sure. The company's doctrine was limiting him to tired old themes and it's no wonder that he quit.
I can understand then that Jaguar's board has finally decided that their only hope is to break away from merely being an alternative to Land/Range Rover and to challenge Bentley, as they've claimed, because they're backed into a corner. It's going to be margins instead of volume, with Land/Range Rover accounting for volume.
Bentley's confident and secure in their niche and my bets are with them, but Jaguar hopes that the market will be large enough for them too. Maybe.
