Marketing lessons from the Jaguar rebrand campaign

Many marketers, advertisers, auto manufacturers, and consumers have criticized the Jaguar rebranding campaign.

‘It’s like murdering a British Icon. They may as well have shot Paddington Bear.’

‘That font looks like it belongs on a pink lemonade flavored condom,’ and 'the logo and color make the brand now look like a vape brand that only children buy.’

About the ad itself, one astute and funny commentator said, ‘shit looks like if Quibi made Star Trek.’

Times columnist Giles Coren rightly points out that the rebrand has alienated Jaguar’s core market—middle-class, middle-aged men—and replaced it with fans who would not even buy a car, let alone a Jaguar (not in a million years).

They used a 'Copy nothing' tagline, with a woman wielding a sledgehammer next to the line 'break moulds' - even though, ironically, many have spotted similarities with that and the iconic '1984' Apple ad of the '80s.

Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover said the intended message had been lost in “a blaze of intolerance” on social media and denied that the promotional video was intended as a “woke” statement. He defended Jaguar’s ‘bold’ rebrand.

But I agree It’s a TERRIBLE ad, and the old logo is way better. What’s to defend?

What I’m dying to know is -

Where were the honest, critical, informed voices at Jaguar, when this entire campaign was built? Silenced? Or not even there?

Either option is disastrous. However, examining the Jaguar CEO’s background can provide insights into Jaguar's culture.

Rawdon Glover was head of operations at Volkswagen, when the company conspired to falsify emissions data. Whistleblowers at Volkswagen at the time said that the company:

> Was authoritarian

> Pressure to succeed was overwhelming

> Criticism of any sort was not tolerated

And how can I not think he brought that same culture to Jaguar? Since culture almost always percolates at the top of organizations.

It got me thinking about these same issues in my career. First, having lived in the US for ten years and in many other countries, like Colombia, Venezuela, India, Australia, Spain, and the Netherlands, I am uniquely qualified to spot cultural blindspots.

 

• In the UK, We generally find it hard to disagree, and are often too keen to keep quiet rather than risk offending (the classic british 'politeness').

• In the Netherlands, great projects get derailed due to the obsession with decisions by committees.

• In Germany, thinking is sometimes too theoretical and not pragmatic enough. ('pragmatist' is virtually a dirty word in Germany!).

• In the US, companies and leaders are sometimes too quick to abandon people, projects, and ideas. (they always want 'new'!). Americans lack patience. They can also be somewhat clinical and lacking humanity.

In my marketing career, I’ve seen countless examples of dictatorial management taking the company in a dangerous, even fatal direction. Usually it's due to 'groupthink' and a fear of expressing opinions that diverge with those of senior leadership:

• A CMO was so intent on purchasing an expensive ABM software system that she ignored the warnings of several trusted experts. In a nasty, ironic twist of fate, that leader laid off those same experts who had warned of those very upcoming problems when the project failed.

• I’ve been in a senior marketing position during several rebrands (everyone secretly agreed that the rebrand was awful) and website redesigns (two that completely crashed our SEO traffic) that have gone wrong. 

In each case, management doubled down on the error—just as the Jaguar boss has just done—compounding the problem: A painful demonstration of sunk cost fallacy at the highest levels. 

I know it’s easy to spot problems - everyone can do that. But I’d like to offer a few solutions to myopic management thinking and the allure of biases, that can prove fatal to sound marketing strategy:

1. Encourage contrarians, thinkers, creatives, experts, and, yes, even rebels (they often have the best and most original ideas) in your team.

2. Create psychological safety. Ninety percent of your employees will gravitate towards accepting bad decisions by senior management rather than risking ire and the consequences. You must fight against such complacency and stagnation to create a dynamic workplace that rewards new ideas and people taking risks in expressing their views.

3. When you encourage people to speak up, there is a danger that they will start to ‘moan.’ Complaining without hope or even desire for problem resolution is another flaw of British teams.

My Texan therapist used to call such employees 'help-rejecting complainers.' Just watch how often Brits blame the government for problems clearly created by themselves (my American wife and I laugh at this regularly).

Once you get your team to open up, you must keep the outlook positive, and inspiring. ‘We talk about problems to find solutions’ should be the mantra. You want to avoid wallowing.