Jaguar on Monday (27 February) launched a new brand direction and marketing campaign, themed ‘Alive’. The campaign, being rolled out worldwide (it begins here in the UK from April with some elements already in place now), “introduces the brand to luxury consumers in a new modern context”, according to the Tata Motors-owned automaker.
“The brand direction is driven by the belief that Jaguar makes the world’s most instinctively rewarding performance cars,” US importer and distributor Jaguar Land Rover North America (JLRNA) said. “The campaign aims to increase awareness of the brand amongst a new audience in line with the brand’s ambitious future plans.”
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“Our refreshed corporate image and the new global marketing campaign both underline the confidence we have in our existing products, and the vision we have for the future of the brand,” said global brand director Adrian Hallmark.
“In a world of mass market luxury, Jaguar cars stand out for the seductive effect of their design, their rich and warm luxury interiors and their arresting performance,” said Hallmark. “Jaguar is a brand for luxury consumers who are contemporary and open-minded, sophisticated and daring, with a desire for authentic, high technology, aesthetic, independent brands. Our product lineup combined with the ‘Alive’ brand direction will define Jaguar in the modern era.”
The campaign, created with Spark 44, an international communications agency part-owned by the automaker, will feature print, TV, out of home (OOH), digital advertising and a new look. The brand will have new corporate identification, including new colours and logos, and a new font, created exclusively for the brand.
The dramatic alteration, including significant changes to the brand symbols of the ‘leaper’ and ‘growler’, is the most extensive change Jaguar has made to its visual identification in 40 years.
“Jaguar is a brand at the beginning of a rebirth and a relaunch – it’s a critical moment in the history of this storied British brand,” said Hallmark. “As part of a multi-year strategy to re-invigorate Jaguar cars globally, starting with a spectacular new line-up now in place, we have developed an all new brand positioning, effectively a brand reset.
“For too many luxury consumers, there is awareness of the Jaguar brand, but not consideration and modern relevance. Our campaign is meant to differentiate Jaguar cars by underscoring its unique emotional character.”
Deliberately provocative, the campaign is designed to capitalize on the existing emotional pull of Jaguar’s vehicles. It frames the brand as different from its competitors by positioning it as animate – the automaker says seductive, emotional, unique, energetic and high-performance – while asking consumers, “How alive are you?” It targets luxury consumers who are contemporary, sophisticated and daring while also eyeing a more youthful audience while not alienating its current demographic.
A TV spot, called ‘machines’ is intended to make an emotional connection by positioning the cars as alive as the viewer. The commercials open with a visual collage of machinery of the past – including an assembly line and a robot – that were invented to replicate and replace people. It then cuts to visuals of an XJ – the brand’s flagship sedan line – with a voiceover that informs viewers that the car is as alive as humans: “…there is one seductive, instinctive machine that’s as alive as we are…Jaguar.” The spot concludes with the ‘How alive are you?’ tag.
Of the print ads “designed to intrigue and inform consumers”, one features an image of a sonogram, with the baby being the Jaguar logo, accompanied by the headline, ‘Looks like somebody’s getting a new Jaguar”. Others include the headlines: “Do one thing that scares you. Every day” and “Every Jaguar can do things machines can’t.'”
The began on Monday with the debut of the TV spot on YouTube and Facebook and the commercial airs on national US network and cable channels, including NBC, ESPN, Food Network and CNN, on 15 March. Print ads break in April in national lifestyle and business publications. Viral videos will be released in mid-April.
JLRNA is also launching the ‘Jaguar Drive Experience’, a road show that will travel to 18 cities throughout the US in an effort to show the brand and the 2012 and 2013 model year line-up to new prospects.
From April, key cities will host a multi-day event that invites consumers to test drive the brand’s full model line in a performance setting with a professional driver. They will be “encouraged to push the car to its limits in a safe, closed course”, the automaker said. The events will include a display of heritage vehicles, a history of the brand’s technological innovation and a design retrospective “in an effort to provide consumers with a full brand immersion”.
Jaguar Land Rover sold 50,375 vehicles in the US in 2011, up 11.4% year on year, according to WardsAuto.com. Sales last month were up almost 31% at 4,190.
A Jaguar UK spokesman said some elements of the Alive campaign – such as the new corporate ID, colours and logos – were already being used this side of the Atlantic with print and digital advertising to follow from April.
