Hot take! The Jaguar re-brand might just work.

I know, I know. Jaguar’s socials have been inundated with negative comments about its rebrand and its new creative campaign – but hear me out.

Sales have been declining across all Jaguar’s key markets in recent years, the EV revolution is turning everything on its head, and let’s be honest, when you dream about owning a luxury car, Jaguar is probably not at the top of your shopping list.

I would bet that after significant spend on market and brand research, the Jaguar team were presented with report upon report telling them exactly what they already knew – something had to change for the brand to catch the attention of the new generation of luxury car owners.

Personally, my perception of the Jaguar brand was classic (read old fashioned), stoic (read boring) and the preserve of businessmen of a certain vintage who want the world to know how successful they are (read as is!).

This new Jaguar brand intrigues me. Yes, the ad campaign looks like an AI generated fever dream where TK Maxx opens its first store in space, but I’m guessing there’s more to come.

The internet is ablaze with disparaging comments about the ad not even featuring a car, with ‘Vice President’ Elon Musk commenting “Do you sell cars?” on X. But considering that Jaguar plans to stop production of all models next year and launch a brand-new range of EV models in 2026, this makes sense – well, kind of.

Yes, they could have waited until the new EV prototype is revealed at Miami Art Week in December but how better to build anticipation than with the lunacy of the ‘no car’ car ad! Genius lives only one storey above madness, as someone famously said.

The new direction for the Jaguar brand is all about ‘fearless creativity’ which is a nod to founder William Lyons’ vision of the cars being ‘a copy of nothing’. Love it or hate it, the new ad campaign certainly lives up to that brief.

I caveat all of the above by confessing that I am not a ‘car person’. My first car was a Ford Ka, affectionately known as the ‘roller skate’ and it served me well for many a year. After seeing the new Jaguar brand, I would have no qualms about driving one, although the new EV models are expected to be about double the price of current Jaguars, so maybe not!

Jacinta Parkhill is a company director at Morrow Communications and leads the creative team working with major brands and public sector organisations to help them engage their audiences through great creative. She is responsible for everything from brand development, social media content, corporate publications to event and marketing collateral.