Opinion: Jaguar’s Unnecessary Rebrand Got Us All Talking

Did I just witness the death of a brand? Is this what it’s like when a star dies? It just implodes into itself?

One day, as a kid, I remember walking down the street in my hometown of Vernon, British Columbia, and spotting a car I had never seen before. It was beautiful. Luxurious. It stood out against the rural backdrop of Vernon, known for its middle-class vibe and amenities. I thought to myself, “One day, I want to own that car.”

It was a Jaguar. A symbol of luxury. Uncommon both in its design and its positioning. This wasn’t just any car—it was far from middle-class. And in an extremely middle-class neck of the woods, it stood out against the sea of 1999 Toyota Tercel’s and Hyundai Elantra’s.

Fast forward to today, and it’s no secret that Jaguar has had a bumpy ride. Their recent rebrand and repositioning only underscore how out of touch the automaker has become. What they should have done was double, triple, and quadruple down on what made them great in the first place.

What was once a brand synonymous with royal lineage and timeless elegance now feels like a chaotic mess. After watching their 30-second commercial, I wanted to toss my laptop across the room like a frisbee. “What the heck was that?” The final tagline, “Copy Nothing,” feels ironic when they’re clearly mimicking everything people are tired of seeing.

Sure, scaling back your dealer network— can makes sense. Producing fewer vehicles and introducing some new styles—fine. But the rest? Rubbish. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what annoys me more; the rebrand OR the fact that it’s so bad I’m giving it my ounce of publicity.

What Others Think about jaguar’s rebrand

Final thoughts before deleting Jaguar’s rebrand from my mind

I know some incredible people who own or operate Jaguar stores. I’ve thought about reaching out to them for comment, but something compels me not to. I think they’ve had enough for one week.

On the other hand, the marketer in me thinks, “well let’s see.” I encourage my clients that they should not be afraid of a good experiment. Without experimentation we’d never know what works and what doesn’t work. Maybe there is an aspect of this rebrand that will connect Jaguar with a new audience — the optimist in me hopes that’s the case. Either way, Jaguar hasn’t receive this much attention in a very long time good or bad.

What do you think? Was this a complete waste of money and entirely unnecessary, or should we wait and see what happens?