The Essence of New Jaguar
- The AHA Group
- Jan 28
- 2 min read
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been asked by many of our luxury clients and luxury analysts what I think of the Jaguar relaunch. After the reveal of the Type 00 on Monday night, I shared my view with an analyst group:
From a strategy perspective, I can’t think of a luxury brand that has endeavored to change three critical elements in unison: new branding, new offering, and new target demographics all at one time.
It’s absolutely high risk by classic standards, but the rules of successful business have changed dramatically over the past few years. Brands like Liquid Death have proven that departing from accepted norms can pay-off big.
Creating a community of “other” in a sea of sameness and appealing to those who want to distinctly stand out is becoming a strategic business play. I never thought Telsa could sell the odd-ball Telsa Truck, but here we are. I never thought that provocatively marketing canned water, in a highly saturated market, would work either, but here we are.
Jaguar has nothing to lose with this move except the wrath of old school Jag enthusiasts. And they are (mostly) ageing and dying anyway. As a former, XJ12, XJR, and XJS owner, I understand the initial knot in the stomach. But the mark was basically dead, so we either had to bury it in its wood-paneled country estate, or blow it skyward into the future.
If Jaguar has sound and responsible financial runway behind production & service, exclusive community creation, and exquisite luxury owner experience, I think that this move is brilliant.
The car is polarizing, the ads are polarizing, but the luxury world can be bland, and this is anything but. My prediction is that a segment of luxury consumers are going to want to be part of this movement, so whether or not this is your particular taste or style, you have to admire their bravado.
What was my bottom line for the analyst group?
Luxury needs more renegades. Luxury consumers are easily bored by sameness, and often luxury leadership becomes mired in delivering more of the same boring stuff until their customers leave for something new. Jag did that exact thing for years (other luxury brands, take note.) Brands need to be experiential, focused on bringing lifestyle, aspiration, and statement to life through experience! That’s the essence of new Jag.