Love it or loathe it, it’s difficult to ignore it: the Jaguar rebrand.

The 30 second ‘artistically flamboyant’ launch video provoked huge debate and clearly divided opinion right across the media.  That was just the start.  It was a teaser and boy did it tease.  From puzzlement, dismay, outright hostility, even daring to stray into culture wars territory, rarely has a rebrand generated so much attention.

But attention was exactly what Jaguar was aiming for.  You can’t argue with the eyeballs – more than 2.9 million views on YouTube within two weeks – even if the brand felt the need to issue a slightly defensive statement: ‘the brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and, as expected, it has attracted attention and debate’.  The launch certainly achieved its initial goals.  

This all had a clear aim grounded in both the creative treatment and the commercial imperative: to attract the attention of a new and growing target audience of younger overseas luxury buyers, especially in China, and to move away from its shrinking traditional markets and its older customer base (that, to be frank, weren’t buying enough of its cars).

Being prepared to park so much of the brand’s heritage is certainly a brave move.  But even the most loyal diehards must acknowledge that whilst Jaguar has made some good cars in recent years, the brand’s heyday was a long time ago. The brand certainly needed a refresh. And something had to shift the sales figures.

What’s interesting, is that there doesn’t appear to be a global branding agency behind the relaunch.  It was all done in-house. 

Jaguar is now headed by Gerry McGovern, the man largely credited for turning around Land Rover’s (the LR in JLR’s) fortunes, from the loss-making volume car maker it was.  In just a few years, he’s overseen the transformation, drastically reducing the number of Range Rovers produced, and at the same time elevating the model(s) to luxury status, with significantly higher price tags. Also overhauling the more traditional and much-loved workhorse the Land Rover, with a bold and successful redesign, that’s provided new desirability for the brand. 

So, whilst debate may continue around the rebrand, Jaguar looks to have a new and very different vision for the future.  One that is demonstrably different from its past.

This week, we’ve had a glimpse of what that future might look like, with the first images of the Jaguar Type Zero concept car, accompanied with a statement of its new commitment to ‘exuberant modernism’.  That’s sure to divide opinions still further and to generate even more debate.

As a creative director, I wasn’t vocal or quick to pass judgment at first sight of the rebrand.  I’ve also never owned a Jaguar and so have less emotional connection to the brand.  But it will be fascinating to see how this new chapter for the brand develops.

The billion pound question and, you might say, the gamble is will it instil the same emotional connections with its new audience?  Will it inspire action as well as reaction – and for consumers to vote with their orders and their wallets?  Will Jaguar actually sell cars?

I hope so.  The creative is bold and I’m all for that.  Plus it’s not just a brand that’s at stake – thousands of manufacturing jobs in the Midlands are depending on its success too.