I used to work with a guy, Andy (rip) who had been a bartender for over 30 years. Any time a liquor or beer bottle would change their branding, Andy would say “welp, sales must be down for ______, that’s why they rebranded”. It’s always stuck in my head since.
That is exactly the case with Jaguar. They only sold 9,000 cars last year, an abysmal number for a car brand of that stature. They do need to do something drastic.
We haven’t seen their actual product just yet so I’m holding my judgement (but not holding my breath).
I don’t remember where I heard it, but there is a framing I use that you don’t rebrand because you are bored of your brand, or because you have a new CMO or initiative or anything like that. You only rebrand when your brand has become irrelevant for your intended customers.
As a CMO myself, I’ve done it a few times, but I’d always rather not. It’s a ton of work.
Regarding the Jaguar rebrand, I always avoid dancing on other people’s graves - it’s important to remember that they were most likely trying to do the right thing.
That said, it is extremely disappointing. But perhaps the outrage against the desecration of the old brand IDENTITY is as a confirmation of the actual BRAND resonance that they had all along.
If the old brand was really irrelevant, nobody would have cared that the rebrand was so bad.
I used to work with a guy, Andy (rip) who had been a bartender for over 30 years. Any time a liquor or beer bottle would change their branding, Andy would say “welp, sales must be down for ______, that’s why they rebranded”. It’s always stuck in my head since.
That is exactly the case with Jaguar. They only sold 9,000 cars last year, an abysmal number for a car brand of that stature. They do need to do something drastic.
We haven’t seen their actual product just yet so I’m holding my judgement (but not holding my breath).
Very well said, and presented with excellent, timely examples. Thank you.
Joe Treacy
Director of Typography
Treacyfaces.com
🙇🏻♂️
I don’t remember where I heard it, but there is a framing I use that you don’t rebrand because you are bored of your brand, or because you have a new CMO or initiative or anything like that. You only rebrand when your brand has become irrelevant for your intended customers.
As a CMO myself, I’ve done it a few times, but I’d always rather not. It’s a ton of work.
Regarding the Jaguar rebrand, I always avoid dancing on other people’s graves - it’s important to remember that they were most likely trying to do the right thing.
That said, it is extremely disappointing. But perhaps the outrage against the desecration of the old brand IDENTITY is as a confirmation of the actual BRAND resonance that they had all along.
If the old brand was really irrelevant, nobody would have cared that the rebrand was so bad.
Totally agree that they were trying to do the right thing, whatever the case intention may have been.
Also true about the relevance of the brand and such passionate reactions we’ve seen.
I would love to see them succeed…