Much will be written about the late John Prescott’s political career but, for many, he will be remembered as “Two Jags”: a man who not only owned a Jaguar but also had the use of another in his capacity as a cabinet minister. That such an arrangement seemed so unusually extravagant in the late 1990s is indicative of the esteem that the marque was once held in. Today, few people would stop for a Jaguar parked in the street, let alone care how many a senior politician might own. And in seeming recognition of this popular indifference, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has decided it is time to reboot the brand.
A rebrand is always a risky strategy, especially for a company whose products are entwined within a national identity (at least, that is, for anyone over the age of 40). Jaguar’s self-styled “reimagining” launched this week has been met with much derision. The new identity largely drops the familiar leaping big cat and is replaced with a simple monogram and a minimalist san-serif logotype. Accompanying the new visuals is a 30-second advert without any cars, featuring instead a colourfully dressed diverse cast and looking much like a BBC2 ident fused with a Vogue fashion feature. Both the identity and ad are conventionally modern and neither is particularly remarkable.
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