By Peter O’ Brien
Jaguar recently made a decision to go for a complete relaunch of its iconic Jaguar logo. Jaguar was first born in 1922 in Blackpool, England. Jaguar was positioned as a luxury car brand with a unique jumping jaguar animal as its logo.
Late in 2024 Jaguar debuted its new logo and slogan “Copy Nothing” and ran a promotional video featuring androgynous models in trendy outfits featuring really bright colours. Jaguar was attempting to pull away from the past and reposition itself as a brand that more people could afford. But was this the right Marketing move, or could it prove to be disastrous for Jaguar?
The problem with a new relaunch of a brand like Jaguar is what is called the erosion of brand equity. Since its launch Jaguar has built an image of being very English portraying an image of dependability and prestige. In turn this has led to customers who stay loyal and have the financial capacity to spend big money on new and classic cars. This relaunch could really upset these customers and turn them towards other luxury car brands.
Jaguar have also made the decision to do away with the jumping Jaguar logo and have gone for a new text Jaguar logo. This move will further erode brand equity built up over many decades. Consumers are more likely to register logos in their minds than text logos. Look at Nike and Adidas. Nike is known worldwide for the Swoosh logo and Adidas is known for the 3 stripes performance logo.
Jaguar would have been wiser to keep the jumping Jaguar logo and still gone with a text change. Then that move would appeal to their older market and attract new buyers to the Jaguar brand. This relaunch is only in its early stages but time will tell if the move is disastrous for Jaguar!