Good to be Bad: How Jaguar went from cool villains to "vibrant"

There’s a lot of debate going on over the internet with the radical brand revamp that legacy British marque Jaguar has done as it transitions (no pun intended) into an electric future.

They have changed their corporate logo and followed it up with a new ad campaign that drew overwhelming backlash online, particularly with the choice of featuring more high-fashion models than cars. Actually, there were no cars. 

The high-contrast color palette chosen for the new campaign is also a night-and-day change to what they previously did in 2015, where the ad campaign starred British actors Tom Hiddleston, Ben Kingsley, and Mark Strong in an action movie-style sequence featuring the now-discontinued Jaguar F-Type.

Jaguar has gone from the villain-style “It’s good to be bad” campaign to the flashy “Copy Nothing” in its new direction. So why does a British brand with such a storied history resort to such a huge departure from what it was doing before?

Well, before all this hullabaloo about Jaguar’s transition into an all-electric brand and the ensuing marketing overhaul, the British sports car maker hasn’t been exactly growing in terms of sales. While the villain campaign was great, Jaguar wasn’t able to capitalize and follow it up with something else. In short, Jaguar was already fizzling out towards the end of its ICE era.

Jaguar’s rebranding for its EV era could be a way for the automaker to spark publicity. And guess what, they (kind of) did so with a single 30-second ad. Whether it be positive or negative, it certainly got people talking about Jaguar again.

Brand transformations are certainly a common occurrence in the automotive world, and some have actually worked out for the better in elevating a brand to a new level. But did Jaguar, a brand that’s already held in high regard, really need to do such a radical change? Time will only tell if the choice of bright colors will translate to a brighter future for Jaguar.