• Branding experts have mixed reviews on Jaguar's new identity but agree it's a radical change.
• Jaguar's rebranding campaign sparked debate over its new image — and carless promo video.
• Jaguar wants to target a younger, wealthier audience as it transitions to an all-electric future.

Jaguar's controversial new rebranding campaign has stirred a ton of discussion across social media, late-night TV, and in the news.

Some conservative social media users have railed against the company as going "woke." Others have questioned why Jag's new promotional video didn't contain any cars.

But what do marketing and rebranding experts think of Jaguar's transition? Their reviews are mixed, ranging from one who called it a it a "bonkers" strategy to another who said it was a relatively "successful" rollout.

One thing they agree on: It's a radical change for a legacy brand like Jaguar.

The high-end British carmaker — Jaguar has been an icon of elegance and luxury for nearly a century — first unveiled its rebranding campaign in late November. It included a new typeface for its logo, a redesigned leaping jaguar mark, and a colorful promotional video that featured high-fashion models — and no cars.

The rebrand comes as Jaguar prepares to entirely abandon its internal combustion engines in favor of a new all-electric future.

Will Sears, the founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based marketing agency W.Bradford, said the intent behind Jaguar's new branding rollout is unclear. And he said he was confused by the decision not to include any cars in the video.

Sears, who has worked on campaigns for Eli Lilly, L'Oréal, and Vegas.com, told Business Insider that Jaguar changed too many things at once in its rebrand launch. Updating the logo is a "huge change" on its own, he said, but then combined with the conceptual ad that didn't have any cars — it could all be too much for the consumer to take in.

"So now consumers who follow this are completely unfamiliar with what they're looking at," Sears said. "What has made them a solid brand is the beautiful design and performance of their cars: That is not on display at all — in any even cryptic way. So it's very confusing to the market."

Sears added: "I think we are all hoping, or people who follow this are all hoping, that their next steps in this campaign are remedying what is kind of a bonkers rollout."

Getting attention is success on its own

Another marketing expert said the eyeballs the rebranding has attracted could be considered a win for Jag.

Jim Heininger, the founder and principal of Chicago rebranding firm The Rebranding Experts, told Business Insider that Jaguar has clearly received a lot of attention over its rebrand — and that's a kind of success in itself. (The YouTube video of the Jag rollout has more than 160 million views so far.)

"I think what they're doing is just kind of stirring up some emotions and stirring up some creative kind of look and feel of what the new brand is going to look like," said Heininger, whose 30-year career includes work for P&G, McDonald's, and Anheuser-Busch. "It wasn't necessary that they show cars. They're just trying to get our attention at this point in time, and they're doing that successfully."

It's not just the shift in Jaguar's brand identity that has gotten marketers talking — it's also the apparent pivot in what audience base Jaguar is now trying to target.

As part of the brand's positioning, the newly announced Jags are expected to be significantly more upmarket than the ones that are being phased out. Car and Driver previously reported that the brand, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, was looking toward its corporate cousin Range Rover as inspiration for where it wants to be. The magazine cited a Range Rover that costs around $400,000; most Jaguar models for 2024 had list prices of around $50,000 to $80,000.)

Chris Bowers, the founder and CEO of branding agency CMB Automotive Marketing, which has offices outside Detroit and in the UK, said he's "not 100% convinced" Jaguar's rebranding is making the right statement but said the company is clearly trying to define a new audience.

"The only thing I can guess is that they're intentionally alienating their existing customer base," Bowers said, who has decades of experience building brands for major suppliers, manufacturers, and technology companies from the auto industry.

"They want to make a break from their existing customers to attract a younger, wealthier demographic who are more interested in style and individuality," Bowers said. "They're taking a massive gamble on the existence of a market who will be interested in them — and Jaguar know they can't attract them with the old brand."

Reorienting a brand to an entirely new audience is a "massively difficult" endeavor, Heininger said.

Jaguar is signaling a significant disruption

It can also be very risky, one advertising expert said.

"It's a risk to so radically divorce a brand from its inherent equities," Greg Andersen, the CEO of Omaha-based creative agency Bailey Lauerman, told Business Insider. Before joining Bailey Lauerman, Andersen worked for brands, including Google, Levi's, Burberry, and Axe — and also on several automotive campaigns, including Cadillac and Toyota.

"But at the same time," he said, "I think this work could eventually make sense if their vehicles are going to take the brand and the category in a completely different direction from the norms and dogma of the past. It's obviously a signal of significant disruption."

While the relevance and relatability of Jaguar's rebranding campaign have been much debated, each expert concluded that it represents a massive change for the brand — and change can be hard to accept.

But change is exactly what Jaguar said it wants as it heads into its EV-only future.

"Our brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and, as expected, it has attracted attention and debate," the company said in a statement to Business Insider. "The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era, and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar's transformation in the coming days and weeks."

Jaguar said it would announce more details about its new branding strategy in December, though it's not clear whether that will include specifics about any of its forthcoming electric vehicles.

• Jaguar's founder started in the motorcycle sidecar business before building his first Jag in 1935.
• The luxury carmaker is rebranding with a new logo and controversial ad campaign.
• Here's a look back at the British carmaker over the last century.

Luxury British carmaker Jaguar has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the early 20th century.

The company's founder started making motorcycle sidecars in the 1920s before creating the first Jaguar car in 1935. Over the next few decades, Jaguar became synonymous with elegance and power. It's been used in racing, as the preferred vehicle of the British royal family, and by several villains in James Bond movies.

Today, Jaguar is preparing to launch its all-electric vehicle lineup, set to come out some time in 2026. And in preparation for its next generation, Jaguar unveiled a new branding campaign — complete with a new logo, redesigned leaping jaguar mark, and a promotional video that's stirred controversy online.

Here's a look back at the company over the last century, and surprising facts you might not know about its history.

Early days as Swallow Sidecar Company

In 1922, Sir William Lyons — who later became known as "Mr. Jaguar" — co-founded the Swallow Sidecar Company with a man named William Walmsley. Within a few years, Lyons had built his first car, called the SS1.

In 1934, Lyons bought the company out from Walmsley, renamed it SS Cars Limited.

And in 1935, the first Jaguar was born, a model named the SS Jaguar.

Lyons renamed the company Jaguar Cars Limited in 1945 in an effort to build a brand around the luxury sports cars it was making at the time.

Mid-century success

The 1930s through 1950s were marked by a number of innovations for the company, which it touts on in corporate history.

Jaguar introduced its first four-door model in 1937 with the SS Jaguar 2½ Liter Sedan, and by 1948, it had created the world's fastest production car — the Lyons-designed XK120, which could reach speeds up to 133 miles per hour.

In 1951, Jaguar introduced its aerodynamic C-type model, which was 25% lighter than the XK120 and won first place when it debuted at the Le Mans 24-hour race.

Then, in 1954, Jaguar rolled out one of the first cars with a unibody structure, the D-type racecar. Like the C-type before it, the D-type also made history at Le Mans, scoring first place three consecutive years, including in 1957, when the car secured five of the top six places.

All this built up to 1961 when Jaguar unveiled one of the most iconic cars of all time — the E-type.

Italian racing driver and founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari, is frequently cited as declaring the E-type "the most beautiful car in the world," according to classic car auction house RM Sotheby's.

Some of the E-type's most famous owners included Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot, and Steve McQueen, according to lifestyle magazine Gentleman's Journal.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City acquired and first exhibited an E-type in 1996, becoming just the third car in the museum's design collection.

"Rarely has a car inspired the kind of passion in both car enthusiasts and the general public that the Jaguar E-type has. Even today, the E-type is considered an icon of the postwar British sports car," Christopher Mount, a MoMa curator who organized the Jaguar exhibition, said in a press release at the time.

Jaguars in popular culture

Jaguars have long been a favorite of the British royal family, along with Land Rovers and Range Rovers, which are part of the Jaguar Land Rover brand, owned by India-based Tata Motors.

The family's love for the brand dates back at least to 1955, when the Queen Mother Queen Elizabeth acquired the Jaguar Mark VII M Saloon 464 HYV, which was specially made in the royal color, claret, according to historic preservation charity Jaguar Heritage Trust.

Other members of the royal family, including Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II, also owned and drove Jaguars over the years.

And a number of Jaguar vehicles have been driven by villains in James Bond movies, like the Jaguar XKR driven by henchman Tang Lin Zao in 2002's "Die Another Day," the Jaguar XF featured during a car chase in 2021's "No Time to Die," and the Jaguar C-X75 driven by assassin Mr. Hinx in 2015's "Spectre."

Jaguar's next chapter

Jaguar first announced in 2021 that it would be ditching internal combustion engines to go all-in on EVs.

In November, Jaguar stopped selling new models of its cars in the UK as it prepares for its electric vehicle launch, expected to hit the market sometime in 2026.

As part of this next phase, Jaguar has debuted a new brand identity focused on the creative philosophy of "exuberant modernism," which the company defines as "imaginative, bold, and artistic at every touchpoint."

Jaguar Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern said in a statement that the company's new vision was inspired by Lyons' belief that "a Jaguar should be a copy of nothing."

The company's new marketing campaign included a promotional video that featured models clad in colorful high fashion, with no cars in sight.

Some conservative social media users criticized the company as being too "woke" — partly over the look of the models it chose, while others have questioned why the ad didn't show any cars.

Meanwhile, high-profile critics of the rebranding video — which has been viewed more than 160 million times on X — included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, and the conservative personality Ian Miles Cheong.

In response to the video posted on X by Jaguar, Musk wrote: "Do you sell cars?" And Nick Freitas, a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, replied to Jaguar on X: "Well … we know where the advertising team for Bud Light went," referring to the backlash to a Bud Light ad in 2023 that featured a transgender influencer.

Jaguar's managing director, Rawdon Glover, defended the British luxury car maker's rebranding campaign to the Financial Times — calling out some of its online critics and characterizing their reaction as "vile hatred" and "intolerance."

Jaguar said it would announce more details about its new branding strategy in December, though it's not clear whether that will include specifics about any of its forthcoming electric vehicles.

As part of the brand's positioning, the newly announced Jags are expected to be significantly more upmarket than the ones that are being phased out, Car and Driver previously reported, citing a Range Rover from the brand's corporate cousin that costs about $400,000 as where the brand wants to be. (Most 2024 Jaguar models have list prices of about $50,000 to $80,000.)

Without commenting specifically on the recent backlash to the new branding campaign, Jaguar previously said in a statement to Business Insider: "The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era, and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar's transformation in the coming days and weeks."

• Jaguar defended its rebranding campaign after online critics roasted a promotional video.
• Jaguar's boss said the rebranding message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance."
• The campaign, featuring models and no cars, was criticized as "woke."

Jaguar's managing director is defending the British luxury-car maker's rebranding campaign — calling out some of its online critics and characterizing their reaction as "vile hatred" and "intolerance."

In an interview with the Financial Times, Rawdon Glover said the campaign's intended message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance" and that the controversial promotional video was not meant to be a "woke" statement, as some critics have argued.

The video, which features models in brightly colored clothes, didn't feature any cars — notable, the critics said, for a car brand.

The backlash began earlier this week after Jaguar unveiled a brand strategy ahead of its all-electric launch, which is expected sometime in 2026.

As part of the rebrand, the iconic 90-year-old company — a favorite of British royalty and prime ministers — debuted a modernized typeface for its logo, a new leaping-jaguar mark, and a video ad that showed models doing things like painting a wall, holding a sledgehammer, and gathering in a pink desert without any cars in sight.

The video generated a rash of criticism on social media, with some right-leaning personalities accusing the company of abandoning its history and pushing into "woke" politics.

Glover told the FT he was disappointed by "the level of vile hatred and intolerance" that the video garnered online, particularly against the models it featured, adding that the campaign had received overall "positive" buzz.

He said Jag's intent was to be different from other automakers.

"If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we'll just get drowned out. So we shouldn't turn up like an auto brand," Glover said in the interview.

"We need to reestablish our brand and at a completely different price point, so we need to act differently," he said. "We wanted to move away from traditional automotive stereotypes."

As part of the brand's positioning, the newly announced Jags are expected to be significantly more upmarket than the ones that are being phased out, Car and Driver previously reported, citing a Range Rover from the brand's corporate cousin that costs about $400,000 as where the brand wants to be. (Most 2024 Jaguar models have list prices of about $50,000 to $80,000.)

Jaguar, which is part of the Jaguar Land Rover group and owned by India's Tata Motors, announced earlier this fall that it would end production of all its current models this year before debuting its new all-electric lineup.

Meanwhile, high-profile critics of this week's rebranding video — which has been viewed nearly 160 million times on X — included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, and the conservative personality Ian Miles Cheong.

In response to the video posted on X by Jaguar, Musk wrote: "Do you sell cars?" And Nick Freitas, a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, replied to Jaguar on X: "Well … we know where the advertising team for Bud Light went," referring to the backlash to a Bud Light ad in 2023 that featured a transgender influencer.

Some critics said they would boycott the brand based on their assumption that it had gone "woke," while others, including some marketing professionals, mocked the video as confusing and stylistically outdated.

Jaguar said it would announce more details about its new branding strategy in December, though it's not clear whether that will include specifics about any of its forthcoming electric vehicles.

Without commenting specifically on the backlash, Jaguar said in a statement to Business Insider: "The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era, and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar's transformation in the coming days and weeks."