Jaguar confirms plans for rebrand

Jaguar is to launch a revamped corporate identity and a refreshed retail estate this autumn, in a major investment designed to reposition the luxury car brand in the global marketplace.

The Partners is working on Jaguar’s visual identity and brand strategy, while Fitch London is re-evaluating the company’s retail experience. Both groups are understood to have been appointed late last year (DW 10 November 2001).

The new look will target consumers abroad, who need to be convinced of the marque’s contemporary Britishness. The work will involve ‘more than just a tweak’ of the design, according to Jaguar design director Ian Callum.

He adds, ‘We’re repositioning as a contemporary brand and have to do it in a way that doesn’t compromise [our core values]. We have to capture something that [denotes] British and luxury.’

The Partners consultant Jim Prior says the consultancy is looking at ways in which the brand expresses itself visually across a broad range of applications.

‘We are looking at how we give a brand with a rich heritage a contemporary context,’ says Prior. ‘Jaguar is definitely not a brand that is broken and needs rebuilding. It has broad appeal across demographics, but brands need to keep evolving visual representation and other aspects to keep moving,’ he adds.

A revamped retail experience is also being planned. A spokeswoman for Fitch London confirmed the group was working with Jaguar ‘developing future retail options’, but declined to comment further as ‘work is still in progress’.

Jaguar – part of the Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group – is confident of achieving sales of more than 100 000. This would represent a fifth consecutive record year for the company, but is still significantly lower than competitors like BMW and Mercedes, both of which anticipate sales of more than a million.