Hello!
So, what about all the Jaguar carry-on? I'm not going to go into what I think about that rebrand; the world doesn't need to hear my rather placid take on it, though I would lurve to have seen the brand strategy presentation that was given to the Jaguar board, as the research results must have been terrifying to take them in such a crazy direction. Instead, I think it helped highlight the essentials of branding and provide some grounding into the basic facts of what we as brand people have to work with.
Part of the challenge is the word "brand" itself. It gets used interchangeably, probably lazily, and so the definition is in the eye of the beholder. But, for simplicity, let's look at the three areas that all use the same word: brand, branding, and brand marketing.
Let's start with what we specialise in here at Good: branding. Branding is taking what makes a business unique, using its values and point of view on the world and then using creativity, language, and visuals to articulate that in as simple and memorable a way as possible.
Brand marketing is then sharing the branding with stakeholders to influence them to at least consider you when they are in the market for your service or product. This works at a basic level, and you're trying to convey the attributes of your brand in, ideally, an emotional way to help you come top of mind when needed.
The critical thing to remember is that these two definitions are controllable. You set the tone and the narrative around them when you define your business's branding and how that gets interpreted by stakeholders.
The last area is the brand. And this is where businesses have no control whatsoever. It's how your stakeholders perceive you based on the branding and brand marketing you've delivered. And to me, it's the most interesting, complex and sometimes baffling part of the whole process.
Jaguar's recent response to their rebrand perfectly illustrates this disconnect - their managing director expressing disappointment at the "vile hatred and intolerance" their new advert received online. This reaction to the criticism reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what brand truly is.
The reality is that you can meticulously craft your branding and carefully execute your brand marketing, but the ultimate brand perception lives in the hearts and minds of your audience. It's like trying to control the weather - you can build the best umbrella in the world, but you can't stop the rain.
Take Abrdn (formerly Standard Life) - the initial uproar over their rebrand eventually faded into background noise, but their 40% stock price decline tells a different story. The market, as they say, has its own opinion.
So where does this leave Jaguar? While it's too early to call their dramatic shift a success or failure, especially until we see the product, their approach highlights a crucial truth about branding: sometimes, the risk of staying the same outweighs the risk of radical change. But here's the thing - even when you're making that bold leap, you're not just rebranding a company; you're asking your entire audience to take that leap with you.
The true art of branding isn't just in crafting the perfect strategy or creating stunning visuals - it's in understanding that while you can control the message, you can't control how it lands. The best we can do is ensure our branding decisions are grounded in solid business strategy, our brand marketing authentically reflects that strategy, and then... well, then we need to be prepared for the market to have its say.
Because at the end of the day, your brand isn't what you say it is - it's what they say it is.
There are a couple of other things to make you aware of. I wrote an article about AI washing - the blatant use of the term AI in branding at the moment is crazy - and Chris shares his thoughts on "bike shedding", which, it turns out, isn't as dirty a phrase as I thought. Every day's a school day.
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