The New Branding of Jaguar in Artful Colours

At the beginning of 2025 the British car company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) introduced its bold rebranding of Jaguar, famously known for its sports and luxury cars. The rebranding concept presents a turnaround of the brand in the sense that it seems to depart from the way many people have thought of Jaguar (i.e., its perceived image). It challenges the legacy of the brand, and at least how its prestige should be viewed from now on. The company presents new values of the brand’s identity, its goals or aspirations, to drive the reformed image of the brand. The headline of Jaguar’s brand image advertising campaign is Copy Nothing, highlighting originality.

The motto (or slogan) Copy Nothing can be interpreted with implications in two ways: (1) fundamentally, applying to car models by utilising only original and genuine technologies, parts and designs of Jaguar, and not relying on or adopting anything from competing vehicles; (2) applying to original creative communication of the brand, to be used in different forms of advertising (e.g., print, video, online banner ads) or other marketing content, and varied media channels (e.g., TV, websites, social media). In both contexts, the aim appears to be creating something unique. In the context of designing and building cars, the drive for originality follows Jaguar from its foundation in 1935 by William Lyons. The shift applies these days mainly to the brand image and marketing communications of Jaguar — though it may also affect the design of cars accordingly.

• The heritage-classic model series of Jaguar are C-Type (1951), D-Type (1954), and E-Type (1961). Current Jaguar model series are the Sports car F-Type, Saloon and Sportsbrake models XE & XF, and the SUV car models E-PACE, F-PACE, & I-Pace, added to align with contemporary preferences. Furthermore, the recent models are electric cars, with a plan to become electric-only from 2025.

Jaguar launched a special section of its website to introduce the brand concept for a New Era: Copy Nothing. The updated motives of the brand are Delete Ordinary, Go Bold, and Championing Originality. The leading motive that follows Copy Nothing in the ‘tagline’ is Delete Ordinary. Jaguar also presents a strong association and sponsorship of modern art — it involves support of the Jaguar Art Award in partnership with London’s Royal College of Art, and its affinity to visual art is reflected in its ad’s video for Copy Nothing and the visual design of the respective webpage (note the differences in style of visuals, such as colours and lettering, between the current sections of the website and the new section).

While on the homepage of Jaguar appears the traditional name logotype in capital letters, the name Jaguar for ‘Copy Nothing’ is written in an original “rounded” typeface. Yet, the exact typography of the logo could not be replicated here — see on the respective webpage. Some unique features of the name logo are: The name is written actually with a capital ‘G’; the ‘r’ is rotated 180⁰ clockwise to look as in inverted form of the ‘J’ at the beginning; and the ‘a’s are written as in traditional handwriting style. Notably, all the letters appear in the same height, as in between two straight border lines below and above. Thus, the name receives a fine typeface, lucid and elegant. The same font appears to be applied throughout the webpage. The signature of the brand is driven, according to Jaguar, by Symmetry, Simplicity, and Statement, and it is inspired by Modernism. It may be added that the iconic image of the leaping Jaguar cat is omitted from the webpage as well as from the video ad (see comment below).

The colours in pictorial images, including in video clips, look bold, striking and partly flashing. They include red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, and purple. Furthermore, the colours appear mostly separated or distinct, with an artistic touch of a brush, which gives an impression even more visually striking. The brand signature does seem to make a strong statement, further reinforced by the artful use of colours. Notice also the images of the futuristic Jaguar ‘Type 00’ car model in flashy blue.

The display of colours in the video ad of Copy Nothing (shown on its webpage and in YouTube by Jaguar, 30 seconds) gives the same kind of impression, yet it is dynamic and includes more features. In particular, the video features peculiar figures of men and women in futuristic costumes from outer space, adjoined by fitting background in some sections (‘frames’) of the video. However, the figures also look robotic and lacking soul. That indeed makes the video ad feel dramatic and bold. This impression is supported by statements mounted on top of the video images: Create Exuberant; Live Vivid; Break Moulds; and finally Copy Nothing. The missing feature in the ad is any Jaguar car.

Omission of a focal product by the brand is not exceptional in advertising aimed for building brand image. It has logic since the ad is meant to deliver more intangible and abstract aspects of the brand, such as purpose, values & goals, and personality. Moreover, the statements as cited above are intended to resonate with typical or likely owners and drivers of Jaguar cars, and the brand invites them to adopt those values or aspirations as their own when driving a Jaguar.

However, when the familiar identifying signs of the brand are changed and there is no product in the ad to serve as a cue or link to the brand, viewers may find it more difficult to make the connection and comprehend the relevance of the ad to the cars they know and associate with Jaguar. The video ad is rich in symbolism, artfully infused, but the meaning or implication of some symbols, as represented, for instance, in the appearance of figures, is not quite clear (the statements help somewhat, e.g., Break Moulds). Ads that are more abstract and symbolic may seem just as well more peculiar to consumers. The video ad is differentiated from advertisements in this domain, that more commonly show cars riding on roads in astounding landscapes. Notwithstanding, Jaguar could have found a way to embed an image of an exemplary car during or at the end of the video to establish the brand-product linkage.

• Comment: A very observant viewer may notice the Jaguar icon in the video for a fraction of a second at s24, but unless one believes in subliminal effects, this can hardly be considered as showing the famous logo icon. Imagine, for instance, if an icon of the leaping Jaguar cat appeared above the new name logo, and beneath passed an exemplary car.

Visual art can be employed by a brand to endow it with a sense of luxury; pieces of visual art like paintings may add associations of ingenuity, sophistication, and aesthetics (beauty). Modern art in particular may bring to the brand connotations of abstractness, intrigue, symbolism and implicit meanings. In modern art (post 1920s), however, paintings are subject more frequently to arguments about competing interpretations of the content and meaning of the art piece (compared, for example, to paintings of the Renaissance period, Impressionism and Expressionism). There is value in adherence to modern art for reflecting original ideas, aesthetics and symbolism, but abstract art and symbolism can backfire without a clear implication for the target brand through the associations it aims to establish. The video ad of Jaguar seems to exhibit some missing links in that respect — it is good, impressive, but not fully comprehensible.

A research team of Affectiva Media Analytics at iMotions embarked on testing reactions of consumers-viewers to the video ad of Jaguar by scientific means (“Jaguar’s Bold Rebrand Put to the Test”, [1]). The research firm iMotions specialises in data collection and analyses of eye tracking, biometrics and neuroscientific techniques, while Affectiva brought its expertise in the study of emotions and affective reactions. The researchers chose to apply the method of face coding (i.e., identifying and interpreting facial expressions) for the study of emotional reactions to the video ad of Jaguar. The trigger to undertaking this study was in the “resounding reactions” of viewers (from the public, car afictionados and advertising creatives) in the media after release of the ad that seemed to be puzzled by the video.

The study is focused on three top-line measures: Attention, Expressiveness (emotional engagement), and Valence (net positivity or negativity). Sererna Pang reports that their team found high levels of Attention, yet the levels of Expressiveness were constant, that is, without “significant peaks or valleys”. This finding, she explains, suggests that viewers actually did not regard the ad video “incredibly dramatic” (as in an ‘aha!’ moment of insight, a twist in the plot or a punchline), so as to elicit some expression of excitement during the clip display before revealing the new name logo at the end. Furthermore, Valence was leaning to negativity, where its metric was sliding down towards the mid-point of the video (at the moment of “Break Moulds”) and stayed lower during the gathering of the figures-models; it rose up again only near the final branding moment of exposing the new Jaguar logo. [1]

As the video progresses, those interim moments seemed to have been the more puzzling and less comprehensible (as in “what is it all about?”). Jaguar probably expected to invoke thrill or suspension in viewers about the brand and where it is heading. To elucidate further the reactions to the video ad of Copy Nothing, Pang [1] relates to two kinds of facial expression: Smile and Brow Furrow. Smiling expressions were largely flat during the video clip, lifted a little at the end. An expression of brow furrow is more difficult to decode or interpret for the underlying emotion, explains Pang, dependent on context — it may imply tension, confusion, and in some cases, dislike. Notably, manifestation of this expression grew steadily through most of the video clip and reached a peak near the end of the final branding moment. According to Pang, “a high level of brow furrow and flat smiles indicate an overall negative reaction to the advert“, adding that this conclusion is supported by survey responses of the viewers-respondents showing middling to negative attitudes towards the Copy Nothing ad.

Interestingly, the art creative video appears to have invoked even more ridicule and wonder among the younger viewers in the study than among older viewers-respondents. The findings show that smirks are raised on faces of young viewers, ages 18-34, for a longer duration of the video, from about half-way until they reduce near the concluding moment; the smirk expression is also evident among ‘mature’ viewers (ages 35-49) but more moderately, whereas the ‘middle-aged’ (50-64) seem quite indifferent to the scene and script (flat on smirks) [1]. If the new branding style was meant to appeal more to a younger generation and inspire them to adopt a British Jaguar car, now or in the future, it might not catch with them — but there is probably time for correction and improvement because they are less likely to be able to afford a Jaguar yet. The plausible fault of Jaguar is in using a style that could be less attractive to likely buyers of Jaguar in the current stage in their lives, and although the boldness may resonate with them, it perhaps should have been expressed differently (e.g., based on personality traits, values and interests).

• Methodological Note: There is reason to consider the findings with caution about their generalizability (e.g., what is the “friends & family group” used as source for participants, and how were they recruited). The articles of iMotions are intended primarily to demonstrate how their research methods and expertise can be applied in different contexts, in this case advertising and branding. Additionally, there is a debate in the field about the difficulty, and ambiguity that may arise, in interpreting emotions from facial expressions, depending on contexts of situation, culture and more (e.g., a prominent critic is professor of psychology Lisa Feldman Barrett).

The cars of Jaguar have long been self-evident of the spirit, luxury as well as prestige, and exuberant style of the brand. As a demonstration of the character of its classic cars, the legendary detective Inspector Morse was driving in the British TV series a Jaguar Mark 2 model in red. Jaguar has changed hands several times in its history until it landed in its current business state as the JLR company (since 2013). The brand has a legacy that many consumers respect, owners and non-owners alike, which the company needs to continue and protect because it is how consumers-drivers recognise Jaguar and its cars. The rebranded concept of Jaguar has undoubtedly several positive and impressive benefits. Yet there are also some aspects in the visual design, style and execution of Copy Nothing (i.e., on the website, the video clip) that seem to be missing favour by consumers. The verbal statements could express the right ideals, but the visual representation is too daring or confusing. Creative art, especially when it comes to modern art styles, is aesthetic and welcome, but it cannot be used as a statement alone without contributing to sensible and coherent brand associations.

[Ref. 1] “Jaguar’s Bold Rebrand Put to the test“, Serena Pang, iMotions, 16 September 2025

Note: At the time of writing this post, JLR is dealing with the damaging impact of a cyber-attack that occurred in late August 2025, and which forces the freezing of its manufacturing activities for several weeks. On 27 September 2025 the British government agreed to underwrite (as a guarantee) a loan of £1.5Bn to the company to compensate suppliers that are struggling with low cash flows due to the halt in orders as JLR fixes damages to its IT systems (BBC Online). The event could hurt the brand’s credibility and jeopardise the rebranding effort — it depends on how soon JLR manages to resume production (hopefully, it is expected, during October).