Hearts & Minds: Jaguar rebrand has media on the prowl

People don’t like change. Nor does the media. Whenever something radical is presented to them, editors, journalists don’t know what to do. Indeed, their first reaction is to say nothing, to pause and wait to see how others react, then to join the chorus – no one wants to be the outlier, on their own and possibly wrong.

That’s what occurred with the Jaguar rebranding. The launch of the luxury car-maker’s new logo and branding were accompanied by a promotional video. Everything was designed to stress modernity, so the logo abandoned the famous snarling cat and the reel showed diverse models but no flick of a car. The release said that “Jaguar’s transformation is defined by Exuberant Modernism” and is guided by an “ethos to Copy Nothing” - a reference to nod to the belief of the marque’s founder, William Lyons, that a Jaguar should be “a copy of nothing”.

When that landed in newsrooms, there would have been shock. There would have been a wariness about being seen to be old-fashioned, a stick in a mud and failing to read the mood. Quickly, though, from reading comments on social media and phoning around, probably to motor commentators who were themselves traditionalists and slow to embrace the new, a picture would have emerged. Instincts hardened and the floodgates opened. Jaguar was treated to a deluge of abuse, appallingly some of it even homophobic in nature.

That’s how these things occur. If a reviewer of a film, say, awards one star and everyone gives it five, the editor wants to know why. Likewise, with a restaurant opening that their critic abhors and others adore. And again, with fashion shows. Nobody likes being alone and different. Sometimes they’re helped by the figures which never lie, when takings, bookings and orders fail. Until then, there is doubt.

It's the same with events, press conferences, Parliamentary occasions. Journalists will get together informally and agree “the lines”. Nothing is written down, there is no agenda – it’s reporters checking what the rest think. They may form a huddle in the corridor or chat in the lift or on the margins of the hall. It does not pay to be wrong, when being right is defined by the herd, by the zeitgeist. To be the lone voice is brave and well, lonely.

Jaguar is moving to all-electric. That’s a big leap. So was the publicity material, and that was the problem.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.