Recently, the legendary British car manufacturer Jaguar released its advertising campaign which certainly attracted attention and negative criticism from several quarters. Memories of Bud Light ad and the resulting loss of sales in their formerly male-dominated market is still fresh in many people’s minds. This new Jaguar ad I didn’t play well with many who have seen it, at least for now.

Going against the grain of what a brand has stood for since its inception is generally not a wise decision. Bud Light and Jaguar are usually associated with men. Just throwing that away instead of creating a new brand is not a formula for success.

My previous tech company (Vungle) helped mobile advertisers get analytics metrics and target the right users. So let me tell you how you can go about making a big change in your brand based on this experience.

How to do things differently

To be clear, these types of ads are not necessarily fake. However, one must also think about the decades invested in building a brand targeting a particular audience or demographic. Simply ignoring this demographic to chase another carries a real risk of destroying the brand.

The first thing you want to do is decide whether you want to keep your existing customer base and grow from there, or expand to an entirely new base at the risk of losing credibility with your existing audience. Start there. Then base your marketing and advertising strategy on this initial decision. Some advice I can give you:

1. If you really want to reach a new customer base outside of the traditional loyal customer base, make sure that management and the board understand that this new strategy of “breaking the ties that bind us” may create a lot of negative reactions.

2. If your brand wants to speak to a new base outside of traditional bases, why not consider a new brand aimed directly at this new audience? This avoids alienating the old group.

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3. Test with a small, representative audience to see their reaction before diving headfirst into a complete rebrand.

A successful rebrand

Compare Jaguar to this news Volvo ad. Both auto brands are making a major shift toward electric vehicles. Volvo does it creatively, but without wanting to shock a traditional audience. In fact, this Volvo ad draws on old family values, but in a refreshing way.

The public traditionally regards Jaguar as a luxury car brand that appeared in countless films like James Bond and others. Their new ad seems to throw cold water on that legacy, in favor of something new.

My impression is that this new Jaguar ad campaign obviously positions their classic brand better for Generation Z. The metaphor of switching from petrol/diesel vehicles to EVs could be another reason. Until they reveal their sequel, we won’t really know if this ad campaign will work.

The feedback on the new Volvo seems to have strengthened their loyal customer base and perhaps even expanded it further.

It’s not easy to recover from a rebranding misstep. Currently, Bud Light handles all kinds of traditional adsbut so far it has not brought them back to their former number one in sales.

Final Thoughts

That being said, think carefully before embarking on a risky rebranding. Make sure your board is aware of potential backlash and ensure you have a solid plan moving forward.