Jaguar’s “go woke” rebrand turned a few heads in 2024 and as the CEO who led the luxury car brand through its dramatic pivot has now resigned, the story is back in the headlines. While everyone from Donald Trump to the design community criticized the rebrand, one year on we should be taking a step back to ask if the rebrand, and the conversation it generated, aligns with the broader vision for Jaguar’s future as a cutting-edge EV company.
From this perspective, Jaguar’s rebrand may make sense after all. Every rebrand must be guided by long-term thinking, and most involve short-term pain. Behind the clamor and controversy of the headlines there are real lessons for brands with vision
Jaguar’s Rebrand: A Risk or a Reset?
Jaguar’s 2024 rebrand was widely disparaged in the press as an incoherent pivot towards vague lifestyle positioning and superficial diversity, and when the Chief Exec Adrian Mardell resigned less than a year later, many saw it as confirmation of a calamitous brand move.
Even now, Jaguar’s website is firmly rooted in its legacy identity: pre-rebrand brand colors and typography dominate. The new brand identity can only be found by navigating to the “New Era” section of the website.
However, when we consider Jaguar’s rebrand within the framework of a “new era”, and as the first step of a strategic vision, the logic appears. Every business should see its own rebrand as part of the big picture, and understanding the validity behind Jaguar’s controversial move can aid brands in plotting their trajectory. Rebrands rarely deliver instant wins; instead, they set the stage for how a company will be perceived, evolve, and compete over the years.
Long-Term Vision
All press is good press, as the saying goes: the pages criticising Jaguar’s rebrand certainly haven’t hurt the brand’s bottom line. In fact, Jaguar Land Rover achieved its best year in a decade in the 12 months leading up to March 2025, with £2.5 billion profit.
More importantly, when viewed within the bigger picture of changing consumer demographics alongside market trends, Jaguar’s rebrand may not be a blunder after all. Big changes are coming to the motor industry as the challenges of climate change require a transition away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, brands must find a way to appeal to younger audiences who care less about legacy brands, something Jaguar’s former brand positioning leaned heavily on.
Okay, Jaguar’s rebrand was dramatic and probably overkill, but there’s no doubt that the main outcry came from an older and more conservative audience. Rather than worrying about trying to please everyone in a transitional period, Jaguar may be laying the groundwork for the next decades.
As Jaguar moves to being an all-electric, next-generation car brand, it needs to appeal to a younger, trendier audience. Thanks to a colorful, controversial rebrand, the consumers of tomorrow — young Millennials, Gen Z — are undoubtedly more aware of Jaguar than they were two years ago.
Lessons for Brands: Turning Short-Term Pain into Long-Term Gain
For any company considering a bold brand shift, Jaguar’s rebrand offers several takeaways. Whether you’re redefining your brand to appeal to evolving audience expectations or re-aligning your identity with how your products have changed, you can expect a rebrand to hurt in the short term, but a long-term vision ensures the payoff.
Expect Backlash, Plan for It
Rebrands almost always trigger a wave of negative response, but that doesn’t mean it’s a mistake. The key is knowing who’s complaining and whether they’re part of your future audience — and being able to communicate the move effectively to core stakeholders.
When Airbnb introduced its Bélo symbol in 2014, for example, it was mocked as looking like “a paperclip”. The symbol, however, was rooted in Airbnb’s long-term vision of belonging, and it endured. A decade later, the logo feels inseparable from the brand’s identity. Airbnb understood that its target audience would connect to the symbol and that if it held course and demonstrated its commitment to reprioritized brand values, the wider community would catch up.
Communicate Continuity
Jaguar’s big mistake wasn’t its boldness; it was a lack of storytelling. A rebrand should link past and future, giving customers a sense of continuity rather than rupture. Even when your target market is changing, alienating your current, loyal customers can harm how everyone sees you, so ensure you highlight what’s staying the same — a commitment to quality, your customers, or long-held values embedded in your origin story — alongside what’s changing.
Communicating the need for that change is essential, too. If Jaguar’s rebrand had offered more substance, with reference to the climate crisis or an argument for electric vehicles based on consumer convenience, it would have been better received.
Anchor in Long-Term Strategy
A rebrand isn’t a new logo or an updated tagline: it’s about repositioning your company for the market of tomorrow. If your business model is changing, like Jaguar’s commitment to EVs, your brand identity has to keep pace. For Jaguar, this meant stepping away from legacy and luxury to an emphasis on cutting-edge technology and design.
Brands should anchor any rebrand in a long-term vision and perform thorough market research to guide their strategy. Understand how your market and audience will evolve in the coming years by asking questions such as who will age into your target market and what their values are. Carefully construct a brand identity that will be relevant to these consumers, and ensure it aligns with how your products and services are adapting to the integration of new technology.
If a rebrand requires choosing a new domain name, pick an exact match and a future-proofed TLD such as .com or .ai to ensure you have a strong digital foundation for your new brand identity.
Rebrands Aren’t About Today — They’re About Tomorrow
Rebranding is almost always a bold choice, but through strategic planning, clear goals and with long-term vision, it doesn’t have to be a step into the unknown.
Jaguar’s rebrand is divisive today, but in the context of a rapidly electrifying auto industry and a generational shift in consumer values, it may age better than its critics expect.
For other brands, the lesson is clear: don’t chase instant approval. Build a vision that can withstand backlash, align with your future business, and you’ll still feel relevant a decade from now.