#OrchidsandOnions: Is Jaguar's "Type 00" a risky gamble or a marketing masterstroke?
Breaking the mould
When I first saw Jaguar’s repositioning ad – okay, it landed like a boulder in the quiet pool of advertising complacency – a few weeks ago, it got my back up immediately.
As a petrolhead, my initial reaction was they had lost their marbles.
Mind you, I already thought that a while ago when the iconic, British-founded sports car company with a long motorsport pedigree announced it would in future only produce and sell electric vehicles (EV).
The ad – which has been panned by detractors as being something out of a “woke” acid dream – made no pretence of catering to Jag’s existing, loyal market.
Translated: old white guys.
There was all manner of strange, gender-bending, role-confusing and colour-palette-obliterating “forms” (I hesitate to call them people) in the ad, which exhorted viewers to “delete ordinary” and to “break moulds.”
The cynic in me did think that the whole “disruption” concept, pioneered by TBWA, has almost become mainstream and a convenient way of sticking plaster over the wound of a bad idea or lack of ideas.
Then again, I am not the target market – not for EV. Too old, too connected to real driving experiences.
Then, I thought, maybe the Jag bosses were forgetting they were not the target market, in their efforts to impress their “woke” and politically correct mates.
That would be par for the course for marketing clevers, some of whom are the most out-of-touch humans around.
A calculated risk
After some more pondering, I couldn’t help realising that the people behind the campaign knew exactly what they were doing.
Jaguar, illustrious history or not, is deflating slowly, like a low-profile tyre.
Its rivals in the performance-luxury market – Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche – are giving it a hiding in the marketplace.
That iceberg of market reality required some drastic action in the Jaguar wheelhouse.
And what they are trying to do makes a lot of sense.
They haven’t just identified a niche in the market – they’re trying to create one: electric, high-performance, ultra-luxury cars.
And, they are honest in their assessment that as few as 20% of their current customers are going to be interested.
So, what they’re aiming for is to get an entirely new 80% of people into their showrooms.
And these people will be different.
If you are going to break the mould, then grind it up into a million little pieces.
Bold moves for attention
Whatever else the ad did, it certainly got attention, generating hundreds of thousands of comments and millions of views on the net.
With curiosity piqued and anger sparked, the world was primed for the reveal of the “concept car”, dubbed “Type 00”, which was over-the-top but had many more admirers than the original ad.
Sure, the final production cars will be compromised and nothing like what was shown, but the image imprinted on everybody’s brains now is: Jaguar is not ordinary. And that’s no bad thing.
So, for courageous and mould-breaking marketing, Jaguar, you get an Orchid. I hope it all works out for you.
KFC’s Black Friday generosity
I think Black Friday is way past its sell-by date: Everybody realises that there are few genuine bargains around and that, most of the time, the rip-off is just less evident than it normally is.
What you never see, in all the Black Friday savings splashes, is any sense that a brand is genuinely giving back.
And KFC did just that, by foregoing all its profit on its Black Friday special on Streetwise 2 – a not insubstantial R240,000 – and donating the amount to its Add Hope initiative.
Cynics might say it’s just clever marketing, but the reality is that the Add Hope campaign has put R1bn into worthy causes over more than a decade, 60% of which has come from KFC itself and the rest from customer donations.
That has made a difference in the lives of many people.
Also, I think they set a good example by being the quiet voice of conscience for our self-centred consumer society.
Is a 65-inch TV really necessary when kids are going hungry?
Orchid to KFC. Long may you continue this programme.
Checkers’ promotional brilliance
Peak marketing success is when your concept becomes part of the culture – yes, Vodacom, we’re looking at you for "Yebo gogo".
But, when the items you developed as giveaways for kids as part of a customer loyalty campaign start developing a value way beyond their intrinsic worth, you know you’ve made an impact.
So it is with Checkers’ “Little Shop,” whose mini toys have become not just valuable pieces for swapping among kids, they’ve become a collector’s item for some adults.
I heard of some which were being offered for R1,000 on Facebook Marketplace.
That’s the Mona Lisa of all promotional items, especially considering they’re contemporary.
Well done, Checkers.
An unexpected Orchid for you, for coming up with something that grabs people’s attention outside of the original sales pitch and keeps your name and brand top of mind.
