“It’s up to Jaguar to build the love”: Upasana Dua, Executive Strategy Director, Landor India

Much has been said about Jaguar’s move to a bolder look that breaks from its traditions as a storied British marque. Neither the look or the logo of the Type 00 concept car, which was revealed in Miami a few days back, resemble anything that Jaguar has done, for better or worse.

So how then does the brand build love among consumers, be it their existing base or an entirely new one? We catch up with Upasana Dua, Executive Strategy Director, Landor India as we seek to answer that very question.

There has been a massive brouhaha around Jaguar’s rebranding, with enthusiasts, brand custodians, and even brands themselves lampooning it. But as someone pointed out, no one has spoken about Jaguar this much since…forever. Is this rebrand making waves for all the wrong reasons, or maybe creating ripples for the right ones?

There isn’t such a thing as negative publicity, we’ve all heard. This couldn’t be truer in today’s context, with every human being interacting with a minimum of 4000 brands in a day (and this does not include content!). Jaguar is definitely top of mind for a lot of people and has been brought to people’s attention when they weren’t actively thinking about this brand. That said, the commentary on “what they’ve done” is largely negative. People are not happy. Now that they have the eyeballs, it’s up to Jaguar to build the love. Let’s wait and watch what they now bring…

How can a heritage brand like Jaguar reimagine its visual language to appeal to a new generation without completely alienating its existing brand equity and loyal customer base?

I am of the opinion that it takes brands decades to build their imagery and the equity thereof. If you’re about to drop everything that is familiar about you, you obviously have a plan. Firstly, Jaguar’s ambition is to spend the next year pegging itself among the top three most premium car brands in the world, with an EV focus. (They will only launch new products in 2026.) They are looking to take the price point up by a significant percentage. Who they are targeting for the same is unclear at the moment. It clearly cannot be the 25 year old with not enough money. The consumer of yore is also looking like an unlikely target. Will it be the mid-life crisis, loud-luxury buyer?

Given that automotive design is fundamentally about evoking emotion, how do you see Jaguar’s new minimalistic approach translate the brand’s historical narrative of British engineering passion and performance into a contemporary visual and experiential language?

It is not an easy job to merge the historical values of the brand with the current look and feel that one has seen, so far. If the intent is to keep the loyal base intact, then retaining some familiarity is critical. Bringing back the jumping jaguar, perhaps? Visual identity is the first point of contact that activates one’s ‘system one’ thinking. The brand has an opportunity to build around the bright, fun logo that they are after and think about other aspects of their identity to comfort existing consumers that they still mean business when it comes to engineering expertise.

The move to electric mobility has left many enthusiasts cold. Automotive brands are struggling to define their identity between electric innovation and traditional performance. Given this, how can a brand like Jaguar authentically reposition itself as an ultra-luxury electric marque without seeming like it’s chasing trends rather than leading them? What design principles should guide such a transformative strategy to ensure it feels genuine rather than manufactured?

I would push for restrained maximalism as a strategy for the brand, rather than an out and out minimalistic approach, as they build this out. Striking that balance where bright pink and small case meets something vintage. Not being restrictive or monotonous but appealing to an individualistic mindset. These may be some ways Jaguar can create a language of its own and avoid coming off as yet another brand trying to appeal to an esoteric psychographic.