Jaguar Land Rover seeks new ad agency post rebrand backlash

The new advertisement featured brightly dressed models but no cars.

British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is looking to replace its current advertising agency just a few months after the rebrand campaign went live.  The company launched a review of its global creative account, currently held by Accenture Song and its in-house agency Spark44, until mid-2026, following widespread criticism over its campaign.

This development comes after Jaguar announced plans to shift to electric vehicles completely. The new advertisement featured brightly dressed models but no cars. This did not go down well with many. The brand even abandoned its iconic 'growler' cat badge and replaced it with a curved geometric J and L symbol.

One of those who criticised the campaign was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, asking the question, “Do you sell cars?”

Defending the campaign late last year, JLR's Managing Director Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times: 'If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we'll just get drowned out.'

However, sales plunged by more than a quarter in 2024, with Jaguar selling 33,320 cars, a significant drop from the 61,661 sold in 2022 and the 161,601 sold in 2019.

Jaguar has insisted that any review into the creative accounts has no link with the negative feedback and public outrage over the rebranding.

A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover added: “As a matter of policy, JLR does not comment on any supplier arrangements.”

They continued: “The reinvention of the Jaguar brand was planned to attract significant global attention and comment; we wanted to spark online debate and get people talking about us.

The scale of the reaction has been unprecedented; this shows just how much of an emotional attachment Jaguar has with so many people.”

Jaguar is gearing up to launch an all-electric luxury GT next year. A concept called the Type 00 was revealed in December last year.

Source: Daily Mail