Jaguar aims to ‘conquer’ new segment with celebrity-fuelled campaign

Jaguar is again playing on its British heritage with a celebrity-fuelled campaign to promote its first move into the mid-size sports saloon segment with the Jaguar XE.

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The campaign, dubbed FeelXE, aims to get across the “exhilaration and excitement” of driving a Jaguar. The car marque has enlisted British celebrities “at the top of their game” including Emeli Sande, Idris Elba and Stella McCartney to create their own projects in the run-up to the unveiling of the new car at the beginning of September.

This is not the first time Jaguar has played on its British roots in its marketing. For the launch of the F-Type earlier this year it ran a “British villains” TV spot starring actors including Sir Ben Kingsley and Tom Hiddleston.

Jaguar hopes to use content to drive engagement and raise awareness of the fact it is entering this new category. While it will be playing up the “rational reasons” to buy the car, such as its fuel efficiency and CO2 rating, the marketing campaign hopes to get across the emotional aspect of buying and driving a Jaguar.

The activity kicks off today (30 July) with Sande calling for consumers to help her create a song that she will perform at an event in London on 8 September where Jaguar will first reveal the car. Using the hashtag #feelXE people can share phrases, pictures, sounds or videos with Sande via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that express what makes them feel exhilarated.

This will be followed by different activations by the other celebrities, with McCartney working with Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum and Elba with his production company Green Door Pictures. The campaign will be supported by activity in dealerships, as well as experiential events designed to tease the new car.

Agnew says this campaign builds on Jaguar’s British brand heritage by using globally recognised British celebrities known for innovating in their sectors. He adds that all the celebrities are passionate about cars and have their own personal connection, making them perfect to work with Jaguar.

“People buy Jaguars around the world because it is British. They buy into the British heritage and what the brand stands for. Us working with globally renowned British talent is a great way to tell the story in a way that we know will resonate with consumers,” he adds.

While the success of the campaign will ultimately be judged on sales, Agnew says initially it is about the buzz the brand can create in print and broadcast media, as well as on its own and third party social channels. As this is Jaguar’s first sports saloon, the campaign is aimed at “100 per cent a conquest audience” and getting consumers considering buying a car in this segment to consider the Jaguar brand.

You can find out more about Jaguar celebrity relationships at our sister brand endorsement service Celebrity Intelligence (subscription needed).

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