There is this conceit that those who critique the Jaguar rebrand cannot afford it.
I’m reserving my comment upon the issue at hand till I see the first new Jag that’s being unveiled.
But to say you can’t criticise something because you will never be an owner is a canard that needs a wee bit of interrogation.
Millions of people watch F1, yet sadly do not have a single car parked in their driveway. Oh dear, how irrelevant they must be.
Porsche a brand that excels at making essentially the same car for the last half century has 99 brand addicts to every 1 owner who may never actually know each model of the 911 released year wise.
For every Ferrari tee wearing 17 year old, chalk up 0.000001 Ferrari owner.
I’m a car guy so these examples flow easier to me. But, let’s look at the world of Art.
I might have something to say about every painting of Monet in the @museeorangerie and yet be only able to afford the tiny set of postcards from the souvenir shop.
I could waffle on about this for a fair amount of time. Bose 901s are the speakers I cherish despite not having a set. I’d love to some day be able to bring home a set of Technics SL 1200s now in their 7th ‘wheels of steel’ iteration. A Lamborghini Countach has been in the garage of my soul since I gained consciousness. Do I have a point of view on the original 1974 edition versus the 25th Anniv Speciale? Of course I do. Do I have a Countach? No.
Brands are our collective aspirations; our hopes and dreams, our line in the sand about quality and choice meaning something to us at a deep level. To attempt to negate that, is to reveal a shocking lack of understanding on what brands mean to people.
Time will tell if Jag will go the Bud Light / Gillette complete annihilation of brand value way. Or, not.
But to negate the feelings of gazillions of fans; that, is a grave travesty.
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