I must have missed it when this XFR-S commercial first appeared last fall, but apparently “Mark Your Territory” is one of Jaguar’s current tag lines. It’s also what regional dealer groups are using for their spring “sales event”, which is how I found out about it when I caught an ad on tv. I’m a former Jaguar owner and I’ve reviewed their cars favorably so I think I understand what their brand is about. I also get what their marketers are doing with their “It’s good to be bad” ad campaign featuring actors notable for playing villains, though it’s not what I’d do if I was in charge of their advertising. On the other hand, concerning how big felines mark their territory…I don’t understand at all how a British luxury car brand associated with the look of burled walnut and the smell of fine leather wants to be associated with cat urine. Also, “Grace, Space, Micturition” just doesn’t have the same poetic ring as the original.
Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS
Cat urine aside, isn’t there a common saying about “my car isn’t leaking, it’s just marking its territory?” Given the traditional rep of Brit cars being less than oil tight, perhaps marking is not the best thing to allude to for a number of reasons.
Isn’t the current auto-cultural meme that Jaguars are a bit caddish, but in a strangely endearing way? The kind of luxury you’d not expect to see driven by a fan of Werther’s Originals.
If that’s the case than the new ad campaigns are spot-on.
Exactly. These spots appeal to the exact kind of person who owns a JAAAAAG…
and this is the strength JLR has
no one doubts that they probably arent the most reliable things out there
who cares
the cars have the public zeitgeist about what is cool, rakish, a lad and somehow sophisticed, someone who isnt a boring BMW Audi Merc owner and yet not vulgar enough to buy domestic
I always found the newer Jaguars to be popular with women who have slept their way to ownership. Really, come to think of it, older women after younger guys should be called Jaguars rather than Cougars.
Hopefully grandma takes the ciggy out of her mouth before she explains to the trooper that she was just “marking her territory” (Thinking of this in aunt Selma’s voice from the Simpsons).
That video reminds me of my wife taking one of the 101 South entrance ramps in our XC90.