Transforming a legend
Jaguar was reinventing itself as a business, bringing new levels of style and performance to a broader market including younger people and women. The question for us was, "Does the recruitment brand reflect the business Jaguar is today, and the company it wants to be tomorrow?" This was no mere badge engineering: Jaguar's transition from a legendary past to a profitable future depends fundamentally on bringing the right people into the business.
Our aim was to develop a voice for the recruitment advertising that struck a balance between the prestige of its history and the energy of its present and future. We canvassed opinions inside and outside the business; we spoke to both engineers and non-technical staff, young graduates and experienced professionals; we ran workshops for senior managers to establish a robust platform for the employment proposition and brand. And then we tested a range of creative approaches and written styles with a large and mixed audience, using both face-to-face and online survey techniques.
We believe that a blend of analytical rigour and inspired creativity will always deliver the best results. Genuine understanding is always better than assumption even - or perhaps especially - when research seems to contradict preconceptions and received wisdom. When the live style was rolled out, the impact was immediate. In the graduate recruitment programme, for example, the volume, quality and diversity of the response all improved significantly. The new style also drew spontaneous positive reactions, both inside and outside Jaguar.
