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International Marketing Study Program 2002
Jaguar, Coventry: 'Don't Dream It, Do It'
11 January 2002
After being greeted by Aurelie Ferre - International Affairs, Communications and Public Affairs, we were taken in to Jaguar's theatrette and formally welcomed by Cecile Simon, Manager - International Affairs. Following a short video on the Jaguar company, we walked through their gallery, where some of us tested our skills as formula 1 racing drivers. We then had a most informative guided tour of the assembly plant, which demonstrated the high quality approach that Jaguar is associated with. Jaguar, as a company has a strong sense of 'family', and capitalise on years of experience by employing retired staff to take visitors around the plant.
Cecile Simon then spoke to us about the Jaguar company, and the critical role of Public Affairs. Jaguar has a long history dating back to 1922 in sixty different markets throughout the world and has a mission to provide the highest standard of driving pleasure. Jaguar has four sites where final assembly, manufacturing, engineering, design, research and development take place. Chris Baker, as part of the Jaguar team, spoke about the significance of cultural issues to their approach to marketing, for example, the French may prefer to avoid being seen as 'ostentatious', whilst Saudi Arabians generally like to be seen driving the 'best' cars such as Jaguars, because it reflects their success. Also, actual product requirements vary by cultural region, for example in Asia, Jaguar owners want as much room as possible in the back seat area because they tend to be chauffeured much of the time.
Another important group of stakeholders are the Jaguar 'enthusiasts' who are loyal to the Jaguar brand, but again vary in cultural sensitivity, some acquiring a new model but keeping their old car/s, and others just replacing their earlier car.
Gregori Alexander spoke about the Jaguar brand and how it fits within Ford's portfolio of the Premier Automotive Group (PAG), an alliance of car companies including Volvo, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Lincoln and Jaguar. This alliance enables more streamlined management of the portfolio of brands, which in turn clearly brings opportunities for operational efficiencies at Jaguar. The various brands are positioned on a perceptual map according to functional vs emotional, and contemporary vs traditional appeal.
Jaguar has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, and has recently launched the new 'X-Type', which is targeted towards the younger generation. Furthermore, Jaguar is preparing to launch the new 'F-Type' to gain market share in the small sports car market against BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in which they hold a strong position.
The changing nature of the market place was also discussed, for example in this 'Information Age', people come to a showroom, often already knowing a good deal of information from the internet. They used to come in and say 'tell me about the XJS', but now they seek more specific dialogue about their buying options.
We ended the day with a visit to the Jaguar museum, which has a huge number of vehicles, including cars dating back to Jaguar's earliest models. One thing that really stood out was the continuing style and quality that has always been Jaguar.
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