The New Jag - Jaguar XJ
 

The introduction of the new, seventh generation XJ range opened a fresh chapter in the story of the Jaguar marque.  The XJ is like no other Jaguar before it: stronger; faster; safer; smarter.  It is innovative and advanced - the very blueprint for the future of Jaguar and it’s website needed to reflect this ground breaking technology.

Objectives

Branding: The 2004 XJ online campaign was to reflect the sense of modernity and substance within the Jaguar brand.

Marketing: The campaign needed to integrate with print, television and direct marketing initiatives to create a palpable buzz of expectation during the period leading up to and during the product launch.

Business Drivers: The desire was to showcase the automobile’s innovative design features as if online visitors were actually within a retailer showroom.

The generated interest then needed to be turned into a call for action, driving consumers into the retail outlets to test drive and ultimately purchase the XJ.

Challenges

The Global Beach team needed to work with Jaguar Executives in both the UK and the US, to compile footage, interviews and cutting-edge animated demonstrations of the vehicle’s features.

The content had to be presented in a dynamic manner, to reinforce the XJ as a technologically advanced automobile. The speedy, imaginative delivery of three defined pre-launch phases challenged the Flash designers and developers to produce each labour-intensive phase in one week, affording Jaguar the luxury of updating content regularly whilst revealing aspects of the XJ in stages, thus increasing audience anticipation.

The website needed to be adaptable to allow for transfer to DVD for Jaguar retailers and executives to use at conventions.

Delivery

Global Beach created a digital campaign that was central to the XJ launch and which complemented the print and direct marketing activities. 

During the pre-launch period (January to May 2003), the XJ site was refreshed every 4-6 weeks in phases.  These three phases each highlighted a different Jaguar quality and challenged Global Beach to use their imagination, in conjunction with Jaguar’s library of assets, to communicate the XJ’s technology, design and racing pedigree through entertaining animations told in extraordinary detail.

The creative platform for each phase was a seamless montage of still images, Flash animations, video clips, voice narration and background music, which both entertained and informed the audience. 

The launch site, deployed in June 2003, created a virtual retailer showroom. 360-degree spin technology simulated a walk around the XJ and key interior, exterior and technological design features were highlighted and explained in detail.  Comparisons were drawn between the XJ and it’s competitors, accolades for the car from major automotive publications were relayed and an extensive collection of XJ imagery was available for downloading.

Lead Management

Global Beach’s Keycast^TM adaptive managed platform was leveraged to provide dynamic content management and the rapid deployment of the launch phases. It also tracked audience behaviour when navigating the site.

Click stream analysis was used to optimise navigational structures and to determine where content was generating the best audience response, thus allowing content improvement at each phase of the pre-launch roll out.

Handraisers were directed to the site through html emails, Jaguar e-Newsletter and through promotional units on the main Jaguar home page. Online media, flash banners and retention placements on automotive research web sites captured in-market shoppers, whilst lifestyle placements on non-automotive sites increased brand awareness and consideration amongst non-shoppers.

Client Comment

“Jaguar’s success in the WebAward competition is a testament to our commitment to provide our customers with the best interactive presence possible. Jaguar strives to understand and meet our customers’ needs and drive the highest quality customer experience from product selection to delivery. Not only have we managed to accurately convey our brand values and attributes online, such as speed and agility, we have created a compelling site that sets the industry standard against which our competitors’ sites will be judged. We are extremely honoured to receive such recognition for our efforts from our industry peers.”

George Ayres, VP Marketing, Jaguar Cars North America

Campaign Results

XJ Microsite

Handraiser Communications

*on target with goal of 40%

Accolades

Web Marketing Association

Best Automotive Website 2003

Macromedia

Website of the Day 09/10/2003

London International Advertising Awards 2003

Finalist Automotive Category