Jaguar launches 'British Intelligence' campaign featuring Nicholas Hoult

(October 6, 2014) MAHWAH, N.J. — Jaguar today debuts its "British Intelligence" global marketing campaign, led by a new cinematic 30-second television advertisement running first in the United States, and includes the recently launched "Why Jaguar" landing page on JaguarUSA.com and multiple first-to-market media platforms such as Google Glass and SoundCloud.

"British Intelligence" is an evolution of Jaguar's highly acclaimed "British Villains" campaign for the F-TYPE Coupe, which debuted to millions of viewers during this years' broadcast of the 2014 Super Bowl, and will showcase the now complete Jaguar  luxury sedan lineup, including the XJ, XF and, the recently revealed XE, on sale in the U.S. in 2016.

The campaign's television spots star British actor Nicholas Hoult and were filmed by Oscar-winning British director, Tom Hooper, who also directed the brand's "British Villains" campaign, in London.

"Jaguar's British challenger brand strategy and our evolving model line-up continue to elevate us in the luxury category and introduce us to a new generation of buyers," said Phil Popham, group marketing director, Jaguar Land Rover. "With British Intelligence, we're evolving the 'British Villains' theme to now showcase the breadth and quality of Jaguar's lineup,  and the innovative technology and leading-edge craftsmanship behind each model."

The "British Intelligence" campaign expands upon the premise that a Brits' charm, precision, and ambition have long made them the best villains in film by adding that superior technology is also essential to great villainy.  The television commercial begins where the predecessor campaign's TV spot, "Rendezvous," ends:  at the Villains' lair. The audience is taken inside the Jaguar innovation lab by actor Nicholas Hoult, the "brains behind the villainous operation," as he showcases the cutting-edge technology of Jaguar vehicles. 

As Hoult explains, 'A villain is only as good as the technology at his fingertips.'  To bring the innovation lab to life and continue raising the bar of automotive advertising to the cinematic calibre that was set with "Rendezvous," Jaguar worked with premier visual effects production house, The Mill, who incorporated visually compelling CGI (computer generated imagery) effects that highlight the engineering and technology under the hood of the newest Jaguar model lineup, seen throughout the campaign.

"In casting Hoult, a young, good looking and charismatic actor with just the right amount of eccentric British charm, we found our boy genius," said Matt Page, Creative Director, Spark44, the international communications agency for Jaguar. "He plays the role of the Villain's behind-the-scenes technology wiz, providing his bosses with the right equipment for their mission – Jaguar cars – and in doing so, he wittily describes the innovation and technology that makes our cars feel so alive."

Three 30-second TV spots and a 90-second digital film, capture Hoult's assertion that "just like in the movies, behind every cunning plan there is a brilliant mind." Hoult also appears in three web films that illustrate the rigorous quality testing that Jaguar models undergo before arriving in showrooms or hitting the road, including climate and crash testing. Beginning on Oct. 6, these films will live on a dedicated landing page for the "British Intelligence" campaign, (a digital iteration of the innovation lab. 



The interactive site is a mechanism to initiate conversation about Jaguar technology and quality standards and invites consumers to view the performance specs beneath the F-TYPE, XF and XJ exteriors.

In addition to the television spots, the campaign will include the recently launched "Why Jaguar" section of its consumer website, JaguarUSA.com. "Why Jaguar" was developed to establish confidence, strengthen consumer perceptions and reveal key stories that support the brand's hallmarks of quality, dependability and reliability, along with performance, innovation and design.

The site uses a 360-degree approach that includes a series of highly visual assets and tools, each cross-linked to news coverage, brand announcements, third party accolades and owner stories. While today the website features recent owner testimonials, in the near future owners will be invited to share their own stories. Starting in mid-November customers will be able to share their ownership experience and even rate their vehicle on a five-star rating scale.

This content will extend across Jaguar digital channels and into retailer showrooms. Owner reviews have a powerful influence in the shopping process and are one of the top sources shoppers go to in making their purchase decision. By providing easy access to this content it underscores not just the brand's confidence in its products, but most importantly the renewed confidence Jaguar owners have in the brand.

Rounding out the British Intelligence campaign are multiple first-to-market media platforms that feature Jaguar as a launch partner.  Jaguar will be the first ever auto brand to create an augmented reality experience using Blippar, an app available on Google Glass.  For the first time, users will be able to 'blipp' print advertisements in Conde Nast publications, by looking at them through their Google Glass devices, to activate additional digital content. 

The print advertisements will trigger video content that is directly accessible to Google Glass users, plus additional features when blipping from mobile devices.  Jaguar will utilize this augmented reality experience beginning with the December issue of Vanity Fair.  Jaguar is also the auto-exclusive launch partner for SoundCloud, the leading audio platform that allows everyone to discover original music and audio, connect with each other and share their sounds with the world, which began debuting advertising in August.  British Intelligence advertisements on SoundCloud commence on Oct. 6.