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How Jaguar Land Rover Uses Luxury Content to Connect With Consumers
In the modern media landscape, one of the biggest challenges for marketers lies in reaching consumers wherever they spend their time. Among luxury brands, few do that better than Jaguar Land Rover.
Last fall, the British luxury automotive manufacturer released an original adventure novella written by famed British author William Boyd. The novella, called “The Vanishing Game,” lives on Tumblr and is a fully interactive digital experience with narration, ambient sound, and animated photography.
“Land Rover is a really storied brand,” said Kim Kyaw, head of digital, social, and CRM for Jaguar Land Rover North America. “‘The Vanishing Game’ told the story of its spirit of adventure in a new and modern way.”
Kyaw reports that the novella, which was also distributed on Amazon and iTunes, was an Amazon bestseller. It generated 100,000 e-book downloads and improved the brand’s search ranking for the terms “heritage” and “innovation.”
The project, developed by Y&R, the brand’s agency at the time, links to a second Tumblr page where Land Rover owners can use the campaign hashtag #WellStoried to submit their own story. The images come from Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, creating a united social experience.
In addition to the novella and #WellStoried owned campaigns, Land Rover connects with consumers through paid media partnerships. In 2015, the company partnered with AOL’s in-house content shop, Partner Studio, and production company Gotham Point Films to create a trilogy of two-minute videos that features Top Gear host Adam Ferrara testing out different vehicles.
Rather than glamorizing the car, the videos focus on the quality of the vehicle’s unique features. “Ferrara gives a credible review of the entire lineup,” Kyaw said. The videos were released on AOL Be On, which syndicates branded content to its network of more than 2,000 publishers. The campaign generated more than 5 million views in less than three months.
Video: The key to social engagement
With Jaguar Land Rover focusing heavily on video, YouTube, naturally, is a key channel. Take, for instance, a three-part series called “Range Rover Sport SVR: An Arctic Journey,” which showcases what it’s like to drive a Land Rover during the winter in Sweden.
Land Rover’s “#TheAudition” campaign also uses video to make the brand more accessible to its target audience and increase brand awareness. The personalized, cross-channel marketing campaign gives consumers the chance to drive the new Jaguar XE in cities across America and star in a short movie that they can share with friends online.
While both “Arctic Journey” and “#TheAudition” live on YouTube, Land Rover uses other social channels to promote the content. Instagram and Facebook, in particular, have been important channels for Land Rover to showcase its creativity and inspire engagement while promoting excerpts of its longer YouTube videos.
Ultimately, for Land Rover, the consumer journey means more than it does for most brands. “Because we are inspired by the journeys of our owners,” Kyaw said, “they are embedded in the narrative.”
This is an excerpt from “The Marketer’s Guide to Luxury Content.”
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