The love-in between JLR and WPP continues apace, with JLR (which makes Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Jaguars) confirming the appointment of the British-owned holding company, with the important addition of media planning and buying. WPP will handle the business on an outcome-based model although it’s not yet clear how this will work. Sell more cars?
Lennard Hoornik, chief growth officer at JLR says this is to “resolve the traditional contradiction between scale and intimacy” in marketing, and that WPP’s AI capabilities, in WPP Open, are an important part of the relationship.
“Through unique access to all of WPP’s talent coupled with JLR’s pool of brilliant creative minds, the set-up of the joint co-located team and the outcome-based business model, we have the exclusive pillars of our modern luxury centric partnership.”
Selling Land Rovers (mostly Defenders) and Range Rovers these days is pretty straightforward: the two branches of the empire command sky high prices with, seemingly, no loss of appeal. They seem to have seen off the challenge of Ineos’ Grenadier although the wave of much cheaper Chinese versions from the likes of BYD may be more of a challenge.
Jaguar’s new all-electric luxury range, soft-launched to a volley of derision last year, may be more of a challenge. BMW in particular seems to have stolen a march in the pricey electric stakes where Tesla still has a dominating presence. In the past Jaguar failed to dent the iron grip of the luxury German marques.
Quite what contribution WPP’s AI armoury makes to meet these challenges we know not: cheaper production and a snowstorm of internet ads almost certainly. So far the verdict on AI is that everyone wants it but no-one seems to know quite what to do with it.
To make the relationship stick WPP needs some good old-fashioned outcomes: more traffic through the (likely online) showrooms and a shelf-load of awards to show the doubters. CEO Cindy Rose calls it: “a partnership of kindred spirits.”
In the sense that it’s a case of two flagship British companies trying to recapture real (or imagined) past glories she’s undoubtedly right.
