For us to recognise light, we have to spend time in the shade. For there to be ‘good’ PR and communications, there has to be some that’s not so good. And some that’s downright dreadful.
We need to get past this idea that any piece of marketing, advertising or social media can be ‘genius’ just because it seems to have everyone talking. ‘We’re part of the conversation’ is something I hear a lot these days from industry colleagues. But which conversation? A conversation where people are saying ‘I can’t wait to buy that product’? Or a conversation where everyone’s ripping the piss out of you? There is no universal, single conversation. You need the right people saying – and feeling – the right things, at the right time.
I believe there absolutely IS such a thing as bad publicity, and I wouldn’t want it. It’s not true that everything all works out in the end or that doing something bold and getting eyeballs somehow automatically translates into business success.
Gerry McGovern opened his speech at Jaguar’s concept car unveiling in Miami last night by saying ‘Getting attention in today’s world is not always easy…and we’re delighted to have your attention’. Isn’t it a sad reflection that someone with his track record and the proud history of the brand he leads has to resort to such a polarising promo video simply to be heard?
It would be. But I don’t think that’s the case. And I think that’s where Jaguar has gone wrong, regardless of what you think of the promo video, the design and the concept vehicles themselves. An electric vehicle with a 430 mile range is surely worthy of attention. The bold colours, the clear lines, large wheels, removal of the back windscreen, not to mention the interior and the engine. A new design from Gerry McGovern himself. All of that is worthy of attention and, I believe, would have received it.
True innovation doesn’t involve constantly telling everyone what you’re doing. ‘Copy Nothing’, 40 years after ‘Think Different’, loses some of its punch when you’re not even putting a product on sale. And while it might look good displayed in a fancy font, it’s not so hot when a guy in a denim jacket is saying it for the 20th time.
Success for Jaguar boils down to selling great products and creating good jobs. That’s what we need. And people like Gerry McGovern have the track record and expertise to deliver both. We absolutely should be giving him our attention and comms and PR professionals should be reassuring him that he can get it without the need for such garish videos.
Show me the substance and let it speak for itself.
