← The Big Impression
The Big Impression
Jaguar Land Rover's Charlotte Blank on why premium content builds brand loyalty
00:21:18
The U.S. CMO of the luxury car company discusses how integrating Jaguar Land Rover’s brand alongside popular shows like Succession and The Gentlemen has helped deliver its message of quiet luxury.
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- [00:01]
A
I'm Ilyce Loefring.
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B
And I'm Damien Fowler.
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A
And welcome to this edition of the Current Podcast.
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B
This week we're delighted to talk with Charlotte Blank, US Chief Marketing Officer of Jaguar Land Rover North America or Jaguar Land Rover North America, depending on which side of the pond you're on.
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A
Charlotte is responsible for JLR's House of Brands, which includes the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar.
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B
I know which side of the pond you're on, but before she joined JLR, Charlotte gave a TED talk in 2019 called Lead Like a Scientist, where she examined the psychology of motivation and what it means to lead.
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A
Charlotte says she's obsessed with testing new ideas and challenging the status quo. So that's where we started. So.
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B
Hi, Charlotte. Thank you for joining us.
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C
Thank you for having me. Looking forward to the chat.
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B
Yeah, me too. In 2019, you did a TED talk called Lead Like a Scientist, in which you talked about the importance of testing new ideas and challenging the status quo. Is that something you put into practice in your current role as CMO at jlr?
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C
I would like to think so, and I think there's room to do even more. I describe myself as a marketer by way of psychology. I did that TED talk in a previous role as chief behavioral officer of an incentive and motivation company where I really got to be at the forefront of research in behavioral economics and studying what we know about human behavior and social science and how that plays into understanding and motivating people to take action, which essentially is at the core of marketing. So we have so much of an opportunity to act and lead like scientists when we wear our hat as a marketing leader.
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B
And what can other marketers do to sort of take some of those lessons that you were expressing in that talk, you know, and how can they integrate that into their daily work?
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C
I think to lead like a scientist, first and foremost means to test things, to run experiments. And by that I mean true randomized controlled experiments, out test controls with properly randomized groups. And really, from an applied standpoint, I think marketers have been leading the way here. I mean, A B tests are standard practice. We see them as common practice in digital advertising and website optimization. Really, it's kind of part of the daily work of being an excellent digital marketer in particular, is to constantly be AB testing. But I think where there's more of an interesting opportunity to grow is more hypothesis driven testing. So not just the will I see more clicks if I move this important box from the bottom of the page to the top, but more I have this insight about something that really differentiates the consumers I'm trying to reach and how can I craft my messaging to get at that core psychological insight and testing those that I think is sort of the next step and where we can really make a difference.
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B
And can you give us an example of how you're putting that into practice at jlr?
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C
Absolutely. So we are on an exciting journey at JLR as part of our modern luxury transformation. We're really elevating brands and taking everything up market and really responding to the rise in wealth and the consumers that we reach from a modern luxury perspective. And part of the strategy to bring that to life is house of brands. So JLR really no longer goes to market with the Land Rover brand as the front facing brand, but it fades back to allow Range Rover Defender and Discovery each to thrive in their own right. So this is an exciting opportunity for marketers to really tease apart the difference, for example, between a Range Rover customer and a Defender client. And that's really where the psychological insights come into play. So we've been doing some really interesting research that finds these core differentiating nuggets, we call them. Just off the top of my head, some interesting insights were Range Rover Sport Target is extremely psychologically rich. They thrive in busyness and sort of the chaos of daily life that many of us know, some of us love, some of us don't love. The Range Rover Sport person loves to be very busy and to have their hands in lots of different things. And they're rather impulsive, they lack the ability to delay gratification and they don't like to be overly structured or routine. So they like to just kind of go for it and go for their dreams and not really overthink things because they can handle doing multiple things at once. So I think you'll see for example, in the new Range Rover Sport Creative, as part of our new Velocity Blue campaign starring Theo James, he kind of exhibits that in the commercial you see him sort of exploring the property, racing the car around the grounds and going for an action to what turns out to be simply playing fetch with his dog. But it's this kind of heroic, fast paced scene that really brings to life that sort of busyness and a bit of impulsivity.
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A
Now, as far as that campaign and then like future campaigns, you've talked a lot about the importance of media mix modeling. I'm curious why this is important. And would you say it's easier now to lead like a scientist in a marketing world that is more data driven?
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C
Yeah, we're Very excited to kick off our MMM project. I think two weeks from today, we're starting our really what we're calling a marketing mix project because I think this is finally our chance to put all of the pieces really together in a rigorous, scientific, data driven way so that we can get a little more sophisticated about understanding and. Right. Sizing the expectations for what advertising investment can do in the short term when it comes to sales. And that I'm kind of recognizing that in the automotive industry and probably in most others, that it's not only about the advertising, but it's about the media strategy being carefully executed in concert with getting all the other pieces right. Is the pricing right? Are the incentives right? What are the competitors doing? How old is the product? There are all of these factors that come into play and we can put them all into the model to help us make better decisions about where to place a dollar at any given time for any particular model. And it may or may not be in more media. It might be for new creative or might be on adjusting the price. It might differ depending on the product. So I think that's going to make us as a collective enterprise, a lot more intelligent and data driven.
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A
On that note, are there different markets for different vehicles across JLR brands?
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C
Of course. I mean, that's really part of the fun of differentiating the four brands is they really are different core audiences. And again, this comes back for me to psychology that when we look at the surface level, at the demographics and we simply ask questions like, how old are these people? Are they married? What is their average household income? They look relatively similar to each other and to competitive brands. But we take another level down, we start peeling the onion and we look at, well, how do they spend their time? And then we look even deeper. But what really drives them? What motivates them? What stage of life are they in psychologically? That's where they start to feel really different. So that can come to life in the where and how we approach our media buys and the partnerships we explore. But it also, again, you know, creative is king. It comes into like the messaging and how we craft a story that resonates with people.
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B
I just gotta say on that note, I did love the Theo James spot, the Range Rover spot, because it was filmed at Harewood House, which is very close to where I grew up in Yorkshire. So I think I'm in the market for one of those and the same color too.
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C
I was thrilled to hear that when you share that with me in your beautiful English accent, because it is, it's a really special location that was carefully chosen partly to bring about that English heritage. You know, that's something that is such a special gift and a unique, distinctive asset for the Range Rover brand is that English heritage going back to the Queen and the Royal family. And I think we've gone through phases about how much and the degree that we play that up. But the time feels right culturally to really celebrate that and bring forth a bit of cheeky modern Britishness to the Range Rover sport brand. And truly, there's no better character for that than Theo James. You know, what he brought to life in the gentleman hit series on Netflix. Range Rover was heavily integrated in that show. So we already benefited from the show's popularity and Theo's popularity and have a bit of equity built with him. So I think it's just perfect that we got him to sort of star in the campaign.
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A
Not to mention he's very handsome.
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C
He is quite handsome. That is true.
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A
And it is all about like marketing a lifestyle just as much as a vehicle.
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C
100%. That's. That couldn't be more true, especially for a luxury brand.
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B
We hear a lot now of the importance of marketing being relevant to culture. And that's a very good example of how you're tying in relevance to cultural moments, especially premium content. Like you mentioned, White Lotus, the Gentleman, it's sort of all aligned in lots of ways.
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C
I am a huge fan of branded entertainment where people spend their leisure time, where their captive audience, you know, in front of a big screen, in the comfort of their own home and where they binge watch their favorite shows. Netflix, hbo. We've seen some incredible return on investment when we integrate our vehicles and our brand experience in a highly curated way against some of these popular shows. Succession comes to mind. Succession really brought in this notion of quiet wealth and like the uber luxury in a way that's a little bit more understated and reductive. The clothing they wear with the million dollar sweaters that just look really simple. There's something about that that really resonates with the Range Rover brand and the design aesthetic that's not overtly flashy or gaudy, but is a little more reductive and minimalist in design. It just the characters in succession really brought that to life.
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B
I wanted to ask you a little bit about marketing to younger consumers in a way. I know we talk about Gen Z, but let's just say younger consumers. It's not necessarily obvious that younger consumers might be in the market for a super luxury vehicle. What insights have you got there around marketing to that group, that demographic, especially given the fact that you're leading with data.
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C
I think it's really important we have to remind ourselves as much as we do pay attention to performance, performance marketing. And we've built a world class sophisticated Martech stack and a really strong team of digital marketers who are highly attuned to those kind of purchase intent signals and closing demand, focusing on that lower part of the funnel. But at the end of the day, especially in automotive, especially these luxury brands, it takes time to really build that love in people's hearts. And it for many people starts early. I mean, some of the most interesting research I've seen, it's as if people are lying on a psychiatrist's couch going back to their literal childhood memories. What does Range Rover mean to me in my heart? They're thinking about their father driving one or the royal family. Some early memories they had of it or a show that they've seen. Brandon Entertainment really comes to mind. Defenders, sort of rocketing onto the scene in the recent James Bond movie with this really spectacular car chase is an example that, you know, is meant to appeal not only to people who are in market now or can afford one now, but potentially to the younger generations who might, you know, put the theoretical poster up on the wall and dream of it in the future. So I think that's really important for us marketers.
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A
Yeah. And that really ties into like personalized journeys, especially if they look back at how they even came across the brand to begin with when it comes to that as well. Which channels are you testing as you focus on scale?
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C
We're always testing new channels for scale. You know, a lot of our focus around building the upper funnel and growing our brands tremendously. Defender, we doubled sales in the US last year from around 15,000 a year to over 30 and did that very quickly with just a really concerted focus on building awareness, breaking through with really effective creative that drove breakthrough recall and brought a lot of new audiences into awareness of the brand. And I think the way to do that is to get some of the brilliant basics right. Which means really good creative, really strong media plans that index heavily on scale based channels like ctv. We did a lot of tv, we've been in podcasting, audio. When we think of the C Think do framework, really focusing on the C to build new audiences and build that upper funnel.
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B
That's an incredible statistic you just shared about doubling sales last year of Defender. And that's through brand building.
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C
Indeed. And as well as physical experiential activations as well is a big part of our marketing mix. We host every year the destination Defender Festival, which grows each year an incredible cause marketing platform for Defender called the Defender Service Awards, which gives us a platform to showcase the capability and off road and durability of the car in context of these really emotional lifestyle stories. So we invite very local grassroots charities who need a vehicle that can take them to difficult places. We invite them to submit video applications for a chance to win a Defender, and then we invite consumers to vote. Last year we had over half a million votes, you know, in a very grassroots approach. And this year we're looking already to surpass that. And that just gives us a wealth of content, an opportunity to make a difference, and to really establish a platform that's authentic and organic for the brand. So I think those sort of higher touch, authentic steps are important as a foundation, but then also just to really blast out our. Building awareness through big traditional media has helped as well.
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B
That's a fast track from awareness to consideration to purchase. It seems like that's sped up maybe.
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C
Is it all the above? I mean, truly, last year we called it the Year of Defender. No joke. It was all systems go on Defender. We were high. It was really motivating and really exciting because we had such a clear vision of what we needed to do to differentiate and really break Defender onto the scene. So it was just a galvanizing kind of experience to just go all in on this one brand. This year we've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. We're back to focusing on multiple things.
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A
Well, I know you spoke a little bit about being at those, like, cultural and sporting events and having a big presence at some of those. How much is that really part of your strategy? And which cultural events have you really found yourself being a. Yeah, that's a.
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C
Very topical question for us. Experiential marketing, I think, gives us a way to really bring the brand to life in a way that transcends the product and makes people feel like they're part of a community. So a great example is Rainbow Rover House for Range Rover that's now a global lifestyle platform. We now do Range Rover houses everywhere from Saint Tropez to Dubai, Cormayor, you name it. But it started here in the U.S. in Monterey, around pebble beach, around Monterey Car Week. We do it every year in that location at that event, as well as Salt Lake City, at Park City and a few other locations. And basically the idea is that we'll Take over a private residence or building that matches the design aesthetic of Range Rover and curate these exquisite, really luxury crafted experiences for our clients and prospects and partners. And we do that in partnership with other luxury brands to offer, for example, rare spirit tastings or a luxury facial, early access to a new fashion launch. So we'll curate something different each time to keep it fresh. But the idea, but it's been fun for the team to use as almost a filter or a thought exercise of if Range Rover, the brand were a house, what would it smell like? What would the furniture look like? What would you eat there? Who would be there? You can kind of stretch your imagination to bring the brand to life in a way that transcends the product. And we'll have a special product edition each time. That's also a part of the strategy where we'll release a limited count of a special Range rover that's only 17 of them are made. And it'll. It retails for $350,000. And only those who are in person have a chance to have the first look. So that gives it sort of a press hook and an extra kind of commercial reason to attend. But really the experience we hear more and more from our clients is that I feel like I'm part of a club, an exclusive society. I'm a Range Rover person. That means that I get to do this and I get to meet and mingle with other life's leaders, we call them in the Range Rover community.
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B
That's great. I mean, not every, not every automaker can claim that they're able to kind of like create a club of like minded members. I know many would probably think that they can, but there's something special about JLR in that way. And I know we touched on this already, but one of those factors, I guess that plays into the branding and the association is the British connection. You mentioned the ad, but could you say a little bit more about that and how that is something that you use or not use, especially in the US market, which is what you're in charge of.
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C
Yeah. Such an interesting question for the US market. We have a couple of very current examples, I think, to this effect. One is that we have the blessing of having access to this curated collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ii, her cars, basically the classic Land Rover product that she either drove or was escorted in throughout her regime. And we have a beautiful collection of 10 of those vehicles that have been painstakingly perfectly restored. And we debuted them globally at pebble beach this year. So it was the very first time that an SUV was displayed on the Pebble Beach Concord, which I was surprised by. That was a really unique moment. That was a really special thing. So we got a lot of press and breakthrough for that moment and a lot of just fan activity. There are a lot of classic Land Rover Range Rover fans. So now we're taking those vehicles on tour and we'll have them at Rockefeller center with a very British themed experience. It's all about the royal family. So we'll have sort of a British other partners there and sort of a British feel. But when you see the cards, there's even these little touches, like a special spot for the corgis to sit or the special hook for the Queen's handbag. So that is a moment that's really making us stop and appreciate the British heritage and celebrate that in a more public way than we had recently. But a funny story we were just catching up about earlier when I spoke about the Theo James commercial. It's called Velocity Blue is the campaign. We made some edits for a US version of the TV spot which will start airing, that essentially streamlined the story to be a little bit more simple with a little more car shot, a little more action, which kind of captures a lot of, like the US feedback. When we have our creative debates and discussions internally, most of the creative origination happens at the global headquarters in the uk. It rolls out to the major market, give our feedback. There's a process that's probably very similar at other global companies. And the script tends to go something like the English version is a bit more abstract, has a little more storytelling, has a lot going on, and the US wants to see simple. Hit me with the logo, more car shots, get to it. People are busy, there's a lot to break through, and there's always a cheeky debate about that. But this time they actually created a slightly different version for the us Same spot, really, but with a key difference that simplified it and removed a scene in the middle that had an equestrian riding across the property you described. And we just got the test results back and they were fascinating to see. We worked with Kantar to do sort of the initial assessment of how both the UK and the US audiences resonate with each of these two options. And we found that, indeed we were correct about the US that the simplified spot without the equestrian outperforms the original version for US audiences. But fascinatingly, in the UK the reverse is true. So that gave us such an interesting and frankly, a positive outcome that gets us away from any kind of creative disagreements. And is much more about honoring these market specific differences. And just isn't that interesting that people have different expectations of advertising or different understanding of the content of this particular spot. So it's just an important reminder to global brands to keep the core insight true, but to make those tweaks to really optimize for each market.
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B
Yeah, yeah, great. I mean, I say keep the horse.
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A
I mean I'm an American, right? And I think it's, I think the.
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C
Future, no problem with prices whatsoever. Just keep it simple is what I say.
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A
Yeah, but it's so interesting those insights like that, fascinating.
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C
I live for them. I mean, I think that's what marketing is all about, is the consumer insight.
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B
And that's it for this edition of the Current Podcast. We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.
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A
The current podcast theme is by Love and Caliber. The current team includes Kat Vessi and Sydney Cairns.
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C
And remember, especially in automotive, especially these luxury brands, it takes time to really build that love in people's hearts. And it for many people starts early.
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B
I'm Damien.
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A
And I'm Eileaf.
- [21:01]
B
And we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune in to our other podcast, the Current report.