The Jaguar XF, Anthropomorphic Design, and Memorable Products

I too am amazed at the amount of discussion about a parenthetical aside that was not a major point of this blog entry. The point of this blog entry was supposed to be about creating an exciting product experience, which is what Jaguar has done with the XF, and not my Web experience.

It's amazing that this discussion has focused on jag's website. Get a life, get out of your apt., and go test drive it. Don't worry It's FREE!!! Think of yourslef as a journalist for an hour. I drove the supercharged and ordered one.

I wrote these words more than a decade ago. They're on the Beacon Technology Partners Web site (www.beacontech.com) and they're still true: "Your brand does not belong to you. It exists in the heads of your clients and prospects. You create that brand through multiple, parallel contacts with customers and prospects. In the consumer world, these branding activities include advertising, packaging, retail channels, and customer service. Business-to-business branding activities include advertising, public relations, distribution channel management, product and technical support, direct sales contact, and so on. Some people equate their brand with their logo. The two are not the same. A logo is a graphic, to be used in all forms of communication with clients and prospects. However, branding is far more than logo management. Whether you have a business-to-business or a consumer brand, branding is everything you do to touch your customers and prospects. If you do not manage your brand, you get the accidental brand which consists of the unmanaged experiences of your customers and prospects coupled with the manipulation of your brand in the minds of your customers and prospects by your competitors. ... The Dean of Branding is unquestionably David A. Aaker, a (retired) professor of marketing at the University of California at Berkeley. Aaker has written at least eight excellent books about branding including Building Strong Brands (1996) and Managing Brand Equity (1991). If you want to gain a rapid education in branding concepts, you would do well to read Aaker´s books. They are both informative and easy to read."

I don't mind Jaguar's website not displaying correctly with some browser settings as long as the gadgets in their cars work properly. YouTube, CNN and MSNBC are companies that make some of their money on the web, Jaguar sells cars - there is a difference in the center of interest, I guess. (Not that I definitely like smoothly browsable web sites...)

Dear Foster, indeed the Jaguar microsite does not work with my browser just as I reported. I'm sure it's a complex mix of security permission settings on my browser that don't work for this site, but I'm not going to try to troubleshoot it for Jaguar's sake. Many flash sites do work with my browser. Sites like YouTube, CNN, and MSNBC seem to have figured it out. Why not expect the same from Jaguar? Any company that wants to maximize effectivenss will make sure to maximize the site's ability to work with browsers set up in a variety of ways. On the dark side, my ISP AT&T requires you to use a Java-based chat window for technical help. That chat function used to work on my laptop, but after many forced Microsoft IE updates (not initiated by me), it no longer does. The fine print on the AT&T site says I must use Microsoft Java, not Sun's. Er... I think you can't do that any more. Microsoft no longer offers a special Bill Gates' version of Java. As for "you journalists..." paying for a car with our "own money." How I pay for my own vehicles is none of your business, but no one has given me any vehicles, which is what I think you meant in your impolite tirade. That just doesn't happen to any of the trade journalists I know. I must be the wrong kind of "journalist."

Jag''''s microsite doesn''''t work in internet explorer???? It does for me so don''''t criticise Jaguar!! The trouble I''''ve seen with all you journalists in and around the automotive business, you are all so damn clever, have you ever paid for a car with your own money??? Ihave read all virtually on the new XF most journo''''s have as usual copied comments from other hacks how boring is that the only real acticle that was well written was from a Journo in south Africa for Wheels24 an interesting article that made me want to read it! I could ramble on but I will leave it at this do I want to drive a BMX Mercedes Audi or VW which all look the same damn thing or do i want to drive something different