Taboola Data Shows Jaguar Rebrand Sees Reader Interest in Carmaker Surge Over 1,300%

It’s a much-debated concept that there’s no such thing as bad PR, but whether you agree with the sentiment or not, there’s no denying a flurry of negative publicity can certainly increase a brand’s visibility among the general public. Jaguar’s controversial rebrand has generated a huge surge of negative commentary on social media networks and in the press. However, it’s also led to a dramatic increase in reader interest for the iconic carmaker, with the topic generating over 700k page views in the week since the rebrand was announced, data from content recommendation platform Taboola shows.

These readership figures come from Newsroom data from Taboola’s network of UK media publishers, which include The Mirror, The Express, The Independent, Time Out, and OK!

In total, articles related to Jaguar’s rebrand generated 702k page views between November 19 and 25 – a more than 1,300% increase on the week before, when the brand generated just under 48k article page views.

To put this into context, the last three spikes in readership related to the carmaker were:

• On 29 October there were 36,860 page views as Jaguar’s results reported a 59% rise in plug-in hybrid model sales globally;
• On 11 October there were 29,790 page views on the day a story was released about an employee being investigated for tax fraud and Jaguar also announced the forthcoming date for its Q2 results call; and
• On 3 September there were 27,890 page views on the day a UK coroner recommended a design change to the Jaguar I-Pace after the tragic death of a young boy.

Dave Struzzi, communications lead, Taboola said: “Love it or hate it, there’s no denying Jaguar’s rebrand has caused quite a stir among the British public. While companies such as Jaguar typically invest large amounts in marketing and PR to tempt consumers to buy their products, our page view figures seem to suggest that it’s a good controversy that really engages people.”