Case History: Jaguar Pursues Car Buyers

The Jaguar gets its name from yaguara, a South American word meaning “the animal that kills in a single bound.” If a jaguar does not nail its prey on the first pounce, it goes hungry.

Jaguar the vehicle manufacturer is more patient. Its next-sale efforts start up to a year ahead of purchase or leasing. And the company stalks its targets differently based on whether the customer is more likely to buy the same model it already owns, or one in a different class.

Jaguar’s efforts to move drivers up through the car classes are assisted by its database, which has tracked owners throughout the years and provides intelligence regarding their probable next steps. While the database does use a little overlay data, as Cathy Ellico, CRM/e-commerce manager for Jaguar Land Rover says, “You can get carried away with collecting too much information.”

Especially if it’s the wrong kind of information. Jaguar prefers to rely on self-reported data, such as the attributes that attracted customers to the Jaguar brand and where they are in the purchase cycle. These help determine which model Jaguar they’re most likely to buy next, and into which of the communications streams each prospect should be placed.

Jaguar is increasingly relying on events to gather relevant information on prospects, whether the potential buyers are new to Jaguar or ready for the next vehicle in the relationship. For instance, in early May the company co-sponsored a private tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Salvador Dali collection as a tie-in with its XK edition showcase.

“The event matched well with our brand and high-end customer base,” says Kariana Jaramillo-Saa, the automaker’s relationship marketing manager. Attendees—drawn from the museum’s donor membership as well as local-area Jaguar enthusiasts—were encouraged to fill out comment cards regarding the XK and their driving interests.

Jaguar’s marketing team will be adding a new element to its database soon: How purchasers of the X type, a small, comparatively lower-priced luxury sedan that launched in 2001, react to the opportunity to buy one of the higher end models—or another X.

Once they’ve figured out the next-vehicle patterns of X model customers, Jaguar should be ready to pounce. Even if it does take a year.