Jaguar Roars Again, But Who's Listening?

If a Jaguar growls in the automotive jungle, will anyone notice? That's the challenge faced by the venerable ultra-luxury brand as it attempts to become globally relevant again after a few years "away" — and as its competitors largely have stepped up their games.

India's Tata industrial conglomerate picked up Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 as Ford was disassembling its stable of European luxury brands, and Tata automotive executives have gradualy been restoring some of the luster to the two fabled marques since then. The combined Land Rover Jaguar North American sales rose by 17 percent in November over a year earlier, and were up by 10 percent year to date. Jaguar finally began national advertising in TV in the U.S. last spring.

But a new campaign that kicked off last week, created by Jaguar's new global ad agency of record, Los Angeles-based Spark44, represents Jaguar's most robust attempt yet at returning forcefully to the American luxury-market conversation. Over the last three years, high-end competition from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others has grown, while shaky global finances have kept even the best-heeled car shoppers a bit off balance.

Jaguar is trying to cut through the gloom and the other obstacles with new TV spots such as the 30-second spot (at top) that showcases its XFR, XJL Supersport and XKR-S cars, showing them careening through a variety of automotive landscapes and then screeching to a stop with the tagline, "Welcome to Our Jungle." It builds on the earlier spot, for the XF, "Escape the Everyday," which shows only the XF purring, growling and running around.

There's also a video, "Beauty & Confidence," extolling the designs of Jaguar's 2012 vehicles in which every curve and feature of the brand's design language is extolled by design director Ian Callum. It's a familiar pitch to luxury buyers, but the truth is that the styling of Jaguar's latest lineup isn't as distinctive as the brand was in days of yore.

Still, hey, Jaguar is back! Now — who's paying attention?