ONE MILLION AND COUNTING

Jaguar USA’s official Facebook page has just hit 1,000,000 ‘Likes,’ making it the fastest growing luxury automotive official page on Facebook, year over year, since its inception in 2011*. Ray Warren, Jaguar Digital Marketing Manager at Jaguar North America talks about what this accomplishment means to the brand and explains what’s driving so many fans to join in on the Jaguar conversation.

Reaching one million Facebook ‘Likes’ is a fantastic accomplishment; why do you think Jaguar USA has gained such a soared interest in the brand?

We believe much of the increased interest in our brand has to do with new product. Jaguar has introduced many new models this year, with the F‑TYPE, the 550hp supercharged XJR, XFR‑S and the sensational XKR‑S GT. Then there are the concept models, such as the C‑X17 Sports Crossover Concept we just unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and the dynamic Project 7 based on the F‑TYPE. Our Facebook followers are really excited to learn what’s new from us, and let us know what they think.

You’ve had a lot of success with various contests this year too; why do you think these have resonated so well with your fans?

The contests we’ve hosted this year have sparked a great deal of interest. We began last year with the #CaptureaJag contest where we asked our fans to post Instagram photos of their favorite Jaguar cars. Last spring we did a Your Turn test drive sweepstakes for a trip to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, TX, to test drive the new F‑TYPE. Then this summer, we ran the hugely successful #MyTurnToJag contest asking our Facebook, Twitter and Vine fans why they felt they should drive a new F‑TYPE with celebrities like singer Kelly Rowland and the San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick in the passenger seat.

What other Facebook initiatives get your fans excited?

Often, it’s really the simple type of conversations and engagements with our fans that get them really excited. A great example is when we asked our followers on Father’s Day to tell us about their favorite Jaguar moment with their dads. Our fans and enthusiasts flooded our pages with wonderful memories that Jaguar was a part of. Then, only a couple of weeks ago, we posted a photo of this amazing bookcase someone had created from the body of an old Jaguar XJ sedan. People thought it was the coolest thing, and it drove engagement up quite a bit. Our aim is not to simply keep pushing the marketing messages, but to open conversations, and hear and share people’s viewpoints.

You get a tremendous number of Facebook postings every day. How often do you check them?

We have a terrific team of people constantly reading and responding to posts all day, every day. The comments of our fans are extremely important to everyone at Jaguar. We want people to know we’re eager to respond and engage in every conversation. If someone posts a question, we want them to know we will respond as quickly as possible.

Why has Facebook become so important to Jaguar?

We now have one million fans that are part of the Jaguar family here in North America and that makes it important. In times past, when someone bought a new car they’d share their thoughts and experiences with friends, family and maybe a few neighbors. Now, through the power of Facebook, they share their experiences often with hundreds of friends who follow their posts. This makes them huge opinion formers and influencers. Equally important, Facebook is bringing us a younger, more affluent audience that is much closer to our target demographic moving forward.

How long before you predict your page will reach two million Facebook ‘Likes’?

We have initiatives coming that will really excite and involve our Facebook fans. In the future, pretty much every TV commercial, every marketing campaign and every product initiative will have some Facebook element to it. Be sure to follow us on Facebook to see how we plan to reach our next major milestone!

From all of us at Jaguar USA, we’d like to thank our one million and growing fans for engaging with us every day and for sharing their stories, memories and thoughts with us in such a passionate way. To show our appreciation, we’ve created a special message to all of them that can be viewed here.

*Source: Wildfire Social Media Monitor by Google
Facebook: Jaguar USA fan count data as of 9/30/11, 9/30/12 and 9/24/13.