JLR was going through a seismic change, having changed its name from Jaguar Land Rover in 2023. But it wasn’t just the name that had changed – the whole ethos had shifted. A video campaign needed to showcase four distinct brands, one of which was JLR’s line of electric vehicles. By 2039, the aim is for JLR’s fleet to be all-electric, meaning the company needs to reach out to future-savvy Gen Z talent, despite a backdrop of a 9% decrease in engineering application rates among students. It needed to increase graduate, undergraduate and apprentice applications across all disciplines while staying true to the notion of modern luxury inspired by the JLR brand.

Working with Tonic, JLR came up with the strapline ‘Arrive as you are. Achieve the exceptional’. The films told five authentic stories of students living their journey to exceptional at the company, covering topics most important to the target audiences. These were underpinned by a hero video that presented the JLR proposition and tied the stories together. Every film had a striking black and white theme, which stood out in the early careers space and borrowed cues from luxury industries. Meanwhile, candid B-roll footage showed authentic narratives, allowing the students to focus on the key messages. JLR brought in a career coach to ensure interviewees could be as honest as possible about their experiences at the company, allowing the true reality of life at the business.

The videos were launched on LinkedIn at key moments throughout the year to drive traffic to JLR’s careers page as applications opened. LinkedIn offered a longer dwell time so was an ideal platform for these videos, together with the potential for organic reach through reposts. In every metric, the company has seen a strong increase in both applications and conversions (those taken through to interview who are then offered a role). Undergraduate applications were up by 30% and apprenticeships by 51%. Female applicants and applicants from diverse backgrounds also increased.