“The Finest Car of its Class in the World”: An Analysis of the Marketing of the Jaguar Brand in Australia, 1950–1959
Creators: name: Scarff, Nicholas
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 330304
subject: Design history, theory and criticism

description: This thesis is situated within research in automotive history and marketing in Australia in the 1950s. Holden’s rise to prominence as Australia’s own car has been well documented by historians, alongside the establishment of the Australian car industry. This thesis complements this existing knowledge by exploring the marketing of Jaguar both as a British luxury brand, but also as one that is suitable to the Australian landscape and lifestyle. Research on Jaguar in a British context proposes that during the 1950s the cars were so well designed they sold themselves. Analysing primary and secondary sources, this thesis questions this assumption, and in the context of Jaguar’s Australian market, to argue that Jaguar’s main Australian distributor Bryson Industries ran a multi-faceted marketing campaign to sell Jaguar cars to wealthy Australians.
Central to the marketing of Jaguar in Australia is the charismatic head of Bryson Industries Jack Bryson. A memoir by his son, historical records of Bryson Industries and research by other historians are discussed. Print advertising of Jaguar cars from the 1950s is comprehensively reviewed and a select number are analysed to demonstrate how images and copy addressed Australian consumers, targeting specific sectors of society. A second part of Bryson’s marketing strategy was the use of motor journalism and motor sports. Reviews of Jaguars supplied by Bryson Industries to motoring magazines are discussed alongside evidence of Bryson’s facilitation of Jaguars cars in Australian motorsport.
The thesis finds that the marketing of Jaguar cars in Australia during the 1950s was comprehensive. Bryson industries targeted affluent sectors of society, including a network of men’s clubs and the Jewish community. The print advertising reveals a mix of content, the majority similar in theme and style to British advertisements but tuned to an Australian audience. These include advertisements suggesting Jaguars could operate in unique Australian conditions and appealed to the lifestyle aspirations of Australians. The research also reveals how Bryson Industries used motoring reviews and motorsport to promote the Jaguar brand in Australia. By supplying particular types of cars to motor journalists, the attributes of Jaguar were exposed to a large readership. In a similar way, Bryson Industries imported high-performance cars and made them available to leading racing drivers, leveraging from the success of Jaguar on the track to appeal to customers.
This research adds nuance to the documentation and discussion of historic automotive marketing in Australia by looking beyond locally-manufactured cars. By the 1950s, most luxury British manufacturers were ingrained in the Australian market, with Jaguar a dominating fixture by 1960. Contrary to the view that the cars sold themselves, Jaguar became a market leader as a result of a sustained and targeted marketing strategy. This thesis has also shown the value of automotive magazines as a source of analysis and demonstrated that they are another means by which to understand the culture and shifts in post-war Australian society.