29.03.2024

Jaguar Land Rover marketer Ian Armstrong departs carmaker

Jaguar Land Rover’s global head of advertising, Ian Armstrong, has left the Tata Motors-owned company after a restructure.

JLR announced a major restructure in May, with global communications director Fiona Pargeter promoted to the new role of customer experience director, adding marketing communications, experiential marketing and customer insight to her previous PR remit.

It is not know if Armstrong – a member’s of Campaign’s Power 100 Hall of Fame – will be replaced. He leaves without a job to go to.

Armstrong, who has also worked at Britvic, spent nearly a decade leading Honda’s marketing in the UK and, latterly, across Europe, overseeing memorable campaigns including “Impossible dream” in 2005. He left in 2012 to take on a global marketing role working on the Jaguar brand.

His notable highlights include the launch of Jaguar’s “Rendezvous” 2014 Super Bowl ad themed around British villains played by Sir Ben Kingsley, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Strong.

Jaguar Land Rover marketer Ian Armstrong departs carmaker

In a statement to Campaign, Armstrong said he was focusing on a “strategy of serendipity” and would be spending his time deciding on his next move.

He said: “It’s invigorating to see the world outside of the corporate is actually quite interesting. I’m finding connections in many different areas that are allowing me to connect people, join the dots and indeed even create new opportunities that could well lead to bigger things.”

“Twenty fours years in a large organisation has helped me to lose sight of what I’m actually quite good at. Spending a bit of time reflecting has allowed that me to bring that back into focus and realise there are many applications for kinds of skills and competencies I have both in a large organisation or indeed any other permutation of business.”

Separately, it is understood that JLR is holding a pitch for its customer publishing activity, currently handled by Storyboard. The automotive company’s advertising account is held by its jointly owned agency, Spark44, while Dentsu Aegis Network picked up its media planning and buying business last year.

A spokeswoman for JLR confirmed Armstrong’s departure, adding that he had left to “pursue other opportunities”.

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