You don't win trust by fudging numbers

 

Dear Vanguard,
I've been an investor in your mutual funds for over 25 years now. But, to be honest, the ads you're sending me to via email undermine the trust you've held.
Allow me to explain. When I see the click-bait style attention-grabbing trick of putting in huge numbers, I'm already on guard. I instantly think, "Where do they get this number from?" and I look for the fine print of your footnote on it.

There I discover that -- as I suspected -- you fudged the number. This is the clear text of that footnote on the claim that  Americans are leaving $1,747,849,487,729 in low-interest savings accounts.

"1Estimate for illustrative purposes only. Total dollars held by Americans in savings accounts is extrapolated based on results of Vanguard Savings Study, March 2025. For more information see vang‍uard.‍com/‍cashpl‍us."

In plain English, what "estimate for illustrative purposes only" means is that this strangely specific number that ends with a 29 and doesn't even round up to 30 is not transcribed from a true total at all.

As I am relentless in pursuing data sources, I tracked down the fine print on the cashplus page of the Vanguard site. This is what it says:
"The online study identified the percentage of respondents who maintain a savings account and the average value of assets in those accounts based on a representative sample of 10,002 consumers that reflects the composition of the U.S. population across key demographics. Study results were then applied to the number of U.S. adults 18 years of age or older as of March 31, 2025 to extrapolate an estimate of total dollars held by Americans in savings accounts. The study was conducted by Reputation Leaders Ltd., which is not affiliated with Vanguard."

Ahah, so you found a study of how much 10,002 random adults kept in savings accounts and then decided you are free to multiply that by the number that brings it up to the total population of the United States and then present that product as if it the true number.

This is misleading.
Frankly, I find it troubling that I have entrusted my investment with a business that does this. I know it's for marketing, but you can market without resorting to lying with numbers.

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See it here before it makes AdAge: the Jaguar fiasco

If you're in marketing but announced to the world that you have left X, you would not see this latest randing disaster as it unfold. There's something meta (not the company) about reception happening in real-time to the "Copy Nothing" Jaguar video copied from YouTube below.  It wasn't greeted warmly on that channel either.

In fact, I predict that the comments will be closed there because this is the gist of the top ones on YouTube:

@kdcharun

2 hours ago

How to destroy your brand in 30 seconds.

103

@Richard_Heng

7 hours ago

This will go on as the worst new Jaguar logo ever.

150

@e_e846

4 hours ago

Jaguar died.

97

@lajsmith_

3 hours ago

Is this an ad for a car company or a discount fashion store for 12 year old girls?

70

@lastson5014

4 hours ago

Fire everyone in marketing responsible for this.

73

@scrab

5 hours ago

"Are you sure this will help us sell more cars?" "Cars?"

145

@kasperhoglund

2 hours ago

This marketing agency is completely out of touch.

61

@jonnymelamet8029

8 hours ago

Dear Jaguar, sack your advertising firm. This is aiming for an audience who will never buy a car. Also, why wasn't there a car in the advert?

176

@bharathnaveen8870

3 hours ago

I think the marketing department took the term "it's good to be bad" wayy too seriously

55

@dwapo

8 hours ago

Shocking. An automotive marque with +100 years of tradition in making world record breaking, elegant cars degraded to weird fashion house like branding with the sloppiest logotype I've seen in a long time.

141

@e39_lemans_m5

7 hours ago

To use a phrase that only an actual Jaguar owner would use: “What the hell is this tripe?”

49

@OHVideoAgency

4 hours ago (edited)

I drive a Jag, I film adverts, this is deeply upsetting. I've seen this type of advert a thousand times before, there is nothing original about it..?

59

But back to the meta observation on virtue-signalling that you're leaving X and how it parallels this off-the-mark marketing: If you close yourself off from those who have different views and expectations than your own, and those people happen to also overlap with your primary customer base, you're marketing is likely to miss the mark.

On X there are now thousands of comments in response to this video, , and not a single one of them seems to say, "You've piqued my interest." Instead they say things like this:

@pixel_preet: "Umm where are the cars in this ad? Is this for fashion?"

The poor intern in charge of the X account for Jaguar then responds:
"Think of this as a declaration of intent."

And is slammed by @dave_watches retort: "To go bankrupt? Got it"

Another exchange: @SwitcherB: "What the actual hell is this?"
Jaguar intern reaches for what has long ago become a cliche to answer: "The future."


This comment ( and others like it) got 3K likes: @LodgieFromLanza "Oh... That is bad, very bad. You will lose your core clientel [sic] and fail to attract any person who wants to purchase a quality product. If you were seeking woke under 30's who are serially unemployed then you've hit the mark."

That's the thing: staying within your own bubble and deliberately closing off your ears to the voices of other points of view means you'll be convinced that your idea is brilliant with no reality check until after you've unveiled it to the world and  fallen flat on your face.

Remember the Apple Crush crash? This is the same kind of mistake. 

P.S. added on November 20th: Don't think that this is only a problem for fuddy-duddy conservatives. John Aziz considers himself Th liberal, and this is what he posted:

. 

P.P.S. Did the "Where are the cars?" comments remind anyone here of the famous "Where's the beef?" Wendy's commercials? That was a memorable and effective ad campaign. This Jaguar one is only memorable the way the introduction of  New Coke is memorable -- as a bad idea for most people. (Yes, I know some people still buy and enjoy the New Coke formula, though they're far from the majority.)

Related:

Major Marketing Missteps from Adidas, M&M's and Coke