By Jamie White – Head of Communications

Live music performances and exhilarating stunts on the River Thames and at Earls Court, helped Jaguar celebrate its British creativity and innovation, as part of the dramatic unveiling of the Jaguar XE.

Jaguar has been working with multi-platinum, British singer songwriter Emeli Sande to create a FEEL XE track which has been inspired by the public through social media. Fans were asked “What makes you feel Exhilarated?” using #FEELXE.
Emeli premiered the new track, ‘Feels Like’, live on the Thames as part of an exclusive 45-minute set on a floating stage positioned in the middle of the river, while more than 300 fans watched from a nearby boat and assembled crowds were treated to a projection-mapping spectacle on County Hall.

Iconic landmarks including The London Eye, County Hall and Shell Building were turned red, while a series of red flares were launched along the river to turn the skyline red during the performance.

Jaguar began its celebrations earlier in the night with a star-studded event at Earls Court, with an audience of more than 3,000 VIP guests were in attendance, including Stella McCartney, David Gandy, Damian Lewis, Jose Mourinho, Brian Johnson, Sam Riley, Gary Lineker, Ruben Cortada, Example and Sienna Guillory.

The show included performances by Emeli Sande, The Kaiser Chiefs, Eliza Doolittle, the Royal Ballet, members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Max Milner from The Voice. The show culminated in a spectacular reveal of the Jaguar XE, showing its dramatic journey from the new XE state-of-the-art Manufacturing facility in Solihull, UK to Earls Court.

The journey began with 1,000 employees at Solihull forming an ‘XE’ shape as the Red Arrows flew past in formation as the car was air-lifted by helicopter to start its journey to London. The helicopter carried the car along the Thames to Tower Bridge before being placed on a high-speed landing craft to continue its journey to Chelsea Harbour. The final leg from Battersea Bridge saw the XE escorted by two 1960’s Mark II Jaguar Police Cars into the Earls Court Arena.

The new, rear-drive Jaguar XE goes on sale in 2015, priced from £27,000.

Douglas Stafford works with many of the UK’s leading automotive manufacturers and dealer groups, providing a bespoke range of mystery shopping, performance improvement and customer experience initiatives.