The myth that brand management is about logo, colors, or marketing collateral is best busted by celebrities.
Especially those from the cinema field. How on the earth do they emerge as monumental brands without any of those regular branding implements? So much so that they start lending their personal brand power to endorse large consumer brands.
Amitabh Bachchan
For those who are not familiar with Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, fondly known as Big B, is the most popular Indian actor of all time.
Even at the age of 75, he charges Rs 7 to 10 crores per film, Rs 2 crore per day fee for commercials, and Rs 1.5 core per day fee for KBC.
So what makes him such a large brand? A more intriguing question is what makes him such a timeless brand?
He appeals to all the generations alive today.
My world-war-II gen grandmother (1925 born) likes him. So do my post-war gen parents. Not to forget my boomer gen aunts and uncles.
For my gen-X friends, cousins and me, his movies were like milestones in our growing up years. Name one of them from the 70s or the 80s and we can tell you in which class we were when it happened.
And our gen-Y kids and relatives – do they like him too? You bet, they do.
But my gen-Z nephew (born 2008) takes the cake as he ecstatically screams “carodpati” when he sees a picture of Big B.
Fans across six generations in one extended family, if you please.
I’m assured, it’s not just me. If you’re a Bollywood buff, then you only need to make a few minor edits to make mine read as your own autobiography.
It’s hard to think of another example of such an intense brand appeal that cuts through multiple generations.
If it is to do with looks, then there are innumerable actors who look equally good or better. If it’s about performance, then there are a host of them who perform equally well or better.
Then what is it that makes him a brand so unique, so large, so timeless?
Amitabh Bachchan is a book on timeless branding with important lessons for brand managers. [Click to Tweet]
Taking an interval at his movies, I give the popcorn and soda a miss to study the Big B case and cull out these 6 principles underlying timeless branding.
1. A timeless brand disrupts the market
Romance and romcoms were the genres prevailing in Bollywood until the early 70’s, with established superstars ruling the industry (notably among them, Rajesh Khanna, an actor par excellence).
Big B disrupted that with the angry-young-man image that he portrayed in the movie Zanjeer, after which Bollywood cinema was never the same.
In those pre-liberalization times of exploitative industry-owners who used the mafia/crooks to rein in workers, bureaucracy, red tape, licence raj, failed programs like ‘Garibi hatao’, movie-goers were instantly able to relate to the roles that Big B played – an angry young man challenging, questioning, fighting and lampooning the systems. He instantly rose as the new superstar. In fact in one of his movies, he says, “Toh aap garibi nahin, garibon ko hatana chahte ho.” (It’s poor people that you want to eradicate and not poverty).
This brings us to the question – are you just another employee, just another start-up, just another brand, just another app? Or are you there to make a difference? Does your brand have what it takes to disrupt the market?
2. A timeless brand performs consistently and connects with users
It is said that in the performing arts (according to Natya Shastra),
Yatho Hasta thatho Drishti, Yatho Drishti thatho Manah
Yatho Manah thatho Bhaava, Yatho Bhaava thatho Rasa.
It grossly means that a coordination of the right action, the right focus, the right mindset, and a heartfelt involvement in the role is what results in the right emotion and expression in the performance.
Having established himself as the new superstar, Big B became an unbeatable brand with his dedication and hard-work. He is known to rehearse his part and we can see that he gets it all neatly coordinated, bringing the house down with each performance. He seems to have a grip on the pulse of the viewers and knows what ticks them. The posture, the gesture, the dialog delivery, the facial expression – everything is coordinated to precision resulting in that perfect execution that makes us laugh, cry, feel angry, etc.
Brands might want to follow the same principle – know the pulse of the market and focus on making them happy. Applying the Natya Shastra quote to day-to-day brand management, it’s about putting your heart and soul into your product, process, delivery, operations, communications and every aspect of the brand, with user emotions in mind.
3. A timeless brand has a unique voice
What does people’s love for Big B’s deep baritone voice mean for brand management?
It simply means that it’s extremely important to have a unique voice on your brand communications. Is your content, tone and diction as captivating, differentiating, desirable and memorable as Big B’s voice? Great content that heightens overall user experience is also what helps you stand out from the Google Hummingbird perspective.
Platitudes such as ‘cutting edge’, ‘state of the art’, ‘best services’, ‘outstanding customer experience’, ‘proven expertise’, ‘team-player’, ‘go-getter’, ‘seasoned professional’, ‘self-motivated’, ‘result-driven’, ‘problem solver’, etc. on your marketing collateral or your resume make you sound chorused than a unique mesmerizing voice.
A lot of marketing content or resumes read copied or inspired by competitor’s content and infused with buzzwords. Look up other’s content so you know what to not repeat in your own. Not that you should ban industry-terms and keywords that help prospects find you, but only use them in moderation.
Understanding your target audience holds key to developing a suitable brand voice that will tap straight into their black box of emotions – friendly, serious, advisory, passionate, emotional, professional, energetic, etc., as the case may be. You may not be born with a captivating voice as Big B was, so you may have to keep adjusting it till you get it right.
4. A timeless brand disrupts itself
TV was considered as second class medium and not meant for Bollywood actors. But with the advent of cable TV and private channels in the early liberalization times, it became a large medium and a large market. Nonetheless, Bollywood actors would not associate themselves with TV, as that would mean risking their market perception that could result in a lowered market value.
Big B was the first actor to do TV, disrupting himself with the historic Kaun Banega Crorepati show. From the super-hit angry-young-man of mainstream cinema to the sartorially elegant and well-informed host of a quiz show on the idiot box, he was once again an instant hit with the masses.
The takeaway from this is that instead of continuing to tread only the “safe” path, look for unexpected opportunities to disrupt and innovate before others disrupt you.
Do you have the guts to step out of your comfort zone and venture into uncharted territory? That comfort zone may not continue to be all that viable beyond a point as markets keep changing.
5. A timeless brand adapts to changing times
“It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one that adapts to change.”
Mr. Big B is a perfect example of what this quote that is attributed to Charles Darwin might mean.
Neither is Big B young any more, nor is the audience that angry in the evolving post-liberalization economy. Big B has demonstrated a great deal of adaptability to the changing times. In the present age of multiplex cinema and social media, he is experimenting and playing different kinds of roles suitable for multiplex audiences.
He was also one of the first Bollywood actors to adopt social media and engage actively with his fans on Facebook and Twitter. He even blogs!
Dated policies, dated products, dated marketing practices, dim online or social media presence often result in leading brands of yesteryear facing an extinction threat.
6. A timeless brand is resilient
Big B has demonstrated a phenomenal resilience at various points in his career when things didn’t work for him and he was almost written off – be it a bad stint at politics, a serious injury, a difficult time at film production / event management, a string of box office failures, health issues.
People may try to discourage you, opponents may pull you down. A particular project may not work as expected. You may get outdated.
Do you have that phoenix-like ability to rise again from the ashes when burned?
End of interval, back to the movies!
Closing this post with this funny clipping you can’t stop smiling at.
For those who don’t understand Hindi, the character played by Big B moves from village to city in search of a job and in this clipping he introduces himself and demonstrates he can speak English when the interviewer asks him if he can.
