THE BRAND CALLED AMITABH BACHCHAN

SUBMITTED BY: Indraneal Roy

IIPM

IIPM(PGP-09-11)SS

Brand A product or service to which human beings attach a bundle of tangible (functional product and service characteristics) and intangible (emotional and/or symbolic) meanings that add value. A brand has one strategic purpose and that is to differentiate itself from competitors. Brand Personality An expression of the fundamental core values and characteristics of a brand described and experienced as human personality traits, e.g. friendly, intelligent, innovative etc. It is an expression of the relationship between the consumer and the brand. Brand image or identity expressed in terms of human characteristics. The distinguishing and identifiable characteristics that offer consistent, enduring, predictable messages and perceptions is brand identity. The look and feel of the brand through the eyes of the consumer is brand image. Few examples:

Marlboro is masculine while Virginia Slims is feminine IBM is older while Apple is younger India Today is old-fashioned while Outlook is trendier Coke is conforming while Pepsi is irreverent

Brand Personality, like human personality, is both distinctive and enduring. Both are built over a period of time. Refers to the outcome of all the consumers experiences with the brand In other words, the brands personality is the weighted average of previous impressions. In consumers mind, these impressions merge to form an overall concept of what to expect from brand. Brand Personality is eagerly searched by brand strategists and researchers. Differences in responses by different consumers provide useful insights. For example, users of a product will perceive a brand different from non-users. Personality traits are what the brand will live and die for

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Why use brand personality? Enriches understanding

Helps gain an in-depth understanding of consumer perceptions of and attitudes towards the brand Can provide more insight than is gained by asking about attribute perceptions For ex., Microsoft, IBM etc.,

Contributes to a differentiating identity

Can differentiate brands especially where brands are similar in product attributes In fact, it can define not only the brand but the product class context and experience Mercedes Vs BMW; Clinic Plus Vs Pantene

Creates brand equity Builds long-term brand equity Differentiates the brand and makes it distinct from other competitive offerings Serves as a powerful relationship device

How to create brand personality?

Personality of a person is affected by everything associated with him friends, neighborhood, activities, clothes etc., So too is a brand personality

Product-related characteristics Product-related characteristics can be primary drivers of a brand personality Even the product class can affect personality Banks, Insurance etc., tend to be Competent, Serious, Masculine, Older and Upper-class Athletic shoes tend to be Young, Lively, Rugged, Outdoorsy, Adventurous etc.,
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Product attributes can often affect brand personality A light beer would largely be classy, sophisticated etc., A high-priced brand will be considered wealthy, stylish and perhaps snobbish!

User imagery Can be powerful driver of personality because user is already a person and so conceptualizing the personality is reduced User Imagery can be people who use the brand or those portrayed in advertising Sponsorships

Activities such as events sponsored by the brand will influence its personality Ponds sponsoring Feminas Miss India contest Budweiser sponsoring the blimp in American sporting events

Age

How long a brand has been on the market can affect its personality New entrants like Apple, Outlook etc., tend to have younger brand personalities than IBM, India Today etc.,

Symbol A symbol can be a powerful influence on brand personality since it can be controlled and can have extremely strong associations Some examples

Apples bitten apple Nikes swoosh MetLifes Peanuts character

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How Brand Positioning creates brand equity? The ways brand personality can create brand equity are summarized by 3 models: 1. The Self-Expression Model 2. The Relationship Basis Model 3. The Functional Benefit Representation Model The self-expression model

The basic premise is that for some customers, some brands become vehicles to express a part of their self-identity This self-identity can be their actual identity or an ideal self to which they might aspire Apple is perceived as friendly, unpretentious, irreverent and willing to go against the grain

This is because Mac is easy-to-use and also due to its symbol, advertising, user groups etc., The use of Apple expresses a personal identity of being non-corporate and creative

How brand helps express personality? Feelings engendered by brand personality There can be a set of feelings and emotions attached to a brand personality, just as there are to a person

The use of such brands can cause feelings and emotions to emerge

Feelings, when using a Harley-Davidson or Apple would not emerge when using a Honda or Compaq

The brand as a badge A brand could serve as a consumers personal statement

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Cars, cosmetics, apparels lend themselves to personality expression because their use occurs in a social context with relatively high involvement

The brand becomes part of the self

The ultimate personality expression occurs when a brand becomes an extension or an integral part of the self The executive who wears Allen Solly on a Friday feels semi-casual and waiting to welcoming the weekend! The potential to create this oneness with some people can represent a significant opportunity for a brand

The relationship basis model Some people may never aspire to have a certain personality trait but would like to have a relationship with one who has that A trustworthy, dependable, conservative personality might be seen boring but sought nevertheless, from banks or financial products The concept of a relationship between a brand and a person provides a different perspective on how brand personality might work To see how this model works, consider personality types of people with whom we have relationships and the nature of those relationships Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing Pepsi On a weekend evening, it might be enjoyable to have a friend who has these personality features Two elements affect individuals relationship with a brand

1. Relationship between the brand-as-person and the customer Which is analogous to the relationship between two people
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2. The brand personality The type of person the brand represents

Functional benefit representation model

The previous two models provide contexts in which brand personality can be the basis for a brand strategy and a link to the customer A brand personality can also play a more indirect role by being a vehicle for representing and cueing functional benefits and brand attributes Marlboros personality of a macho, freedom-loving, adventurous person suggests that the product is strong Harley Davidsons personality of a rugged, macho, I-am-different-kind suggests that the product is a powerful, liberating vehicle When a visual symbol or image exists that can create and cue personality the ability of the personality to reinforce brand attributes will be greater

The Energizer rabbit is an upbeat, indefatigable personality who never runs out of energy Just as the battery it symbolizes runs longer than others

A brand personality that represents a functional benefit or attribute may be relatively ineffective if it lacks a visual image established in the customers mind

A country or region of origin can add credibility to an identity It can generate a strong personality that provides a quality cue and a key point of differentiation A brand personality can help a brand in several ways: It can provide a vehicle for customers to express their own identity A brand personality metaphor helps suggests the kind of relationship that customer has with brand

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Brand personalities serve to represent and cue functional benefits and product attributes well

Importantly, brand personality is often a sustainable point of differentiation Sustainable because it is very difficult to copy a personality

CASE

STUDY

ON

BRAND

POSITIONING

&

BRAND

ARCHITECTURE ENHANCEMENT
Measuring Brand Personality
The appropriate measurement of existing brand personality imagery has been studied for over twenty years (Plummer 1984-85). Researchers have quite naturally sought to develop a valid and reliable measurement (survey) instrument of brand personality that is generalizable enough to be usable across various product categories and consumer segments, drawing on the extensive literature on human personality (Digman 1990; McCrae and Costa 1987), but going beyond it where necessary (Batra, Lehmann and Singh 1993). The measurement instrument used most often recently is the one developed by Aaker (1997). In her extensive development of this instrument, she sought to develop scales generalizable across product categories (Aaker 1997, p. 348), by having 631 respondents rate each of 37 brands on 114 personality traits - with these brands being carefully selected to represent a broad array of product/service categories, a few brands per category. She factor analyzed the between-brand variance after averaging the scores of each brand on each personality trait across multiple respondents. In other words, the data matrix she factor-analyzed was based on pooled data from 37 brands across multiple product categories. Using this aggregated category/brand matrix, she found five factors, labelled Sincerity (sample item: honest), Excitement (daring), Competence (reliable), Sophistication (upper-class), and Ruggedness (tough); her scale is described in more detail below.

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Two Explanations of Category Influence

It is widely acknowledged that most of the research papers on brand personality are now based on Aaker's scale. Though her scale is not without its critics. It has been criticized on conceptual grounds, with some critics questioning whether the aspects being measured truly represent personality (Azoulay and Kapferer 2003; Caprara, Barbaranelli and Guido 2001). Empirically, some others have complained that it does not replicate well in other countries and consumer samples, especially when it is used to gauge within-category brand personality differences. Importantly for present purposes, it has also been pointed out that some brand personality scale items appear, depending on the category, to pick up functional product category characteristics rather than brand personality ones. Thus in one study the brands rated highest on energetic were energizer drinks, while the item sensuous was most associated with ice cream brands (Romaniuk and Ehrenberg 2003). There is, however, another intriguing and important possible substantive explanation for these category interaction results: those entire product categories such as alcoholic beverages (or sub-categories such as beer or wine), not simply brands within them, also are perceived to possess a personality. This explanation may in fact complement the measurement explanation provided above. Levy (1986, p. 216217) wrote a primary source of meaning is the product (category) itself, pointing out that within the beverage category liqueurs connote discrimination, while wine symbolizes snobbism, beer sociability and democracy, soup tradition. Coffee is seen as stronger and more masculine, tea as weaker and more feminine. Consistent with his ideas, Domzal and Kernan (1992) found that ads for most beers typically highlighted friendship and social consumption, while liquor ads stressed solitude, relaxation, extroverted festivity, as well as status communication. Levy highlighted how user stereotypes - a common source of brand personality (Keller 1993) - differ for specific food categories: chunky peanut butter for boys, but smooth peanut butter for girls; lamb chops and salads for women, steaks for men. Other researchers such as Lautman (1991) have also noted that consumers appear to have a schema for different categories, clusters of inter-connected emotions, facts and perceptions stored in memory as a unit. Durgee and Stuart (1987) found that consumers
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associate fun with the entire ice-cream category. Batra and Homer (2004, p. 321) report finding potato chips rated more fun than expensive cookies, which were rated as more sophisticated and classy.

The Importance of studying Brand Personality across Categories

In this paper, we maintain that entire product, not just brands, possess characteristic personalities. Several consequences, which are important to marketing managers, flow from this thesis. First, market leaders often need to modify an entire categorys personality, to make its consumption more attractive to a broader target market. Thus in recent years Coca-Cola sought to make diet Colas more appealing to men by making these drinks seem less feminine, just as beer companies have tried to increase consumption by women by making them seem less masculine. The Milk Board attempts to portray milk consumption as adult, not just for children. Second, a major avenue for revenue growth in companies today is the extension of their existing brands into new categories, requiring the systematic study of many candidate categories on personality and image dimensions to see which ones best fit and match the personality of the brand being extended (Keller 2003b, p.602). Many companies also seek to leverage their existing brand assets via licensing deals to other manufacturers in other categories (such as Caterpillar and Harley into shoes and boots, both made by Wolverine Footwear); or via co-branding promotions and arrangements (such as Coach with Lexus, or Harley-Davidson and Eddie Bauer with Ford trucks). In all these cases, the company that owns the highequity brand needs to explore which of many candidate product categories represents the highest-potential licensing or co-branding opportunities, by studying the personality characteristics of these categories in depth. Third, even when the object of study is one particular category, there are many occasions when a researcher might wish to collect and analyze the personality data of brands coming from multiple categories. Such data analysis can often offer substantial strategic insight into the meanings of a particular brand, by showing which brands in other categories are seen by consumers as being similar to it in a personality sense (see, for example, the correspondence analyses discussed by
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Collins 2002). Recently, for instance, an analysis showed that presidential candidate John Kerry was perceived as similar to Starbucks and Heineken, while George Bush was seen as similar to brands Dunkin Donuts and Bud Light (Landor Associates 2004). Such cross-category analogies are frequently used as sources of insight into brand personality (Plummer 1984-5). Brands from multiple categories are also often compared and ranked on their personality strengths and weaknesses, as is done by the well-known Young and Rubicam Global Brand Asset Valuator (Agres and Dubitsky 1996), which collects data on brands from a large number of categories and analyzes them jointly. And research seeking to create a generalizable brand personality measurement inventory (such as Aaker 1997) naturally collects and analyzes personality data on many brands from multiple categories. In all these cases, any factor analysis of a pooled brand category data matrix must partial out the category personality from the brand's personality, for otherwise it could confound the two. It could be argued, of course, that most analyses of brand personality are conducted entirely within one relevant category, and do not need to utilize data from several product categories. Even here, however, when these singlecategory brand personality data are analyzed to assess the differentiation of one brand from another, and used to help explain differences in brand preference data, it is important to partial-out those aspects of brand personality which are categorygeneric (points of parity, cf. Keller 2003b, p.133), to identify those which are truly differentiating (points-of-difference). It could be argued that the latter ought to be possibly more predictive of brand preference, if the category-generic aspects are not drivers of final brand choice because they are common to all brands in that category. It could also be the case, however, that brands which best capture a categorys mythic desired personality might gain in preference, since their brand personality is now most relevant to consumer choice criteria in that category (Batra and Homer 2004). In either case, it is critical to obtain and understand the category personality context within which the personality of the various brands within it must be studied.

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THE EVERGREEN CELEBRITY

Celeb endorsers may come and go but Amitabh stays. Finding another facet to his many-sided persona is a challenging task for marketers.

MARKETERS have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all over. Witness the spectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. Such is the frenzy that multiple celebrities are endorsing one brand and super celebrities are promoting several products. The latter run the risk of diluting their persona and delivering diminishing returns for advertisers.

A unique phenomenon
Usually, celebrities are super achievers at the peak of their professions. For example, sportspersons get flooded with offers from marketers to endorse various products when they are at the height of their popularity. This fame is proportional to the sporting achievements. So is the case with the top film stars. Eminent examples are Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan. Similarly, the popularity of TV programmes makes the actors in them quite popular and some of them do endorse products. Once the sportsperson retires or the actors loses their charm at the boxoffice or the TRPs of the TV programmes come down, the endorsements also dwindle. Amitabh Bachchan is an exception to this normal life cycle of a celebrity in terms of endorsements. An actor by profession, his best days at the box-office are well behind. Yet, his endorsements do not seem to stop. An immensely successful actor of more than three-and-a-half decades in the Hindi film industry, a failed politician, a stumbling businessman and anchor of just one TV programme - his is a unique combination. It is noteworthy that during the first two-and-a-half decades of his
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acting career in more than a 100 films, he never endorsed any product. This, at a time when for nearly two decades he reigned over Bollywood and was called the one-man Hindi film industry. His seemingly risky foray into anchoring Kaun Banega Crorepati(KBC) in the year 2000 added several notches to his already phenomenal popularity and catapulted him into the league of the most expensive endorsers. The way Zanjeer transformed his acting career, KBC opened the floodgates of endorsements. Marketers found their single-point attention-grabber in Amitabh Bachchan who could not only command attention but also lend credibility to their brands.What set him apart from others and drew a host of marketers to leverage his personality was his popularity across the length and breadth of India, cutting across the barriers of age, income, region and language. Long after he gave up shouldering the box-office appeal of films single-handedly and four years after the last episode of the first round of KBC was telecast, he still lords it over the popularity charts and endorses a wide array of products.

Amitabh the Endorser

Across product categories, Amitabh's persona began to be leveraged by marketers. Within a span of four years, he has endorsed brands in product categories as diverse as banking, soft drinks, batteries, paints, chocolates, automobiles, writing instruments, apparel, diet supplements, personal care and real estate. Contrast this with his earlier endorsement history - just one in the mid-'90s, a corporate branding exercise for BPL. Through a campaign developed by Dhar & Hoon, BPL managed to position itself as an aspirational Indian brand.

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The basic premise in getting a celebrity to endorse a product is that the instant

recognition provided by the celebrity cuts through the clutter. Amidst an overload of advertising, this feature guarantees an advertisement's ability to stand out and generate awareness. If there is a fit between the personality of the celebrity and the brand characteristics, top-of-the-mind recall is also ensured. If the endorser enjoys wide popularity among different geographic and demographic segments, so much the better. One of his strengths was his unblemished personality. As an endorser stakes his reputation and credibility in endorsing products, the cleaner the track record the greater the trustworthiness. This aspect was exploited by Cadbury's well. When it was enveloped in the controversy regarding worm-infested packs of its Dairy Milk chocolate brand, one of its responses to regain public confidence was to show him visiting its plants and vouching for the safety of its chocolates in its commercials. Nerolac Paints was another brand that leveraged his credibility by having him assure the audience, `Hum keh rahe hain' in its commercials.

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When Eveready's storyboard for its torchlight Jeevan Sathi revolved around the product as a dowry item, Amitabh put his foot down and refused to endorse it. Respecting his feelings and recognising the advertisement's limitations, Eveready shelved it. Instances such as this reinforce his credibility and strengthen his brand value. As a person with a social conscience, he has also lent his star appeal to public and social causes such as the polio eradication programme, emancipation of children and preventing cruelty to animals. The campaigns for Pulse Polio, Unicef and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) featured him prominently to have a big impact on the audience.

The critical issues

Getting Amitabh, who enjoys a larger-than-life image, to endorse a product is a costly proposition. His endorsements cost between Rs 5 crore and Rs 12 crore. With such exorbitantly high endorsement fees, questions are being raised about the returns on having him as a celebrity. For multinationals with deep pockets such as Pepsi, having Amitabh as a brand ambassador and renewing the contract may be affordable. But for others, the temptation to use him as a one-off exercise is strong. For example, ICICI did not renew its deal with Amitabh after it expired in 2002. Maruti, which signed both Amitabh and his actor son Abhishek for its Versa, is conspicuously low-key in its ads for the vehicle of late. Unlike sales promotions, advertisements take a longer time to have an impact on sales. Top-of-the-mind brand recall and awareness generation are easier to track, but unless these increase sales, establishing the ROI on investments in celebrity endorsements may be difficult. Overexposure, however, is the major issue, with Amitabh endorsing too many products. His face has promoted a slew of products in categories as diverse as beverages, paints, financial services, garments, automobiles, stationery, food supplements, personal care, real estate, batteries, televisions, chocolates and jeweler. Moreover, he has a `guest appearance' in P&G's commercial for its detergent brand Tide (shot while filming Baghban). Nevertheless, marketers claim to be happy having him endorse their brands. "Using Amitabh Bachchan as our brand
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ambassador has helped in strengthening our brand image and recall within the target audience," said D. K. Jain, Chairman and President, Luxor Writing Instruments Pvt. Ltd, the marketer of the Parker brand, in an interview to Brand Speak on exchange4media.com. However, the enigma of his personality faces the risk of being unraveled. Exclusivity can no longer be associated with him. The audience gets confused when the same celebrity plugs many brands. The endorsement value gets eroded and the brands end up as just another product among the many endorsed and do not stand apart. As brand domain expert Harish Bijoor said in a previous issue of Catalyst, "Brands that use the promiscuous brand endorser who will endorse a car just now, carburetor oil next and stockings in yet another installment of advertising blitz do not contribute much to the brand-building process

Marketers at crossroads
Marketers now face a dilemma in exploiting Amitabhs persona further. A wide range of emotions such as humor and anger have been exploited from his acting repertoire. He has been a patronizing, avuncular person; an action hero; an energizing personality; a jovial character; an advisor; a spokesperson; and a passionate endorser. The challenge for marketers is - how to stretch such a widely leveraged personality? How does one ensure that the enormous amounts invested in this expensive brand ambassador are well-utilized? As for Amitabh, he soldiers on in his pursuit of creative satisfaction in roles written specifically for him in Bollywood and attempts to resuscitate his corporate dream in the avatar of AB Corp. There's no stopping his endorsements, however. He is expected to sign deals worth Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore over the next couple of years. Can KBC's proposed second innings herald a follow-on for Amitabh's endorsement deals? Or will it find few takers with marketers feeling his persona cannot be extended further for fresh endorsements in advertising?

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BRAND AMITABH BACHCHAN AND ITS LIFE CYCLE

Much like a product life cycle; there is also a brand life cycle while product life cycle is an eventuality determined by two factors a) Evolving Consumer Lives and b) Technological Advancement. Brand lifecycles can be a lot longer, determined by the Brands ability to re-invent itself based on the very two factors listed above. We will look at one such Mega brand in the Indian context. The brand is called Amitabh Bachchan. It has existed for the past 35 years. Brand Amitabh Bachchan has a 90%+ awareness levels amongst Indians (At least 90% of Indians will know of the brand kids below 2 and tribals excluded), will have a 70%+ penetration (at least two out of three Indians would have experienced/consumed the brand across media TV, print, Internet, films and books) and there would be at least a 30% repeat consumer base. At least one out of three Indians would have consumed it more than twice. I must admit, this is no Nielson data. This is purely based on gut and the best judgment of this writer. Much like any other brand, this brand has had its high and lows, but has managed to emerge out of every low so far, evolved and expanded itself riding the very two factors above. At every crossroad, it has managed to re-invent itself and expanded its product offering to become more relevant to its consumers. It retained the brand character; fine tuned its attributes to changing times and products, and expanded its distribution via media choices. It started from Films only to TV to Print to Internet; its now available simultaneously across all forms of media.

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While it started as a film character, the brand had a certain set of core values, that could be personified on screen Unconventional good looks, Angry, against the odds, fire in the belly, espousing Core Indian Values of high relationship quotient (emotional bonding with relations and friends), Social equilibrium (voice of the downtrodden), Humble son of the soil. Irrespective of the film you could almost say what this character will or will not do. In short very strong equity and a well detailed brand character map. The brand tugged at the hearts of millions of Indians, and was an instant hit film after film. It was carefully handled by a few directors and screenplay writers (brand managers). Until it reached a point where those brand managers were not available anymore and the brand began to falter. But by this time, the person, who had played the brand year on year, began to understand himself. Thus, the brand was relaunched via television. The basic character intact, with a slight makeover, the same character map as earlier just with a bit of tinkering to dial up a few values and dial down some others. For Instance Core Indian Values (Relationship quotient), Social equilibrium were dialed up a bit. This worked well for the brand; the equity was further strengthened via product endorsements along similar lines. But after a point in time, it needed another makeover. And this time it was the Internet in the form of blogs. Creating a sub community amongst loyal consumers and giving itself a new lease of life. What has helped immensely is the distribution expansion via the choice of media to ensure distribution and consumption. It has only expanded with time, reflecting the changing consumer lifestyle and technological advancement.

CASE

STUDY:

AMITABH

BACHCHAN

REPOSITIONING

TOMORROW'S BRAND
Introduction Amitabh Bachchan, the brand manager of Brand AB is in a dilemma. He understands how important Brand AB is to the industry. He had told an interviewer, "With the change in the country and the economy and the boom in entertainment, I felt the need for a professional attitude towards the entertainment industry.
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I am no longer an individual but a corporate entity. They have invested money in me as a brand. They can recover the money through whatever the brand can do: act, sing, do a concert, endorse a product." The current situation is clearly showing that Brand AB has now divided itself into two images. Which of these images should ultimately lead to long-term sustenance and growth of the brand and, thus, helping in the growth of the industry? One of the images is that of a father figure, which is a reflection of his core brand value of a Saviour. Brand AB here is a guide of the people leading them towards the success, which he had achieved through lot of struggles. And people believe in this brand because they had seen him succeed starting from a humble background. So Brand AB symbolizes trust, esteem, respectfulness, and love for people all over India. This Brand AB has been built through years and has a rock solid foundation. This image of a father figure induces people to make him play roles he played in films like Khakee, Black, etc., or turn towards the Brand AB whenever there is a need to resurrect a bruised image, e.g., Cadbury after worm controversy, Dabur Chyawanprash to counter flat sales growth, etc. This image of Brand AB gets a boost when we speak of Amitabh Bachchan who has already got a Padma Shri award. People believe, love and respect this image of Brand AB. Another image of Brand AB, which is becoming prominent in the recent times, is that of a brand which is acceptable to young generation. The role in 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna' or the advertisements in which he dances to the tunes of young generation portrays this image. Now this image of Brand AB may be used due to different reasons - it may be due to the threat it is feeling from other young brands, to make itself acceptable to young generation, to stay relevant in recent times. This is not the image of a father figure, guide to the people. This image makes the Brand AB an evergreen brand, where in spite of being aged, he is still young at heart; here Brand AB is more of a friend to the new generation. But this image being a stark contrast to the actual image of Brand AB, there can be a fear of diluting the core brand image or brand value - that of a guide of masses, a saviour.

Importance of the Brand AB

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"Brand Amitabh worth millions of rupees" - this was the heading of news when Amitabh Bachchan got ill and had an intestinal surgery on November 30, 2005 at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. In fact he was in the headlines of all papers and television news. One of the main reasons for this, besides his popularity, is that his illness had put the Bollywood film industry on a crisis. There is a huge commercial side of the Brand Amitabh - Bollywood was not able to have a sigh of relief till he was back in action, as a huge Rs. 270 crores was at stake. Brand Amitabh still sells like hot-cakes in the Bollywood film industry. Chandan Mitra, an eminent journalist and who also has been nominated to Rajya Sabha, has written an article on him with the title, "The Only Real Indian Idol". In 2005, he delivered one super hit (Bunty Aur Babli - Rs. 60 crores), two hits (Black - Rs. 38 crores and Sarkar - Rs. 40 crores) and two semi-hits (Waqt and Viruddh). Some of the other hits of Big B in 2005 have also done decent business in certain quarters. The worth of Brand Amitabh cannot be valued only in terms of money - in fact his popularity is considered more than any of the famous Khan brands like Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir. To analyze the Brand Amitabh, trade analyst Taran Adarsh has recalled the words of the late director Manmohan Desai: "Amitabh Bachchan is like a Haley's Comet. A person like him comes once in 76 years. It is only he who can survive in spite of all odds."

Rise of the Brand AB

On October 11, 1942, the well-known poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan He made his debut in 1969 with the film 'Saat Hindustani'. The film failed at the box office. The fate was the same for his next few movies like 'Parwaana (1971)', 'Reshma Aur Shera (1971)', 'Bansi Birju (1972)', 'Sanjog (1972)', 'Namak Haram (1973)', 'Saudagar (1973)', etc. But there was a small group of people who noticed his potential and became unofficial brand managers of Brand Amitabh - which included legendary Indian film makers like Prakash Mehra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra, and the screenplay writing duo Salim-Javed. In fact his first big hit came in 1973 with Prakash Mehra-directed 'Zanjeer', written by Salim-Javed.

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His tall and dark looks gave a new kind of action hero to the people. As it is said, a brand can become popular only when it has contextual relevance. And the image of "Angry Young Man" fighting against a corrupt society fitted exactly with the social and political situation prevalent in the 70s. "

Values of the Brand AB

Brand AB represented a person who has been ill-treated / wronged by the social system and fighting against the system to get justice. In fact a look at all the hit movies of AB would show the same brand image. In the film 'Deewar (1975)', his character turns a Mafia don and smuggler due to injustice done to him in his childhood. In the films 'Trishul (1978)' and 'Laawaris (1981)' his characters were abandoned by his father. In the film 'Shakti (1982)', his character is that of a son of a strict police-officer who does not come to save his kidnapped son. So the brand managers of AB, as mentioned above, used this theme of neglected by society and fighting against it to churn out more hits like 'Sholay', 'Do Anjaane', 'Don', and 'Naseeb', etc. So when we talk of this Brand AB, the core value based on which the brand was created and became successful was that of a "Saviour" - he was a saviour of the neglected masses, by making them fulfilling their aspirations of fighting against a corrupt society. The other values of the brand - toughness, determination, trustworthiness - were all in the outer crust of the brand. Even when we speak of a human brand, the concept of A-R-C (Autonomy, Relatedness and Competence) explains it perfectly. A brand is popular when it applies to human motivation and that's what A-R-C theory explains. Autonomy refers to a person's need to feel that his or her activities are self-chosen. Associated with the fulfillment of this need is a person's perception that he or she is free from any pressure and is able to express him or herself as he or she wishes. Brand AB had that image of self-determination - for the first time it gave the people a sense of freedom to make own choices and to protest against being oppressed by the society, express their frustration against the corrupt society without being pressurized. Relatedness refers to a person's need to feel a sense of closeness with others - and people felt close to the sufferings of the Brand AB, the image of being
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neglected by the society as they themselves were suffering from the same situation. Competence is about the feelings of effectiveness and achievement in his or her activities. People loved the success and achievement of Brand AB characters while fighting against the corruption. They also wanted to do that and loved to see Brand AB doing the same on-screen.

Fall of the Brand AB

As is the case of product brands, a human brand should also re-invent with time in order to stay relevant with the changing social and political context, changing mindset of the people. When we talk of photo-copying today, we say Xerox instead of photo-copy. Similarly, Brand AB became so large that film-makers still made the films with that particular brand image of Angry Young Man, instead of re-positioning the brand. Main problem was social outlook of 80s had changed from that of gloom to brightness; it had become an era of achievement and achievers. This was due to the rise of a young Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi - it was an era of hope, life was more organized, there was an all round development in the society. The image of Brand AB as a person fighting against a corrupt society for social justice was totally out of context. Then being a close friend of Rajiv Gandhi, he joined politics. Because of his huge popularity, he won easily from ancestral hometown of Allahabad in 1984. But in politics, he could not get the guidance of any brand managers, as in case of his film career. He left politics because of controversies; particularly after Rajiv and he were implicated in the infamous "Bofors" case along with the U.K. based Hinduja Brothers. Also the core value of Brand AB - a 'Saviour' of people - got damaged in the process, as he could not be the same saviour of people in real life; on the other hand, his own image got corrupted with 'Bofors' controversy. Instead of fighting against corruption, the Brand AB itself became part of the corruption. Another unsuccessful move was to institutionalize himself with Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL), hoping to extend the brand over wider areas. But this effort also failed because it again tried to encash the old image of Brand AB instead of adding some new value to the brand. It hosted the Miss World Pageant, in Bangalore, the first of its kind ever in the history of India. The company then came
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under debt running into crores of rupees. Some analysts reckon that ABCL lost over Rs. 7 crores (Rs. 70 million) in organizing the ill-fated Miss World pageant. ABCL also produced movies like Mani Ratnam's 'Bombay' and Shekhar Kapoor's 'Bandit Queen'. But most of the movies produced under the ABCL banner bombed at the box office. Even his return to commercial cinema, with films like 'Mrityudata (1997)', 'Lal Badshah (1999)' and 'Major Saab (1998)' flopped miserably. One off movie like 'Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan (1998)' was hit mainly because of the presence of younger co-star like Govinda.

Re-positioning the Brand AB - Rise Again

The Brand AB was recycled with the Indian version of the television show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' called "Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)". The show presented the same Brand AB by re-positioning it. The core value of the brand was still the same - he was a 'Saviour', previously he was the saviour of the neglected masses; now he became saviour of people, helping them to achieve and win money. The era of achievers cashed in with 'Achiever' attribute of the Brand AB. Brand AB is an achiever brand in itself - he has achieved fame and has become a superstar, starting from a mere struggler in the film industry. In KBC, he became a guide to the people who wanted to be achievers in life by winning money. KBC presented AB in classy suits and elegant ties or in traditional Indian attires. He carried both personalities majestically in the show. He spoke brilliantly in both Hindi and English. One of the reasons for this successful repositioning of the brand is Amitabh Bachchan's mass appeal in the role as a classy host. His personality, acting sense, bilingual efficiency (English and Hindi), and magnificent voice gave the audiences a brilliant TV host. During its peak time, the Brand AB was differentiated as relevant to the social, economic and political context. When it lost out on this advantage, the film-makers' hesitance to depart from the proven formula damaged the brand. KBC repositioned the Brand AB from the angry young man fighting against corrupt society, to that of an achiever who, having journeyed from being an unknown common individual to most popular film star of Indian society, is willing to guide

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people along the path of achievement. Film-makers' responded to this repositioned Brand AB with films like 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)', 'Mohabbatein (2000)', 'Khakee (2004)', 'Black (2005)', etc.

Current Scenario - Threats

There are certain changes in today's society and cinema audiences. First of all, when we talk of Hindi film market of today, there is a substantial rise of the NRI market. Also there is a huge growth of multiplex audiences, as the number of multiplexes in India is growing in an exponential manner. Also the audience is younger. When we talk of the social context, it is the age of young achievers. Especially due to the growth of software business, more and more young people are becoming successful and rich at a younger age. These young achievers are also relaxed and fun-loving in nature. So the brand of Indian film heroes which is becoming more and more popular today is the Brand Rahul of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)', or the Brand Nicki of 'Salaam Namaste (2005)' - young, fun-loving, relaxed achievers. There are new age heroes who fit this brand image - Sharukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan. They can connect to the young audiences more spontaneously. All these factors can be a threat to the Brand AB.

Change Efforts & Conflicts of the Brand AB

Now the Brand AB is again trying to change, as it is trying to connect to younger audience. First hint of this change came with the change in packaging of Brand AB in KBC-2. Amitabh Bachchan appeared in leather jackets and open-necked shirts in KBC-2; spoke Hinglish, the language of the modern generation. Even the advertisements in which he appears tries to showcase the younger side of the brand or the brands endorsed are having a young image in itself. The "Pappu Pass Ho Gaya" ad of Cadbury, the other brands he endorsed like Pepsi, ICICI or Hajmola, etc., point to this direction only. Also the character played by the Brand AB in the film 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)' - "Sexy Sam" is a colorful but old flamboyant character young at heart; who has aged in years but behaves like a young teenager flirting with the females. But while the Brand AB is trying to again reposition or re-reposition itself, there are certain conflicts, which are becoming prominent. First of all, KBC-2 was not as
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successful as its first part. Questions are being raised whether there is necessity to go for this change. The brand endorsements of AB are also conflicting - on one side the Brand AB is trying to associate itself with younger brands; on the other hand certain brands like Parker Pens, Reid & Taylor, etc., that he endorses are more related and matching to the actual brand image of Brand AB - that of esteem, trust due to success over a number of years, one who is above the masses. Also this was the reason the Brand AB was used for the polio endorsement of Government of India. The question also being raised is whether today's multiplex audiences go to see movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Mohabbatein, and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, etc., for Brand AB or watch young actors like Shahrukh, Hrithik, Abhishek, etc. Also another point with the Brand AB is the over-use of the brand, just like over-cooking a food - this may lead to the loss in the mystique of Brand AB. However, AB justified his huge amount of working to the reason of paying back his debt. He said in an interview, "There was a sword hanging on my head all the time. I spent many sleepless nights. One day, I got up early in the morning and went directly to Yash Chopraji and told him that I was bankrupt. I had no films. My house and a small property in New Delhi were attached. Yashji listened coolly, and then offered me a role in his film 'Mohabattein', after he re-launched ABCL as AB Corp on his 61st birthday in 2003. "I then started doing commercials, television and films. And I am happy to say today that I have repaid my entire debt of Rs. 90 crores (Rs. 900 million) and am starting afresh," he added. But still today, after paying back all his debts, Brand AB is doing the highest number of films and advertisements - the question is whether this is being done in order to stay relevant to the target audience, and if it is to see whether it will work? So all these discussions lead us to the two brand images of AB, which was mentioned at the start.

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Questionnaire: 1)Does anybody endorses brands better than Amitabh Bachan? Does anybody endorses brands better than him?

2)

Which brand does he endorse better?

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3)

How is PARKER as a brand?

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4)

How is CADBURY as a brand?

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5) How is REID & TAYLOR as a brand?

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6)

How is BOROPLUS as a brand?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.labnol.org/ www.esomar.org Brand Personality Enhancement- An Experimental Study of Alternative Strategies by: Natalia Maehle, Department of Strategy and Management, Norway

Case Study: Amitabh Bachchan - Repositioning a Tomorrow's Brand - by Shirshendu Ganguli *

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