Case Study: Amitabh Bachchan - Repositioning a 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.

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

"Brand Amitabh worth millions of rupees" - this was the heading of a 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 (a friend of late
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) were blessed with a baby boy whom they called Amitabh. He completed
his school education from Uttar Pradesh - Sherwood College, Nainital. Then he earned an arts degree
from Delhi University. He began his professional career as a middle-level executive with a British firm in
the east Indian city of Kolkata. But he had acting dreams and moved to Mumbai in 1968. Just like any
other newcomer to Indian cinema, he made the rounds of film producer's offices asking for his first role
or break.

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.

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. "This was
appropriate at that time, for in the mid-seventies domestic politics was in a period of great turmoil,
student unrest was high and the employment prospects for educated young men were bleak at best," as
said by Intikhab Virani, Senior Editor at the Indian film trade publication Box Office Today. People could
connect to that brand as it was a hopeless era.

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 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
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 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 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.

• Discuss where in the BCG matrix Brand AB was and currently where it is, what can be the future
position of the brand in the matrix?