Why Amitabh Bachchan became an Icon? Know the reason from lens of Brand Management

The 1970’s era was the era of political and economic unrest for India .In 1971 India fought another war with Pakistan.  In 1975, Mrs. Gandhi declare a state of emergency ,which allowed the Central government to assume sweeping powers to defend law and order in the nation and suspended many civil liberties. Strikes and public protests were outlawed in all forms. At this time Bollywood got the superstar Amitabh Bachan  and he became cultural icon due to his Angry man image that he depicted through his movies like Zanjeer, Deewar etc.

The youth of 70’s associated with hero because he invoked anxieties, aggression and desires that have emerged due to country’s unrest. In the same way brands become icons when they provide extraordinary identity values which address the collective anxieties and desires of the nation and they got mediated mainly through the mass media, usually with television advertising.

This process (as shown in Fig) of targeting customers by creating successful and iconic brands through association with their identities is referred to as cultural branding.

(Based on Holt 2004 )

A variety of social sciences and humanities disciplines (Holt 2002) outside of business schools routinely examine the tensions between how firms market and how people consume. These critical accounts of marketing have long argued that, collectively, firms’ branding efforts shape consumer desires and actions. The concept “consumer culture” refers to the dominant mode of consumption that is structured by the collective actions of firms in their marketing activities. To work properly, capitalism requires a symbiotic relationship between market prerogatives and the cultural frameworks that orient how people understand and interact with the market’s offerings.