For privatecirculation: this paper is written by Dr.

Kanwal Kapil, AssociateProfessor, MDI, Gurgaon

1
Dalda & Amitabh- Culture, Context and Category
Kanwal Kapil gasped as the Dalda Active commercial filled the television screen before him. So, it is back. Now that is interesting,
he said. Soumendu Biswas, his friend, stopped stirring his tea and watched the return of the evergreen Dalda. What a brand.
What legacy, what equity, said Kapil. Wonder what this will lead to.
It will lead to Kaun Banega Crorepati if only you will tune in to Star Plus, said Soumendu. Kapil obeyed and as the voice of
Amitabh Bachan (AB) filled the room, he heard Soumendu say. What a brand. What equity. Kapil sniggered. I wish he will have
the wisdom to drop out of his programme soon, he said. Why? Asked Soumendu. Because it will dilute his equity fast. He was
good as a launch pad, but he is not adding value any more. If you replace AB with say, Mohan Kapoor, do you think the
viewership will drop. No! People are watching the crores, not AB. What is he doing on this programme.
He is there to lend status, grandeur, to symbolize big events, said Soumendu. Its amazing what hold he has even on a
programme like this. Soumendu, if a sandwich spread were to be named Dalda, people would buy it. Once. Maybe twice. But it
wont ring true. I dont have the marketing vocabulary to express this but Dalda does not stand for what a sandwich spread
delivers. Dalda is about an experience and a feeling, about everyday situations. Just because it has marketable strengths,
attributes that are marketable. It does not mean you simply pick it up and place it in any category. The brand will weaken just as
the brand Amitabh Bachan will weaken if it continues to attach itself to a category which does not enhance or use its core values.
Soumendu mused. That was what led to the decline of brand AB, he said. Brand AB was a favrourite with Soumendu and he
quoted from it during brand presentations. Watching the brand all these years had even led to a certain closeness, an empathy
with its evolution. The first time he saw a decline in the AB brand was in the late 80s when Bachan was no more true to the
essence of the category AB type films. The AB type film was beginning to lose contextuality. It was also the time when he became
the superman-superstar all purpose dream of the masses as a personality. In marketing terms he saidtoKapil, the brand AB had
become very powerful while the category AB type films had lost power.
This is interesting, said Kapil. Dalda, too, had become synonymous with the vanaspati category. But its brand managers have
always sought to rejuvenate and manage the Dalda brand in the face of a changing category. Whereas, said Soumendu, the
brand AB had no brand manager. There were brand builders in Salim and Javed, but they were not responsible for managing the
brand. They were cashing in on the category AB type films and when it peaked it also coincided with their split the category
died. That was when the brand AB needed a brand manager to save it from being buried with the category.
Why do you say the category died, asked Kapil. What was unique about the AB type films? Its like this, said Soumendu. There is
nothing that distinguished AB films from other films at the first level. Revenge, violence, anger these were present in most films.
AB type films were centered on an idea of a person who was marginalized by society, fighting to be legitimately accepted into
mainstream society. Its not just an angry young man, but a man who is hurt. And the motivation is always more complex than
revenge. Take the example of Deewar. He has been humiliated. In Trishul, its abandonment. The stronger AB films had focused
more on humiliation and the resultant pain. They all deal with neglect, abandonment, pain and psychological damage.
And how was such a category contextual? Asked Kapil. Get into the social concern of the 70s, said Soumendu. It was a period
when the father skimmed off the sons youth. Barely out of the freedom struggle, he hitched his dreams of growth and prosperity
on his son. Seeking immortality through the son, he tended to live his dreams through his sons life. Such a father, we find, has a
very minor role in all AB films, but it is a common theme in them he either abandons his son or neglects him. This was the
context in which the AB type films found mass appeal as a category.
Then again, even at a political level, there was a deep sense of loss of cherished authority figures. The 70s was the era of
corruption, of getting nowhere. Till the 60s, there was hope; you actually believe in Nehru, Bose and Gandhi because they stood
for certain cherished values and principles.
That era was eroded in the 70s suddenly that abandonment was not just by the biological father, but also the abandonment by the
authority figure in society at large, where values and authority were the male aspect of life. Suddenly, you were on shifting sands
and Amitabh spoke to everyone who belonged to that era, who identified with that sense of loss of parenting and authority. Where
he says, the people who abandon me are these corrupt men, be it the law, the landlord, the grain-hoarding merchant or the
construction site employees. It were these people he has fighting and he was asking for his place back in society as the person
who had a greater right to be there because he was value-driven so what if he was illegitimate.
For privatecirculation: this paper is written by Dr. Kanwal Kapil, AssociateProfessor, MDI, Gurgaon
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He is the Karma who is irrevocably born on the wrong side of society, said Soumendu. He makes an effort is to come back. In a
society which is so much about continuity and a correct past. How does he overcome his rootless birth and nameless origins? In
Trishul, the supreme irony was so very Karna-like, born right but condemned to live as a discard. Or Shakti where he is so
devoted to the man who gives him shelter, that he is willing to sin for him.
Then how did the category AB type films lose context? Asked Kapil. In the case of Dalda, vanaspati lost relevance because health
became the new context.
The 70s was the right time for the AB type films, not the 60s, not the 80s, replied Soumendu. Today, those experience or
sufferings are not relevant. Today, you can be illegitimate, your father can abandon you, it is okay. These can be anomalies, they
cannot hook you; but in the 70s it was not a story, it was the revelation of the times. The whole idea of legitimacy is itself an
orientation to the past. Legitimacy in the 70s was important because the past was important since the issue was not much to look
forward to. So, what you held humble was the honour of the past. The idea of preserving, maintaining the past was seen in words
like Baapdadaon ki kamai, Khandaan ki izzat. These were born out of a fear of destroying what you had and never a belief that
you could build something new, because the 70s did not assure a future, an ability to create a new, build afresh.
It was a hopeless era. Thats why there was a fear that nothing should crumble, at best, you should be able to retain what you
had. But today, the past is of no consequence. It is what you can build for the future that is relevant, be it a political manifesto, an
organization vision or a career plan. Hence, the obsession of the 70s with the legitimacy of the past. Therefore, the 70s AB type
films will not have appeal today. Todays values are different. The idea of marginalization will always be relevant but the elements
will change with times. Therefore, the ingredients of anger, violence, etc. continue but they will be born out of different issue of
marginalization.
Take a look at what are modern day issues. For Dalda, taste will have to go with health. In movies Khandaan ki izzat is a soft
issue. It doesnt hold such high appeal any more. Likewise, death is a soft consequence. The modern day outlook is that life goes
on. You see it in film like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and in Kaho Na Pyar Hai. They tell you that if your loved one dies, dont worry, you
will find another one who is probably richer and has a better haircut. Nothing is devastating anymore life goes on. Two wives
are fine, breaking marriages are not shocking anymore and relationships gone sour are not devastating.
Then why did AB, the brand, fail? Asked Kapil. I can understand a temporary setback like in the case of Dalda. The brand-
superstar status still has high recall though. So, have his abilities diminished? Not at all, said Soumendu. The attributes of the
brand continue to be the same and stellar, but the movies that this brand sold, be it Deewar or Muqaddar, had a certain context in
the consumer need, and hence demand. The consumer thought these films were about AB, whereas it was not so. Nobody
intended that AB become synonymous with the category. The brand AB was born out of this category and AB became larger than
the category AB type films. Because AB overpowered the category. But look at what happened next, went on Soumendu. The
category had lost value; the brand AB had become overpowering the industry was sitting on a goldmine, brand AB, and it did not
know how to nourish its attributes and values. Overwhelmed by the brand, it began making films for AB.
Instead of the performer being a part of the film, the film became a vehicle for the performer. The personality of AB became larger
and was now competing with brand AB. So, films were produced with brand AB in them. Those films were at complete
dissonance with the brand AB. Because for the brand to sell, what was decided was the composition of the AB type films. The
brand was in harmony only with AB type films, not with the new category, it was being thrust into, in marketing parlance, Dalda the
super-strong brand name of the 50s, 60s and 70s come to stand for vanaspati and is a more evolved state, edible oils. But brand
Dalda cannot sell sandwich spread in its current form.
Now, in the 80s, the brand declined with the birth of films like Mard, Coolie film makers misread the man, felt Soumendu. They
saw AB films as the man. Now understand how the market behaved, he said or how marketers behaved. The brand had been
created. It was now a matter of doing another line extension for the brand. Since there was no brand manager, the brand AB was
available for anyone who would take on the franchise. So, these film producers became self-appointed franchisees. They were
supposed to understand the brand. But they misread the brand and marketed it as something else. They were so enamoured by
the ingredients in the brand that they mislook the ingredients for the brand and constructed things around it like the Mirinda brand.
Or they started describing it by component rather than by its core values. So they constructed AB type films, element by element
one Deewar type scene, one Sholay type scene. And what they ended up portraying was Amitabh Bachan, who was so aware of
being AB looks at Mard, Coolie, Shahenshan, Toofan and Jadugar all these films did not connect. They had the elements but no
emotional quality.
For privatecirculation: this paper is written by Dr. Kanwal Kapil, AssociateProfessor, MDI, Gurgaon
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The mard link of movies could not present a credible background to his angry young man portrayal because the context had gone.
The psychological hooking was not there. They were mere stories. No core. Then you depended on the personality, the great
actor AB. Now, look at Dalda. Its birth and genesis in the 60s had a subtle emotional hooking quality in an era when vanaspati
was a big breakthrough. In the context of the 60s, it was seen as the credible, dependable cooking medium to the extent that it
brooked no competition and became synonymous with the category.
In the late 70s and early 80s with the entry of other edible oils, Dalda vanaspati evolved into Dalda cooking oil which brought with it
the hooking of the erstwhile vanaspati. Then when the sunflower oils came in on a health platform. Dalda lost context. If the
manufacturer had tried to name his sunflower oil Dalda it would have been like fitting AB into a Mard, Coolie, etc. You cant fit a
brand into a story or build a new story around an old brand that had already told a story.
So, to understand the brand AB, you have to understand the evolution of films and where the brand can fit in with some evolution.
The personality of Vijay, the raving crusader avenging his abandonment will not find a following in todays market as the theme will
not sell. It is too weak. Abandonment is not devastating. It can at best be an ingredient but not the gravy which today is survival
with complete disregard of the past.
But how does Vijay the mythical concept of strength in the 70s evolved? Asked Kapil. It has evolved into Rahul. In the 90s, the
mythical concept is Rahul who want to blend tradition with modernity. He is relaxed and fun-loving. Every film and commercial has
a Rahul. He stands for someone wild, naughty and very comfortable. He was restless. You might transact with him but you did
not want to get too close to him he was dangerous and intense. But Rahul is cool. That is why children love Shahrukh Khan but
children did not love Vijay or AB.
Kapil could see the similarities. After close to 25 years of unquestioned leadership, Dalda disappeared when Cholesterol became
an issue. Taste as an attribute had been satisfied but a new need called health presented itself. Then came sunflower oil. Also,
he felt, Dalda belonged to an era when the understanding of brands was still evolving and nobody probably realized that brands
could outgrow categories.
In trying to replace ghee in a familys palate, Dalda probabl;y said that you could show love for you family in less expensive way
through vanaspati. It had a context: it did well. Then the context changed and the idea was rewritten by the industry, which said,
caring for your family means spending that extra rupee and getting the safer cooking medium.
Kapil now felt that the revival of brand AB lay in its genetic code. Every brand, he felt, has a genetic formula. He had seen that the
brand AB had been built by the cumulative memory of his various movies, his exploration of the roles and the context in which
these movies took birth. It was when the market sought to juxtapose elements that the coherence was lost. And yet, it was the
enduring memory that lent AB a different meaning to different generations of viewers.
He had noticed, for instance, among brands like Lux, Dalda and Colgate that consumer preference endured. At 50, these
consumers continued to reverse these brands which they had bonded with in their youth. Ditto brand AB. Why else would
contestants pitching for crores address him Sir he asked himself. It was the reference accorded to a successful brand. Naturally,
the consumer set was willing to forgive mishaps like Mard and Coolie, regarding these as unrepresentative. For instance, the
Ponds brand was not harmed even when it extended into and failed in soaps. It was Ponds Dreamflower Talc that had left and
incredible impression and enduring image.
Kapil was sure that brand AB failed because the self-appointed franchisees of this brand simply tried to repeat the past in the
present that was vastly different. There was such an inexplicable reverence to the AB type films of the 70s and the 80s that they
sought to recreate that context. Unwilling or unable to let brand AB evolve and grow into the changed context. And that was
exactly what Dalda would not allow to happen, he knew. Dalda would modernize, based on altered consumer needs of health. He
now said: Dalda must adapt to the context through its deliverables and its communication. It must not allow its past to determine
its path today and in the future.
Ditto AB said Soumendu. This brand continues to be narrowly defined, defined by the splendour and context of the AB type films.
By reinforcing its outdated character, they rendered the brand even more incapable of extension.
The trick, mused Kapil lay in dissociating brand AB from the category AB type films. No doubt, the brand AB would serve as a
memory of the AB type films, but what was being overlooked was that brand AB had its own identity, meaning and inner energy
For privatecirculation: this paper is written by Dr. Kanwal Kapil, AssociateProfessor, MDI, Gurgaon
4
which was quite distinct from the category it modeled for. Yet that was its stumbling block its larger than life associated with an
era, which produced an even larger category, the AB type films. So, was the AB type film a category produced by the brand or the
era of th 70s, he mused. He realized that both (the brand and the category) were mutually exclusive and the exclusivity could have
been maintained had there been a brand manager. For, in a marketing sense, the AB type film was only a surface characteristic of
the brand AB, whereas AB, the brand, was, in fact, an artist who could create, innovate and change for a wide variety of emotions,
feelings and contexts.
Brands like Sanjeev Kumar had done it. If brand AB got stuck, it was because of this preoccupation with the elements of the
category AB type films. This unwillingly made AB a prototype brand, thought Kapil as he now switched off the television. The
power of a prototype brand is itself self-restricting in that it can, at best, extend into more superior categories, but never into
categories where other prototypes exist. In a way the Mard, Coolie category had prototypes like Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor,
therefore, an AB could not leave a mark (which is what prototype brands seek to do change the category or dominate it. By
extending into such categories, the AB brand itself declined. Thus, a Cadbury failed when it tried to extend into biscuits also
because it was a category already dominated by Britannia.
Time and again, the decline pointed to an extended and intense association with the category AB type films. The category itself
dished out a single product angry young man on the rampage with moderate tweaks to its ingredients.
Or had the brand aged, wondered Kapil. In a way, it could be said that the brand aged because it was not saying new things or
doing new things for the consumer who was evolving. In short, the brand did not appear to belong to the changed era. The new
era sought expression on the newer changed values. The 90s individual was no more craving for attention or acceptance. In the
90s everyone was bussy with redefining the status of women, the role of the man as a father and a husband, extolling the complete
man who wanted to survive through self-evolution. The icons of the modern day individual were cola, IT, fitness and the complete
man who wanted to kuch paana hai, kuch kar dikhana hai. Not one who battled a ghost from the past like mera baap chor hai or
mera baap kaun hai.
Kapil had a distinct feeling that the brand AB born in the tumultuous era of the 70s, in fact, had the makings of the millennium hero
tough, cool, resilient and determined. Will this brand be allowed to survive, he wondered. Yes, he felt it adopts merely resting on
past.