MAM
The comeback of iconic brands
MUMBAI: In today’s metamorphic world, it is a constant struggle for brands to retain their identity and ensure that they are constantly in the minds of people. There have been iconic brands of the past which one fine day decided to vanish into thin air. Though still present, they dropped advertising and years later felt the urge to bounce back with a bang.
Be it the mango flavoured drink Frooti, or Appy Fizz, Crompton products, deodorant Old Spice, mobile handset Nokia or television champion Onida with its iconic devil, all these brands were superheroes of their own time and in their respective categories but disappeared from television screens with digitisation and modernisation kicking in.
After being away from television screens for sometime, Parle Agro’s Frooti hit the screens with a new brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan which helped in boosting sales.
Old Spice, which was known for its masculine and metrosexual male-dominated ad, came back with its new brand ambassador, Milind Soman in 2013, a man who women believe resonates with the company’s name and is an old spice himself. The ad helped Procter & Gamble (P&G) to target the metrosexual youth of today with India’s own ‘Iron Man’, doubling its revenue.
The question for any comeback is whether to create a new product or reaffirm the brand legacy. Tonic Worldwide chief strategy officer Unmisha Bhatt believes that it is a bit of both since as long as the brands are broadly loyal to the category, the legacy is maintained. But in some cases, the brand and product may be obsolete.
She also notes that legacy can also backfire with millennials considering that the brand could be perceived as fuddy-duddy and outdated as the new age consumer is looking for ‘cooler’ brands and not heritage brands.
Mediacom India managing partner Niti Kumar notes that once the brand has re-established itself it can move into line extensions and newer audiences and product line to stay relevant.
Today, we spend over 70 per cent of our waking hours on digital, especially mobile, with the rise of smartphone usage and data consumption in the broader strata of society. Hence, Bhatt thinks that while using a healthy media mix, brands need to embrace modern technologies so that their strategy is relevant not only for today but is also future-proof.
While traditional media including television, hoardings, pamphlets among others would have been a great way to communicate and get the message across 20-30 years ago, they are no longer relevant. Today, regardless of the product, digital is the key to every brand’s communication and, hence, brands that want to come back should leverage it.
One of the most important qualities that a brand needs to possess in this digital age is vigilance as today’s consumer needs answers and assistance at the drop of a hat and if a brand fails to deliver, there is a greater possibility of it snowing in Mumbai than of them giving you a second chance.
Brands need to stay true to their legacy as it is after all their greatest asset, according to White Rivers Media CEO and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi. He also suggests brands to never underestimate the power of a beautiful story as stories make sales pitches palatable and no one likes to be sold to.
Brands should play to their strength but they should not overestimate what their heritage brings to the table. Kumar thinks that sometimes, brands tend to think that because they’ve had a history and legacy in the past, it will still be relevant today, but that is not true and brands need to realise it because the consumer and market are evolving.
For Gandhi, Maggi’s comeback after battling the shattering of trust and the rise of an unprecedented new competitor was something that kept all marketers hooked and was a historic example. To find a place back in the hearts, minds and plates of customers is tough, and Maggi did it effectively, albeit in a lot more than two minutes.
While for Kumar Old Spice ad stood out among the rest, Bhatt thinks that Onida campaign was a fine example of a comeback and the recent television commercials during IPL matches are an example of that. They have evoked a great response, touching the nostalgic chord of the older generations and the contemporary ‘devil’ appealing to the younger masses also. However, it would have been exciting to see Onida also take a digital leap and connect with the millennials more smartly with engagement driven campaigns, new formats, tech interventions at retail outlets, e-commerce-based innovations and contextual weather-based innovative search campaigns, reviews and tech influencers.
Communication is a bridge between the old generation and the new, and it helps in reaching smaller pockets of the nation. Any brand that communicates well with its audience is sure to succeed in the long run. This also means, changing the communication and its medium as and when required to keep up with changing times. Here’s to more brands that have resurrected or want to resurrect from the dead to capture the ever-fragmented market!
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Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
