Mythology and Powerful Brands

There are brands and powerful brands. How do these brands (many around us) travel a journey to become a powerful or a powerful brand? This article is all about building powerful brands. Mythology has a significant bearing in our life as it tells about myths of life. Life is so boring if devoid of these myths – so also brands. If the brand is functional (it does what a product does) then there is no point of branding it as it only serves its functional (utilitarian purpose), In this case, the brand name becomes just an identified or a differentiator and nothing beyond this.

Mythology, on the other hand, has a linkage to religion, culture, tradition and is based on legend, folklore, folk tales, folk stories, lore and mythos. Mythology derives its inspiration from archaeology, comparative socio-cultural traditions and folklore. It is interesting to see how branding and mythology are similar in building that psycho-social advantage in the perceptual space of stakeholders' mind.

The Golden Ratio

Have you heard about this? How we design logos by using the golden ratio? The golden ratio is calculated by a simple formula: a/b=a+b/a= 1.618 where ‘a’ and ‘b’ are two lines whose ratio is calculated by the sum of ‘a’ and ‘b’ to the ratio of the length of the longest line. Some of the world’s architectural marvels of the ancient period are built using this ratio. National Geographic’s yellow rectangle, the new Toyota and Pepsi elements, and the logos of Apple are based on the golden ratio taken from ancient architecture of the west. 

What’s in a Name?

That is a popular adage, isn’t it? Does name matter in branding? The answer is yes, Some of these names are so powerful that it gives an instant meaning to a brand. Let’s look at our market leader in automobiles Maruti. It is another name of Hanuman from Ramayan. Hanuman is the monkey god who travelled/flew/ jumped quite a distance in a shorter period of time to bring in ‘Sanjivani booti’ to save the life of Laxman.

Now naming an automobile brand with Maruti helps in an instant connect- speed, transport, trust and reliance- that’s what the son of air stands for. The Ayurvedic brand ‘Himalaya’ doesn’t signify a mere mountain in India. After all, Himalayas is full of herbs, medicines and solutions for almost all cures, The name itself speaks about the myth associated with the great mountain.

All about Associations

One of the objectives of branding is to create favourable brand associations. We use colour, sign, the symbol for creating such associations, If the colour is orange (Keshari) and it has a lotus ( lotus is found in the hands of Vishnu and Luxmi), then we understand its deeper meaning and realise how a political marketing campaign can be successful by raising issues of aggressive nationalism by using visual metaphors which have deeper religious and mythological meaning for the majority of Indians.

Nobody has ever met or read the text written by Patanjali. While most of the Indian scriptures are passed from generation through auditory memory (kathniyas/preaching/ storytelling and reciting), we have an instant connection with the brand name ‘Patanjali’. If at any point of time, there was someone called Patanjali existed, he wrote ‘Yoga shutra’. But a series of healthcare personal care and even food items can be branded with this name and get instant connection with ‘Indianness’. Even a multinational like Colgate had to launch an extension called ‘Ved Shakti’ to protect its toothpaste brand.  

It is actually interesting to note that every alternative street or shop in India has a brand name with a mythological connection. Even new generation companies have brand names taken from Indian mythology- Meru cabs derived out of Meru Parbat with a high level of significance in Indian and Buddhist philosophy. Lakme from Unilever derived from the name of the goddess ‘Laxmi’, Ambuja Cement from Amba Mata, Siyaram brand of clothing driven from Lord Ram and Sita are some of the instant examples of how mythological names can be used to create favourable brand associations.                          

Creative Execution

The brand name may not be taken from ancient mythology but creative execution helps in linking the brand with great mythological characters. Everest asbestos used Late Dara Singh in the attire of hanuman holding an asbestos plate on top where monkeys keep in jumping to showcase the strength of the brand, Festivals like Holi and Deewali is used symbolically in removing hate, religious divide, socio-cultural difference and all negative emotions through an emotionally laden storyline that connects an average Indians with a brand, Dag Achhe Hain campaign of Surf Excel on Holi stands out in this crowd as a very popular campaign in celebrating the festival of color with people of a different religion.

Is this Unique to India?

That is a natural question to ask as Indians are more religious, culturally sensitive compared to the western world. The brand name Titan- the popular Indian watch brand is taken from one of the satellites of Saturn which hardly anyone knows.

Dove is named after the goddess of beauty and love= Aphrodite which communicates a powerful message that by using the brand, one will always remain youthful. The brand ‘Starbucks’ has the green circular band surrounding the name from Greek mythology in which the twin-tailed sirens are used to be half female and semi-sea bird animals residing in the sea! The image is that of Melusine who was a female who could change into limbs every time she went in to shower. One more example from western mythology is the brand ‘Nike’. The idea of ‘Swoosh’ is derived from the wings of Greek Victory Goddess Nike- who inspired warriors by providing them great power. The story behind the bitten logo of Apple takes us to Adam and Eve, the bitten apple and the birth of knowledge. Amazon as a brand is derived from the mythological Amazonian army.

Mythology and branding go together as both of them bring in that sense of ‘mystery’. The brand is supposed to be more than the functional elements. It should have strong associations-both attribute and non-attribute-based association, A powerful brand has two dimensions- brand credibility and brand visibility. A logo design may build instant visibility and over a period of time bring in greater recall at the point of purchase; has the potential to build a strong emotional connect with consumers and surprise them with unique creative execution; what matters most is how the brand builds its credibility to become a powerful brand. Like mythology, brands have their unique memoirs and they build an instant connection when we position the brand with mythological characters and elements for a stronger and bigger identity. There is a powerful science and golden rules in building ‘ power brands’- but that’s for some other time.

About the author:

Dr Tapan Panda is Professor and Director, SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Hyderabad Campus. He teaches researches and consults on Branding and is the author of many books in Branding.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha