Icons - some pointers- Based on a HBR case study on Icons by Douglas Holt

(Based on a case study on Icons by Douglas Holt)

• Iconic brands win because they build a deep connection with culture.

• The Strategic focus is on what a brand stands for, and not how the brand performs.

• Through Brands people get to experience powerful myths

• Myths are required as they ideals to live by and work to resolve some of the most difficult questions in life.

• Icons are condensed myths

• They are powerful as they deliver myths to us in a tangible form, and thus they are assessable.

• Icons are not just brands, they can be people too.

• When Icons create a myth, consumers come to perceive the myth as embodied in the product. So when they consume it, they forge a relationship with the brand.

• In Brief a Brand becomes Icon when it does 5 things.

1. They talk to intense anxities and desires. (They do speak to mass audience). 
2. They redefine and create new culture . They just do not follow the existing culture. ie. Pepsi - Youngistan.
3. Iconic brands rebel - they speak in rebels voice- ie. Apple
4. If the brand myth bursts, the brand uses the same line of logic/thinking to rebuild a new relevant myth in a convincing way. It does not have a stick to one single myth. ie. Reliance, Tata
5. Notice new contradictions in the culture and align with the brands line of thinking/logic. In short icon has to have its pulse with changing culture. ie. Old Spice.