Hindustan Unilever’s Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea has appointed Oscar and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman as its brand ambassador and launched a new platform, Awaken Your Masterpiece, with a campaign film built around his creative process.
In the film, Rahman hits a creative block and pauses over a freshly brewed cup of Taj Mahal Tea. That pause unlocks an uplifting melody, building to the brand’s iconic “Wah Taj!” expression. The film is live across the brand’s digital and marketing platforms.
Music, craft and continuity
For over six decades, Taj Mahal Tea has used craft and creativity to define its identity. The “Hazaaron Mein Ek” positioning, or one in a thousand, has celebrated people who master their craft, while “Wah Taj!” has become part of India’s cultural memory. The brand’s earlier association with Ustad Zakir Hussain gave this music-driven story its foundation.
Rahman is a natural extension. His global recognition and reputation for precision fit the brand’s promise of selecting one exceptional leaf among thousands. Ishtpreet Singh, VP Beverages at HUL, put the fit succinctly: “there could be no better custodian than A.R. Rahman, an artist whose genius is truly one in a thousand.”
Why the campaign works
Taj Mahal Tea does not treat Rahman as a typical celebrity face. The campaign places tea inside the creative ritual, where a pause becomes the bridge between a stuck mind and a new idea. That is a more durable use of a famous face than a simple product shot.
- Heritage continuity: the story moves from Zakir Hussain to Rahman without changing the brand’s core.
- Craft parallel: finding the perfect musical note mirrors choosing the perfect tea leaf.
- Ritual over celebrity: tea is shown as a purposeful pause, not just a drink.
What marketers can borrow
For marketers managing legacy brands, this is a useful case in ambassador fit. The audition question is not whether a celebrity is famous, but whether their craft demonstrates the same care the product claims. The film also gives a common consumption moment a creative job: the tea break becomes an ingredient in the work itself.
Ogilvy India’s Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar noted the campaign is led by Fritz Gonsalves and Jayesh Raut, with the film shot by Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films, who has shaped the brand’s visual language for over a decade. That long creative continuity matters as much as the ambassador choice.
The brand-fit test
The launch is a reminder that heritage brands refresh best when a new face answers three questions: does the person’s work demonstrate the same craft promise, does the story extend existing associations instead of restarting them, and is the product shown at the moment of use rather than as a prop.
Taj Mahal Tea answers all three. The “one in a thousand” idea ties leaf selection to Rahman’s music, the Zakir Hussain lineage is referenced rather than replaced, and the film makes tea the catalyst for creativity. That coherence is likely to matter more for long-term recall than the size of the celebrity’s following.
Source: MediaNews4U
