AR Rahman Takes Taj Mahal Tea’s Wah Taj Legacy Forward
Taj Mahal Tea taps A.R. Rahman to carry the Wah Taj legacy after Zakir Hussain. Here's what the new platform says about brand continuity.
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea has named music composer A.R. Rahman as its new brand ambassador and launched a platform called ‘Awaken Your Masterpiece’. The announcement keeps the tea brand’s long musical story intact after the death of Ustad Zakir Hussain, who had been the face of its iconic ‘Wah Taj!’ campaign.
The new film does not try to erase the past. It hands the tagline forward. Rahman is shown stuck in a creative moment, pausing for a cup of Taj Mahal tea, and then returning to his piano to play a new melody. The closing beat is the familiar ‘Wah Taj!’.
Why this is a legacy play, not just a celebrity refresh
Brands often panic when a beloved ambassador is no longer there. Taj Mahal Tea did the opposite: it used the platform to signal continuity. Music remains the creative territory. The tagline remains. Only the custodian changes.
Hindustan Unilever’s VP of beverages, Ishtpreet Singh, framed the choice as craft alignment. He described Rahman as “an artist whose genius is truly one in a thousand” and connected that to tea leaves selected from thousands. The brand line lands as ‘Hazaaron Mein Ek Wah Taj!’.
The psychology: borrowing the maestro’s meaning
This is a clean example of meaning transfer. Consumers already associate Rahman with mastery, refinement and finding the perfect note. By placing him inside the brand story, Taj Mahal Tea borrows those associations and transfers them to the cup. The tea becomes the pause that enables excellence.
Three things make the endorsement useful for marketers:
- Legacy continuity: the new face is framed as a custodian, not a replacement.
- Product role: the tea is the turning point, not a prop in the corner.
- Craft match: the ambassador’s search for perfection mirrors the blend story.
What marketers can steal
When you must replace a much-loved ambassador, do not bury the past. Name it, honour it, and show the new face carrying the same codes forward. Give the product a functional role in the story—here, the pause that restarts the creative flow.
Ogilvy India created the campaign, and the film was shot by Prakash Varma, who has been part of the brand’s visual language for over a decade. That is another continuity signal: even the craft team behind the lens stays familiar.
Source: Afaqs!
