Rebranding the nation: advertising, ideology, and collective identity in post-revolutionary Iran.

This study investigates the construction of group membership in contemporary Iran through the lens of the advertising industry, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of ‘national branding’, ‘political marketing’, and ‘flexible authoritarianism’. Within Iran’s competitive authoritarian context, the expansion of the private sector facilitated the rise of advertising agencies that operate under stringent regulations while simultaneously responding to public sensibilities and consumer demands. Focusing on the marketing of two commemorative occasions – the Islamic Republic Day and the International Day of Families – the analysis explores the interplay between state ideology and commercial practice. Prototype billboards produced by private firms reveal how these actors function as intermediaries between state and society, reinforcing legitimacy and fostering collective pride through appeals to nationalism and family values, while symbolically affirming the revolution and its custodians of authority. Advertising companies appear to have recognised that revolutionary rhetoric has waned in its capacity to mobilise public sentiment, while nationalism has emerged as a more cohesive framework for articulating collective identity. Operating within an Islamic moral paradigm, these visual narratives reflect a gradual transition from the regime’s insular ideological stance toward a more flexible conception of national belonging – one rooted in popular participation and increasingly open to global engagement.