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Marketing Strategy of Patanjali Yogpeeth

No one can help admiring the simplicity of the techniques for practicing the
different pranayam (controlled breathing) which His Holiness Swami Ramdev Ji
Maharaj has evolved and has been teaching to the common mass in India. One
finds the methods taught by Swamiji very simple for any lay person to pick up
and follow. It is the simplicity in the technique that is making Pranayam a part of
life to common man. Pranayam were there in text books for long time but, no
one from the common mass in India did have access to it for the techniques of
practicing them were very complex.
There were also some words of caution attached to such instructions that any
deviation from the practicing techniques would cause immense harm to a
person. This gave birth to an idea that Pranayam should never be attempted to
be practiced individually and should only be practiced in the guidance and vigil
of a trained Yoga teacher (Guru). Such rigid rules, complexity in practicing
techniques and above all the caution that, any deviation in the practicing
techniques would cause immense harm to the person, took Pranayam far away
from common mass and was finally lost and buried. No one dared to practice
such an art which would cause harm to them if there is even a slightest of
deviation in the technique.
Swamiji has done a tremendous job in breaking this concept of fear in common
mass about the harm caused by Pranayam. His Holiness has devised very simple
techniques for practicing the Pranayam which are very easily picked up by any
common man just by watching the T.V. His Holiness Swamiji has also assured the
common mass that Pranayam can never cause harm to any person attempting to
practice individually. Swamiji has exhumed the Indian ancestral science of
Pranayam from the grave of darkness, fear and monopoly of a few and presented
it in its simplest form for the welfare of the mankind. Swamiji has removed the
veil of darkness and the mystery of Pranayam is unfolding itself to the common
mass in India.

Positioning of Patanjali Yogpeeth

The activities, through which Patanjali Yogpeeth wants to project its image in the
minds of people, are categorized into following four categories:

.1 Ascetic Lifestyle (Sadhna)

Sadhna is the main aim of any spiritual organization. Baba Ramdev is influenced
by the ideology of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, who laid great importance on
yoga and pranayam. To promote Sadhna, great emphasis is laid down on yoga
and pranayam. Various methods, like organizing Yog Shivirs (camps),
broadcasting through TV channels, making CDs and DVDs of yoga, etc., are
adopted to promote yoga and pranayam. Holistic approach to yoga is adopted
which includes Gnanyog, Dhyanyog, Bhaktiyog and Rajyog. Swamiji wants to see
country becoming Yogic India.

2 Education (Shiksha)

Patanjali Yogpeeth is trying to establish traditional system of teaching which

incorporates education with Indian culture that will take care of nations
economic, social and spiritual needs, and to work in tandem with such
institutions already existing. The main motive behind all the activities is
character building, moral boosting and knowledge of culture, awakening of
national pride, equitable society, arrangement of study and teaching of Veda,
Upanishad, etc., for the welfare of world. Various initiatives taken in this regard
include establishment of Patanjali Ayurved College, University of Patanjali,
Gurukul at Rewari and many other institutes. All the initiatives work towards
integration of knowledge and wisdom

3 Health (Swasthya)
Health Revolution is one of the founding objectives of Patanjali family. Patanjali is
trying to promote Ayurveda system of Medicine and practice ancient Indian
Treatment system which includes Panchkarma, Naturopathy, Yajna therapy etc.
To achieve this, various medicines are prepared by Patanjali under Patanjali
Ayurved, Divya Pharmacy etc. Patanjali Food and Herbal Park is established to
provide pure and herbal products to people. Patanjali Chikitsalayas and Patanjali
Arogya Kendra are established in various cities across the country to make
Ayurvedic medicines available to the people.

.4 Entrepreneurship (Swawlamban)
Patanjali aims at promoting indigenous entrepreneurship among the people of
the country and to reduce the dependence on the west. Patanjali Food and
Herbal Park is established to bring about agricultural revolution in the country
which gives farmers best price for their produce. Various self help groups are also
constituted to promote indigenous entrepreneurship. All these activities
combined leads to Spiritual entrepreneurship.

Marketing Mix
In order to know exactly the reason for success of Baba Ramdev, it is imperative
to throw some light on the marketing mix rudiments. To be a successful marketer
it is important that all the marketing mix elements have to be fine tuned to
support and strengthen brand personality.

Product strategy
1 Pranayam and Yoga: A Package for Various Diseases Swami Ramdev's Divya
Medicines are claimed to be one hundred percent natural, made from potent
herbs available in the Himalayas, with no or very little side effects. They have
proven extremely effective for combating all forms of sickness and disease.
Along with these medicines, Swamiji recommends patients to also adopt the
practice of pranayam, which will strengthen the immune system and quicken the
healing process. Ramdev Baba opines that pranayam and yoga are the complete
Ancient Indian Therapy, which is a Medical Science in itself that cures any
physical or mental medical condition completely, without any side effects. Swami
Ramdev has proved and declared on Indian and International TV Channels,
pranayam and yoga is the complete natural cure for all physical and mental
ailments. But if medicines are required they are also available and these

packages of medicines are available at a very low cost. The medicines can cure
all the diseases from a simple cold to cancer. In a bid to promote ayurveda,
Swami Ramdev's Trust has tied up with 600 qualified ayurvedic practitioners who
are offering treatment to masses for a variety of diseases, some of them termed
incurable by the modern system.

2 FMCG Products
Patanjali has also introduced FMCG products to diversify in the market. Indian
FMCG market is a market which has a very wide range of customers. There are
many competitors in all the categories and although they all have similar
products available at almost similar prices, Patanjali is trying to prove it different
through their marketing strategies. However, entry to this business is easy (low
entry barriers) and this fact has been utilized very efficiently to result in
combined benefit for both Patanjali and the consumers.

As seen from the above Table, the major products of the Patanjali Food Park are
sharbat (Juice concentrates), jam, salt, chyawanaprash, flour candy, washing
powder, etc. The advantage with all these products is that these are made of
natural products and dont have any side effects at all. But as there are so many
players existing in the market, that Patanjali products have a tough competition
to face with

Overall, product/market strategy of the Patanjali group can be understood

through Ansoffs Matrix (Ansoff, 1957) as shown in Figure-1 below. Ansoffs
matrix, despite of being more than fifty year old marketing tool, still has a great
contributor to understand the diversification strategy of the organization
(Richardson and Evans, 2007). It can be clearly understood from the matrix that
Patanjali Yogpeeth is diversifying itself from ayurvedic medicine to FMCG
products.

Pricing Strategy
Developing an effective pricing strategy remains the most important and difficult
part of the marketing process. As far as the pricing of FMCG products is
concerned, the pricing strategy is a mix of skimming and penetration. Some
products are costly than other competitive brands and some are cheap. But, in
case of pranayam and yoga, Baba Ramdev's uses a penetration strategy and
cost is very less. He urges people not to lose hope or suffer and depend on
expensive treatments. The diseases for which Indian population spend much
more in hospitals, pranayam and yoga treat all the ailments completely without
costly medicines, operations or surgery. It is amazing, but it is claimed to be true
that this is the cheapest and the only complete cure to most of the so called
incurable diseases like Diabetes, Cancer, HIV and AIDS too.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Patanjali follows a very smooth Supply chain management. The three parts of
supply chain are product flow, cash flow and information flow. In supply chain of
Patanjali all these are maintained very smoothly. Supply Chain of Patanjali can be
well understood with the help of some examples. First we will take the example
of sale of Patanjali products. They sell their products only through their own
outlets opened in almost every district/city of India. Each outlet sends its
demand to central office at Haridwar. Then based on demand, different products
are gathered from various units of Patanjali viz. Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali
Ayurved, Patanjali Foods etc. Then the items are delivered to the respective

outlets mainly through Patanjali transport. This shows a good example of Supply
chain management. Next we can take the case of Patanjali Gram at Uttarkashi.
Here Swami Haridasji has presented a very good example of SCM. They collect
cow urine from rural households. After initial filtration, it is sent to Patanjali Food
and Herbal Park where it is processed and is sent to various Patanjali outlets for
distribution. The part of money received from the sale of cow urine is kept by
Patanjali Food and Herbal
Park Limited as processing cost and the rest is sent to the village. Some amount
is distributed to the people as a price of cows urine, rest is used for the
development of the village like establishing necessary infrastructure, building
schools etc. The Patanjali Mega Food Park (PMFP) has been envisaged to help in
creation of enabling infrastructure for food processing and a comprehensive
farm-to-plate supply chain system. The initiative aims to seek maximum value
addition by backward as well as forward integration between the farmers, factory
and the market. It can be said that the supply chain doesnt have any
intermediary in between but rather its a direct from supplier to producer to
consumer. This also helps in reducing the cost because it avoids the unnecessary
commission cost and other related charges of the intermediaries

Sales and Distribution Patanjali follows various modes of distribution for their
products.

They provide sale of products through their website with online payment
facility. These products can be procured through post also by sending the
required amount through demand draft etc.
Patanjali has opened Patanjali Chikitsalayas and Patanjali Arogya
Kendra in almost all the cities of the country from where all the Patanjali
products can be procured easily. A Patanjali trained Ayurvedic doctor also
sits in every Patanjali Chikitsalaya from whom consultation can be
obtained regarding various medicines.
Patanjali herbal products are also available at Post offices across the
country.
A shop is established for sale of products wherever a yoga camp is
organized.
Patanjali has prepared disease specific CDs which they sell through their
various outlets.

Promotional Strategy
Baba Ramdev's live yoga classes became a passion. And it all began in the year
2002 when Sanskar television channel started airing Baba Ramdev's yogic
classes; overnight, Baba Ramdev became a sensation he had hundreds of
followers who morphed into thousands. Then Sanskar channel's rival Astha
channel signed him. In two years time he was a hit and with him also the channel

benefited. His TV shows have the largest TRP. Today, he is one of the biggest
draws on Indian television. He can be seen not only on religious channels like
Aastha, but also news and features channels like Aaj Tak, India TV and Sahara
One. Millions around the country follow his programmes religiously and use
Ayurvedic medicines prescribed by him. There was an eight-month waiting period
before one could see Ramdev; he was being booked that far ahead by television
channels for his live yoga classes each morning. His yoga sessions were beamed
live into 170 countries. Also, Baba Ramdev's pack i.e., one DVD, two Video CDs,
three books on yoga, pranayam and herbal remedies, and Magazines are
available. This set of four promotional materials with a Research Oriented
Monthly Magazine of Yog, Spiritualism, Ayurveda, Culture and Tradition-Yog
Sandesh available in 5 languages can do much to lure customers. Even healthy
people are following his yoga pranayam regimen, as available in his DVDs, VCDs,
Books and magazines etc., to keep fit. Baba Ramdev has got the pulse of the
basic needs of people which is not only limited to food, clothing and shelter but
also includes a healthy life style, and has managed to fine tune his offerings to
suit the needs of all. He has mastered the art of mass customization and
practices the art dexterously so much so that each individual feels that he is
talking to him individually

Broadly speaking, the promotional marketing strategy of Patanjali Yogpeeth

includes the following:

The most important promotional activity involves yoga campaign by Baba

Ramdev and the Patanjali trust.
Advertising through business journals and newspapers in India and abroad
with the help of an advertising agency.
The company has established a web site in the internet. This will ensure
international visibility and marketing.
Group regularly interacts to industry and business associations.
Group also has interaction with foreign embassies/trade counsels in India.
They are also bringing out attractive brochures and other literature with
the help of advertising agency.

INNOVATION
- What makes Patanjali a credible threat is that it does not try to beat other FMCG companies at
their game; it changes the game for them: IIFL
- Patanjalis proactive moves have been crucial for its growth. Other consumer companies will
need to step up innovation:Edelweiss

PRICING
- Priced anywhere between 10%-30% cheaper than peers, Patanjali poses serious challenge to
flagship products of many companies: Reliance Securities
- The company is set to eat market share of some of the FMCG majors in oral care, hair care and
OTC products with its economical pricing across its brand portfolio: Bonanza Portfolio

THE BRAND, MARKETING

- Patanjali has the advantage of being associated with a personality, Baba Ramdev, a yoga guru
with a following of millions who popularises this brand through his camps: IIFL

- Patanjali will also be launching its mobile app, which will allow consumers to locate nearby
outlets that are selling Patanjali products and also facilitate online ordering: Edelweiss
- Patanjali has gained traction in a few categories, one of which is toothpaste: Credit Suisse
- It was one of the top three brands advertised on television in last week of November, as per
BARC:Reliance Securities

REVENUE, MARKET SHARE

- Patanjali could reach a net turnover of Rs 20,000 crore by FY20: IIFL
- Industry sources indicate that Patanjalis market share is likely to be around 5% by end 2015.
This is a big success in this category, which had just three players until now: Credit Suisse
- Patanjali likely to more than double its revenue to Rs 5,000 crore in FY16 from Rs 2,000 crore
in FY15

A premium product but an economical price tag. That is what yoga guru Baba Ramdevbacked brand Patanjali Ayurved promises customers. That strategy has worked, with
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, which flaunts its Make in India roots, set to touch the Rs 5000
turnover mark in FY16.

Patanjali to tie up with Future

Group
Riding on the yoga guru's brand value and personal endorsement for its products, PAL is among
the top FMCG companies in the country, ahead of Jyothi Labs
Arnab Dutta | New Delhi October 8, 2015 Last Updated at 00:33 IST

Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Group is set to tie up with Kishore Biyani-led retail major
Future Group. To reveal the business deal between the two groups, Biyani, Ramdev and
his close aide Bal Krishna - who also holds several key positions in Patanjali's various
arms - will hold a press conference on Friday in Delhi.
While Patanjali did not respond to queries on the purpose of a tie-up with the retail
major, a Future Group official said, "A tie-up or association for the food & FMCG (fastmoving consumer goods) products between Future Group and Patanjali Group will be
announced." He, however, declined to reveal more details.
The group's flagship entity Patanjali Ayurved (PAL), which was co-founded by Ramdev in
2006 as a private limited company and eventually converted into a public limited
company in 2007, currently produces FMCG products ranging from branded basmati rice
to noodles, and toothbrush to juices. Riding on the yoga guru's brand value and personal
endorsement for its products, PAL is among the top FMCG companies in the country,
ahead of Jyothi Labs. While Emami Ltd and global FMCG major Procter & Gamble has
annual sales of Rs 2,031 and Rs 2,334 crore, respectively, PAL is not far behind,
breathing on their neck at Rs 2,028 crore, according to CARE Ratings. While Ramdev
does not hold any stake in the company, he is frequently seen endorsing PAL's products,
the latest being during the launch of Patanjali's instant noodles last month.

So, how does the company do it?

There are four reasons why Patanjalis products are cheaper than
competition, the Kotak report said.

Patanjalis top management takes no salary and they have no big

expenses, the report added. Ramdev, the face of the brand
reportedly doesnt own any stake in the company. His close
confidant, Acharya Balkrishna, is the managing director. Ramdevs
brother Ram Bharat runs day-to-day operations, while Deepak
Singhal, a pharma veteran and Ramdev follower, is the chief
strategy officer.

Secondly, Patanjali benefits from efficient raw material

procurementwithout any leakages or commissions paid. This cut
down costs by at least 5%.
However, Patanjalis core strength in cutting costs lies elsewhere.
It has largely avoided huge advertisement costs that account for
asmuch as 10-15% of the other FMCG majors expenditure.
Baba Ramdev is a great proponent of a direct marketing FMCG
company, and is one step ahead of the likes of the Amways and
Avons of the world,.
For years, Patanjali relied on direct marketing by the yoga gurus
disciples and instructors. According to brokerage firm, CLSA,
Patanjali has the potential to reach out to more than 200 million
directly or indirectly linked to his yoga programme.
This year, however, Patanjali has firmed up plans to spend almost
Rs300 crore on advertisements across television, radio, print and
digital media. Overall, it plans to invest Rs1,000 crore to set up
exclusive stores, and ramp up online distribution.

The fourth and last reason is the companys ability to maintain very
low profit margins, according to the Kotak report.