Siddharth Dwivedi
This article is the third part (The Story of Branding) in the series of four articles which tells the success story of one of India’s biggest brand. It’s our way of celebrating the the power of Indian entrepreneurs and their perseverance. Also read The Story of Birth and The Story of Marketing.
To build a brand from a company it takes great efforts and Baba Ramdev seems to have ticked all the check-boxes.
1. Brand ambassador
Brand ambassador is also seen as the face of the company and Baba Ramdev understood the need of one. But a celebrity or a sportsperson wont gel with the company’s organic image.
Patanjali needed someone who himself endorsed Ayurveda , practiced it in real life, and had a huge fan following and they found one who was endorsing it since 2003 on TV and since forever in his real life. That’s Baba Ramdev for you.
Infact, he turned out be such as successful brand ambassador that Adi Godrej said:
Patanjali (is) riding on Ramdev ‘s image, not products
Well, we cannot say much about the later part but the latter surely shows how successful a brand ambassador Patanjali isÂ
2. Brand Positioning
Every brand in this world has one feature that gives it a unique positioning making it standout from the crowd making it it’s USP.
Most of the products by the FMCG companies, even Indian, had this touch of Western mindset to it. And as we know in hind sight, there was no brand that had positioned itself as organic or ayurvedic at a grand scale.
This was an opportunity for Patanjali.
It offers people herbal, natural more Indian or Swadeshi product which enhances individual without any side effect.
Moreover, the price of their products are 10- 20% less than that of its competitors. It’s almost a fact that Indians love to buy a good product expensive to look at but does not create a hole in your pocket?
3. Brand Consistency
What companies brands like Apple and Nike share in common or the reason that they made me cut through companies and mention them as a brand is that they have a consistent brand image and tone.
This keeps their brand personality consistent and strong.
In 90’s Dabur and Colgate had some good herbal products. Even Vicco was available too. But none of them were able to ride on the wave of Ayurveda. Or more precisely, create a wave of Ayurveda.
Patanjali, on the other hand, had a strategy which no one had tried before. No only that it stick to its core values and image . Whenever a new product of Patanjali comes out a buyer knows it will be organic and good for health even if it’s an instant noodle.
4. Brand Trust and Faith
This department has been given the highest priority and even people at Patanjali agree to it.
They always try to promise what is delivered be it with their yoga benefits or product’s. This trust and Faith is the major reason why people feel connected to Patanjali and the major key to success for Patanjali.
5. Strong Value Propositions
Value proposition is one of the major driving force of a company’s success and so is for Patanjali. They recognized early that at the end of the day customer is the King and you can’t make the king unhappy.
Some of the examples how it does it is:
- The reason why Baba came in this FMCG sector was to serve people with more organic, swadeshi products at a very legitimate price, to build brighter and healthier nationÂ
- Ramdev claimed that Patanjali’s profit goes into charity works making Patanjali a no profit no loss company.
- He just does not have medicines in his outlets. He even has employed a certified Ayurvedic Doctor for a free consultationÂ
Thus, we see how Baba Ramdev combined all these ingredients well in the perfect quantity behind the exponential growth of Patanjali.
