Samradni
How Patanjali Ayurveda took the FMCG sector by storm
Updated: Mar 14, 2021
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The story of Patanjali is one of my favorites, though the brand has lost its importance today, at one point in time Patanjali literally shook the FMCG sector.
So in this blog post, we analyze what worked for the brand, and how it managed to garner all the fame that it received in such a short time!
Patanjali’s journey can be summarized with the quote given below
It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.
- Hans F. Hansen
This is exactly what the brand did, back in the day.
It’s important to note that back in 2006 when the brand was launched, herbal or Ayurveda products were not as popular as they are today.
However, did that stop them from standing alone, and still making a mark?
Definitely not!
So let’s analyze their success through the following parameters:
1. Launch of Patanjali
2. Growth of Patanjali
3. Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning of Patanjali
4. Marketing Mix of Patanjali
5. Response of FMCG Giants
6. Key Learnings
So let’s look into each of them in detail:
1. Launch of Patanjali
It all started back in 1995 when Baba Ramdev started Divya Yog Mandir Trust with the help of Acharya Balkrishna.
This trust aimed to put Yoga and Ayurveda on the world map.
Soon a spiritual television channel Sanskar signed up Baba Ramdev for its morning Yoga program and from there the name become well known in every household.
They later established the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust which laid the first foundation of Patanjali products and helped strengthen the brand soon.
Patanjali Ayurveda was launched in 2006 and the company rose from Rs. 450 crores in 2012 to Rs. 4345 crores in 2019.
Patanjali soon managed to become the fastest growing FMCG company in India.
It's commendable for a brand like Patanjali to become a highly profitable venture within a very short time, in an era when big FMCG giants are battling an industry-wise overall slowdown.
The objective of the company was to provide superior quality of products at fair prices and induce the Swadeshi (homegrown) feel in the minds of the consumers.
The concept of Herbal and Pure has been on a rise in India since nowadays people are more centered on keeping themselves as close to nature as possible, given their commercialized routines.
In an era where we see products from multinational companies like Hindustan Unilever, Colgate Palmolive, etc, running the race by offering similar products, we saw Patanjali offering something very different and not indulging in a similar marketing strategy as the rest.
2. Growth of Patanjali
Patanjali’s success can be best explained through Kotler’s model on Value Creation and Delivery Sequence which refers to the sum of all benefits that an organization provides to its customers less the cost which the customer incurs to get those benefits.
One of the key reasons for the success of Patanjali was the fact that they understood their consumers very well, they knew that the customer is health-conscious, is moved by the concept of Swadeshi, and also price-conscious.
Baba Ramdev being considered an ideal was an add on in regards to this.
Their only aim was now to combine all their understanding into a brand that would satisfy their consumer needs.
Initially, with the launch of their products, the followers of Baba Ramdev were the first ones to buy the products and they soon became their loyal customers.
Soon they were not just the users of the products they also started working towards the word of mouth communication, eventually, they bought a franchise of Patanjali, and soon the brand began to grow.
These franchisees along with the distribution of products also advertised and promoted PAL products in their respective regions, hence establishing brand Patanjali firmly into the mind of the local populace.
3. Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning of Patanjali
Segmentation
1. Demographic
Patanjali products across categories are segregated as per Income and Age.
Consumers in the Low and Middle-income groups are their primary targets since the products are priced at a much lower margin compared to their competitors.
We can see that the products are priced 15-30% lower than the competition.
Across categories, the products are also segregated as per age, they have health drinks that cater to the younger audience and specific medicinal products targeting the elder generation.
2. Psychographic
Psychologically Patanjali targets health-conscious consumers, these are the people who believe that healthy products provide a better lifestyle.
They are also targeting consumers who are patriotic or feel pride in using homegrown products, thereby promoting their country in the best way possible.
Targeting
Patanjali has its own specialized targeting strategy because they cater to a lot of specific segments in the market but not the entire market.
INCOME

HEALTH CONSCIOUS

SWADESHI
