Decoding Brand Baba Ramdev

Decoding Brand Baba Ramdev

CAMIL PARKHE | Saturday, 27 May 2017 AT 08:06 PM IST

    

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Camil Parkhe, Baba Ramdev Phenomenon, Book Review

During the last decade, the industrial sector in India has seen the rise of a most unexpected person as the giant player in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment. Baba Ramdev, a Yoga guru, has bewildered many as he makes forays in various consumer sectors including Swadeshi jeans ‘Paridhan’ and succeeding at them. Journalist Kaushik Deka in his book The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon: From Moksha to Market, has captured the incredible journey of Baba Ramdev from a yoga guru to creating a brand, Patanjali, that is threatening the existence of most powerful multinational companies in the world.

Baba Ramdev enjoys an enviable position as people from various parts of the country are purchasing Patanjali products, accepting them to be most qualitative and effective. Deka has analysed various factors which have propelled the yoga guru to this enviable position.

Baba Ramdev, born as Ram Kishan Yadav in 1965 in Saidalipur in Haryana, had suffered a paralysis attack when he was only seven. The young boy happened to read a book on yoga which helped him to fully recover from the ailment, barring a squint in his left eye, and also transformed his life. Ramdev turned a yoga guru and an advocate of Ayurvedic remedies. In 2001, a devotional channel started airing daily Ramdev’s yoga programme at 6.45 am and he soon became popular. This established the Baba Ramdev brand. Patanjali Food and Herbal Park established in 2009, soon became the largest food parks in the world.

How did Baba Ramdev achieve this feat? In this book, Deka says that Patanjali’s initial success can be attributed to the fact that it has been able to tackle some of the traditional issues. It has consistently advertised its products harping on quality and purity, thereby hoping to dispel consumers’ doubts on that score. And it has managed to keep the prices of its products low. Deka says that if Ramdev has been the face of Patanjali, the company’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna has been the meticulous planner and anchor.

If Ramdev is making a claim of Rs 10,000 crore turnover by next year, he has the backing of great planning by Balaram Singh Kushwaha, business head of the sales and marketing division of Patanjali Ayurved, who was earlier with Hindustan Unilever and Gillette, says the author.

The book provides detailed information about a man who has been in the limelight and also courted controversies for various reasons in recent times. In 2010, he had even floated a political party called Bharat Swabhiman and had also joined the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. In 2013, Baba Ramdev had declared that he would not support the BJP unless it declared Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. At present, chief ministers of many states in the country have been keeping the yoga guru in good humour by offering facilities for his various projects.

To understand the brand Baba Ramdev, this book is a must-read.