Patanjali is a name known to almost everyone. Thanks to the brand ambassador cum brand promoter cum brand owner: Baba Ramdev. In ten years, this brand and its business have gained a very strong and immensely loyal consumer base as well as a revenue of around five thousand crore rupees as per the reports of the financial year ending on March 31, 2016.

India is a country of many intense belongings. Baba Ramdev rose to his heights by bringing back one of those things: Yoga. With his asana and his remedies, he cured people of the belief that western medicine is the only and the final answer to any ailment. Only, he kept at it and developed his brand, all the while setting the stage for his products. Today, Patanjali sells products that span across a very wide net. Toothpaste, noodles, biscuits, ghee, wheat, honey, rice, shampoo, face creams, spices, candy, jam, juices and drinks: Patanjali sells almost everything.

The advertising budget of Patanjali is over Rs 300 crore. Clearly, somebody in there is hard at work to make the brand more visible. With Ramdev’s targeted revenue of ten thousand crores by the end of the current financial year, it becomes evident that the full-blown advertisement campaigns are both planned and systematised to reach the target that Ramdev has conjured up.

Patanjali stores are everywhere. Not just in north India or any other concentrated sector but almost everywhere in India. While this can easily be dedicated to the popularity of the brand, it should not be forgotten that this brand thrives on the popularity of its ambassador. Focus groups organised in metros and certain Tier 1 cities have revealed that people believe in Patanjali products because they believe in the face that appears on their television set to promote those products. Ramdev talks about his products and their usefulness with conviction and thus they must be good because he won’t lie to the face of people like many marketers do, consumers say.

Another additional fact is that the consumers who form the market for Patanjali products are not necessarily Baba Ramdev’s disciples or wannabes. People who believe in yoga, herbal medication and organic living are getting attracted to this brand. While Himalaya and Dabur have survived on the same kind of customer band, they are falling behind. Himalaya registered an increase of 4% in its revenue in the same year when Patanjali registered an almost double increase in its revenue. Figures talk and they seem to be saying that Patanjali is getting ahead of everybody else.

The factors working in favour of this are neither vague nor arbitrary. With Patanjali, every product seems to have a plan of promotion. Prices play an important part. Not all Patanjali products are cheap. But there are products which are 15-20% cheaper than the competitors’. Then again, products like Patanjali ghee are going at a premium rate. Yet, there is a kind of a balance between the products and their prices which save Patanjali from being avoided altogether. Also, the stamp of being natural and free of chemicals is appealing to the public and thus works perfectly for Patanjali products.

Baba Ramdev’s spiritual persona and his savvy marketing skills make up for a combination which has taken Patanjali to new levels. While the yoga guru is still very much in demand for his breathing exercises, it will be a pleasurable experience to see how long he can keep up with the pace of development and growth that he himself has established for his Ayurveda Company.