Marketing Roadmap for Patanjali to Maximize its Market Share
Guide:
Professor Nagasimha B Kanagal
Marketing Management – Group 8:
1611167 Dipti Naithani 1611169 Ajinkya Domale 1611171 Garvit Chouhan 1611184 L Elijah Raiveio 1611185 M V Sai Kiran 1611213 Vardhaman V
Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 3 RATIONALE ................................................................................................................................................ 4 MARKETING DECISION PROBLEM ....................................................................................................... 5 SCOPE .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 6 DETAILED METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 6 DELIVERABLES ......................................................................................................................................... 7 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 7 PATANJALI ............................................................................................................................................. 7 PATANJALI BISCUITS................................................................................................................................ 10 PATANJALI TOOTHPASTE ........................................................................................................................ 10 AYURVEDA VS HERBO-MINERAL ............................................................................................................. 12
SECONDARY STUDY .............................................................................................................................. 13 PATANJALI ........................................................................................................................................... 13 PATANJALI BISCUITS ........................................................................................................................ 14 PRIMARY STUDY & FINDINGS: ........................................................................................................... 15 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 28 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX-A (CUSTOMER SURVEY): ................................................................................................. 33
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INTRODUCTION Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) is an Indian FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company which started with an aim to promote Swadeshi goods which are purely Ayurvedic. Based out in Haridwar, the company primarily deals with mineral & herbal products. According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali is the fastest growing FMCG company in India. It is valued at INR 3,000 crore (USD 450 million) and some predict revenues of INR 5,000 crore INR (USD 740 million) for the fiscal 2015-16. Acharya Balkrishna founded Patanjali Ayurved Limited in 2006 along with Baba Ramdev with the objective of establishing science of Ayurveda in accordance and coordinating with the latest technology and ancient wisdom. Patanjali Ayurved produces products in the categories of personal care and food. The company manufactures 444 products including 45 types of cosmetic products and 30 types of food products. According to Patanjali, all the products manufactured by Patanjali are made from Ayurveda and natural components. Patanjali products are cheaper than alternatives in the market due to lesser production and marketing costs. Patanjali has also launched beauty and baby products. Patanjali Ayurvedic manufacturing division has over 300 medicines for treating a range of ailments and body conditions, from common cold to chronic paralysis. Patanjali Ayurved sells through nearly 4,700 retail outlets as of May 2016. Patanjali also sells its products online and is planning to open outlets at railway stations and airports. Patanjali Ayurveda has tied up with Pittie Group and Kishore Biyani's Future Group on 9 October 2015. As per the tie-up with Future Group, all the consumer products of Patanjali will be available for the direct sale in Future Group outlets. Patanjali Ayurveda products are also available in modern trade stores including Reliance retail, Hyper-city and Star Bazaar apart from online channels. Defense organization DRDO entered into licensing agreements with Patanjali Ayurveda for transfer of technology. The company is targeting 10,000 crore INR revenue in 2016-17, after sales grew 150 per cent in the previous financial year to 5,000 crore INR (Patanjali Ayurved, 2016)[1].
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The project aims at understanding the marketing strategies of Patanjali and what it should do to maximize its market share. The primary aim of the project is to analyze the rationale behind the drastic increase in the revenue of Patanjali Ayurved and to propose alternative marketing strategy to increase its presence. Research has demonstrated conclusively that it is far costlier to win a new customer than it is to maintain an existing one. And there is no better way to retain a customer than to exceed his expectation. For this purpose, it is essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The focus of the research was to measure the level of customer satisfaction level of Patanjali products and how to bring a new customer to its fold. But the extent of the research will be limited to only two of its product namely biscuits and toothpaste. Patanjali Ayurved Limited is an Indian FMCG company which manufactured mineral and herbal product. It is valued at 3,000 crores (USD 450 million) and is predicted that its revenues would touch 5,000 crores (USD 740 million) for the fiscal 2015 –16. The Hindu analysis suggests that by FY20, Patanjali will have high market shares in some categories and will have eight categories with turnover greater than INR 10 billion (INR 1,000 crore). Patanjali is targeting much older fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) majors like Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle, Dabur, and HUL. It has garnered a 4.5% market share in the toothpaste segment, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said. The increase in market share can be attributed to increasing health awareness amongst consumer who regard Patanjali products as a healthy alternative to FMCG products. Research revealed that most consumers view every product of Patanjali as Ayurvedic though some are herbo-mineral. Consumer perceived the company more as a Baba Ramdev prescribe products than as an independent company with its own research and developed products. How should Patanjali move beyond its Ayurveda and Baba Ramdev image and build on its own brand name to create a market for its product? The market research included in-depth personal survey undertaken with customers that provided detailed views of their perception & buy behavior pertaining to the chosen products. But it is limited to 30 customers (20-75 years) residing in India. The questions used for primary finding 3
range from their satisfaction (price, quality & availability), brand identity to whether they would buy it again or not. Their perception about next best product to Patanjali, new product Patanjali should introduce was also asked. Thorough analyze of the survey indicated that most customers (old and young) are satisfied with the quality and price range of products offered by Patanjali. Customers loyalty get a good review as most are of opine on continuing using it. But customers are discontent by the variety of products it offered as the option is very limited and packaging design. The biggest drawback of the company products comes from its distribution channel strategy as its availability is unevenly distributed, and taste with most customers suggesting improvement is a must. Many customers take its product as completely Ayurvedic and are unaware of genuine herbo-mineral products that it has. Based on the finding, customers’ perception of price and brand is good. But is it recommendable
that Patanjali should increase their availability and quality (taste and scent) to maintain the existing customers. To increase its market share and penetrate to other FMCG customers, it should improve its advertising, focus on segmenting its market, increase existing products variety and introduce new products and at the same improving existing product quality. It should also try to move beyond the image of Baba Ramdev.
RATIONALE For a manufacturing company set up about 10 years ago, Patanjali Ayurved, co-founded by televangelist Ramdev, is targeting 10,000 crore INR revenue in 2016-17, after sales grew 150 per cent in the previous financial year to 5,000 crore INR (Dutta, 2016)[2]. If the target is achieved, Patanjali could become the fifth largest FMCG company in the country, after Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Nestle India and Britannia Industries. This would bring it well ahead of traditional FMCG players like Dabur, Godrej Consumer Products and Marico (Singh and Sinha,
2016)[3]. The rural market is another area where FMCG biggies could face a tough challenge from Patanjali's products, which are priced below regular brands because the company consciously operates on thin margins (Singh and Sinha, 2016)[3].
Patanjali is selling over 444 products via over 4700 stores all over India. According to 4
Balkrishna, Ramdev's disciple and co-founder of Patanjali Ayurved, Patanjali will soon be looking at an e-commerce strategy and focus on strengthening exports to at least 10-12 countries.
Another interesting aspect is that Patanjali hasn’t spent much on advertisements as much as their competitors. FMCG biggies usually spend up to 20-30% of sales earnings on ads (Anand, 2016)[4].
MARKETING DECISION PROBLEM Primary objective is to understand the rationale behind the drastic increase in the revenue of Patanjali Ayurved and to propose the marketing strategy that can be followed to attain the 2017 target with a special focus on the below mentioned areas:
1. Assess the brand name, position and market share of Patanjali against other FMCG firms. 2. Study the current market position of Patanjali biscuits (non-medicinal product) & Patanjali toothpaste (medicinal product) and understand customer perception & buybehaviour. Suggest a marketing plan/strategy for these two products. 3. Patanjali is into herbo-mineral products but customer perception is that they are Ayurvedic products. Assess this premise and suggest if Patanjali should move beyond its Ayurveda image.
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SCOPE 1. Understanding the current marketing/branding strategies followed by Patanjali. Based on the current strategies& study, proposing future marketing/branding strategies to maximize market share. 2. Comparison of Patanjali biscuits & toothpaste with their FMCG competitors. Analysing key factors which will help them in maximizing market share. 3. To analyse whether Patanjali should move beyond its image of Ayurveda.
LIMITATIONS 1. The survey data will be limited to only Patanjali biscuits & toothpaste. 2. The analysis will be limited to only few major competitors. 3. The representative sample set of customers will be limited in number.
DETAILED METHODOLOGY As there was very limited secondary data for this study, we interacted with current customers of Patanjali and tried to gain more information. Customer questionnaire is framed in order to cover primary objectives of the study. 1) Demographic: Gender & Age related data is collected to know more about customer demographic. 2) Customer Profile & Buy Behaviour:We collected data regarding customers’ profile of their use of Patanjali products, what type of products they used, are they repeat customers, did they have past issues with Patanjal i’s products, etc. 3) Ayurvedic Vs. Herbo-Mineral:Data was collected to asses if customers perceive Patanjali as purely Ayurvedic brand or know that most of its products are in fact herbomineral. We also assessed customers’ willingness to stick with Patanjali after getting this information. 4) Patanjali Biscuits: We have collected data on Patanjali biscuits, how many users have used them, what they liked, previous biscuit brands and will they buy it again, etc. 5) Patanjali Toothpaste:We have collected data on Patanjali toothpaste, how many users have used them, what they liked, previous toothpaste brands and will they buy it again, etc.
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6) Patanjali Loyalty: We also assessed customers’ response if other FMCG companies comes with similar products which are natural & Ayurvedic in nature. This way we were able to assess customers’ loyalty towards Patanjali. 7) Aura of Baba Ramdev: We specifically assessed impact of Baba Ramdev’s image on sell of Patanjali products. 8) New Products Introduction:Launching new products was crucial in terms of acquiring
new customers or retain current customers.
DELIVERABLES 1. Analysis on the existing marketing strategy of Patanjali Ayurveda products markets in India (and on the most viable competitor in current market for Patanjali). 2. Analysis and presentation of branding and differentiation of marketing strategy to be followed by Patanjali products pertaining to chosen products. 3. Analysis and propose whether Patanjali should broaden their base to non-Ayurvedic products.
LITERATURE REVIEW PATANJALI Patanjali Ayurved, the home-grown foods-to-FMCG player that recently took on Swiss multinational giant Nestle by launching its own noodle brand, is eating into the market share of many other FMCG companies including MNC giant, Colgate Palmolive, in the toothpaste segment.
Haridwar-based Patanjali Ayurved, run by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, has garnered a 4.5% market share in the toothpaste segment, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said. In comparison, in the last one year, Colgate Palmolive, the sector leader, has lost its market share by 60 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) to 57.3%. In an attempt to boost market share, Patanjali Ayurved is beefing up its main toothpaste brand, Danta Kanti, with variants like medicated, advance and junior.
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Toothpastes and noodles are not the only segments which excite Patanjali Ayurved as it is also taking on MNCs like Glaxo SmithKline Consumer, Mondelez and Johnson & Johnson by launching its own health food drinks and baby care products.In a report, Edelweiss had said Patanjali's PowerVita will provide competition to all health food drink companies like Mondelez and GSK Consumer. It is also planning to launch products like baby oil, talcum powder, baby soap, shampoo etc.(Sinha, 2016)[3].
Patanjali is clearly targeting much older fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) majors like Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle, Dabur and HUL; its wide array of products — including spices, pulses, chyvanprash, toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrush, instant noodles, tea, jam, corn flakes and also beauty products — competes directly with products from the heavyweights. Patanjali is also taking on the big players in other geographies, exporting its products to Canada, the USA, Mauritius and UK, among other countries. According to leading domestic brokerage IIFL, Patanjali’s main promoter is Acharya Balkrishnan, who owns 93 per cent of the company; the remaining stake is owned by Sarwan and Sunita Poddar, an NRI couple. Yoga teacher and television personality ‘Baba’ Ramdev does not own any stake in the company, but he has played a huge part in the brand’s gaining visibility, by
marketing it in the numerous yoga camps that he holds across the country (Rukhaiyar, 2016)[6].
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PATANJALI BISCUITS
Biscuit Types From Patanjali: Chocolate delight cream-biscuits, Coconut, Marie, Aarogya and Doodh biscuits. The Hindu analysis suggests that by FY20, Patanjali will have high market shares in categories such as honey (35%), ayurvedic medicine (35%) and ghee (33%) and will have eight categories with turnover greater than Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crore). Success may be limited in chocolates (4%), detergents (4%) and noodles (4%). Ghee, biscuits and ayurvedic medicine will be the main contributors to Patanjali’s turnover
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The Marie’s ingredients generally include wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla flavoring and
malt extract. Dietary Fiber A high-fiber diet has many health benefits and biscuits that contain dietary fiber may be helpful in curing constipation and other ailments caused by consumption of fast food.
Based on above data it is clear that Patanjali biscuits is relatively at top in nutrition chart
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PATANJALI TOOTHPASTE
Colgate still controls 57.3% of the Indian toothpaste market, but its share has come down for a second straight quarter, the analysts say. Meanwhile, Baba Ramdev’s recent distribution tie -up with Future Group, India’s largest retailer, means the fight for market share will only get more intense. The retail group’s founder predicts Patanjali will break into the t op three consumer
staples companies in India. Colgate, Unilever, Nestle and GlaxoSmithKline may all be affected, though to varying degrees.
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To prevent getting beaten by an upstart, multinationals are quite likely to include more herbal and natural offerings in their own product portfolios. Colgate, for example, has introduced a new “Made in India” variant of toothpaste with neem tree extracts. Hindustan Unilever acquired a
herbal hair oil brand, forking out $48 million. Baba Ramdev had claimed Patanjali Ayurved had the potential to upstage leading consumer product multinationals, including Colgate and Nestle. Patanjali's Dant Kanti toothpaste did Rs 450 crore of business in 2015-16. That's nearly 12% of Colgate's annual revenues of Rs4,100 crore during last calendar year. According to Credit Suisse, Patanjali has gained significant traction in the toothpaste category with “fairly limited distribution.” Industry data indicates that the brand has a 4 -5% market share,
despite having fairly limited distribution, it says. The mood at the India office of Colgate has turned upbeat. After months of losing sales to Patanjali Ayurved’s Dant Kanti, the American oral care giant seems to have found its feet. It has
been pushing aggressively in the market its Colgate Neem Active Salt, which contains traditional Indian teeth cleansers neem and salt, to take on Dant Kanti. The results have been encouraging. The toothpaste, which Colgate had launched a year ago, now has a market share of 1.1 per cent. While it may still be shor t of Dant Kanti’s share of nearly 7 per cent of the Rs 7,000 -crore toothpaste[9].
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AYURVEDA VS HERBO-MINERAL
Ayurveda:
Ayurvedic medicine (Indian Herbo-Mineral System) is an ancient most system of medicine. In Sanskrit language "AYU" means life and "VEDA" means Knowledge or Science. So, whole word "AYU:VEDA" means- "The Science or Knowledge of Life". This contains a comprehensive and complete natural Herbo-mineral health care system. Ayurveda combines holistic assessment and diagnosis with diet, exercise and Herbo-mineral medication. So, herbo-mineral medication is one of the parts which constitutes Ayurveda. 12
Herbo-Mineral:
Preparations which are made by using herbs and minerals but they may or may not have the medicinal effect. Patanjali’s Claim:
Patanjali Ayurved Limited produces quality Herbo-mineral preparations. But nowhere have they claimed it to be Ayurvedic. Most of their products don’t have any medicinal effect, they have been just derived from natural herbs & minerals.
SECONDARY STUDY PATANJALI According to a study conducted by Dr. Pooja Ramchandani published in Sai Om Journal of Commerce & Management (Ramchandani, 2016)[5], following factors have contributed to the success of Patanjali products:
Constantly Growing Profit Making Venture - Patanjali has shown increasing profits over the years with a 67% jump in 2014-15.
Best Personnel Hired - Experts in the field such as Masters in Science, Biology, etc are hired by Patanjali.
Good Understanding of the Market - Connection with the target audience through the medium of our national language - Hindi. Also, Facebook posts alternate between Hindi and English, thereby reaching out to the Hindi speaking population, which is the largest homogeneous set in the country that is estimated to be about 12million people.
Connects with the Target Audience - Ramdev Baba has over 5000 twitter followers, and keeps them engaged with regular updates and replies with respect to yoga as well as Patanjali
Lower Pricing Strategy- Although most FMCG giants fix higher prices in order to target high income groups, Patanjali has fixed its prices considerably lower as compared to the prices of these FMCG giants without compromising on the quality of these products. This makes Patanjali products attractive not only to lower income groups but also to higher income groups as well. 13
A Complete Swadeshi Product for Indians - The Patanjali range of products, have been made completely in India and are offered at low prices is the need of the hour.
Effective Use of E-Commerce- The Patanjali website is well-stocked and updated for the convenience of its visitors.
Clear Vision and Proper Use of Market Opportunities- Baba Ramdev has many a times during his yoga sessions and interview expressed his views against Maggi and other foreign brands of Colas which he considered harmful and unhealthy. Months ago, when traces of harmful substances like lead and MSG were found in Maggi and the country was battling with the possibility of their favourite 2 minute noodles facing extinction soon, in no time Baba Ramdev jumped in on the opportunity and publicly announced that a safe, no Maida version of the Noodles would be launched by Patanjali.
Marketing to Overseas Customers- Baba Ramdev’s Ayurvedic range of products has a huge market abroad as well. An Ayurvedic medicine company in the name of Herbo Ved in the USA has been acquired by the Yoga Guru for an undisclosed sum to sell the new products abroad
Good Civic Sense- Some of the reports claim that Patanjali aims to reinvest all of its profits over the next 5 years into non-profit social and development causes.
The 57-page report released in January, IIFL (India Info line Finance Limited) suggests that by the year 2020, Patanjali will have high market shares in categories such as honey (35%), Ayurvedic medicine (35%) and ghee (33%) and will have eight categories with turnover greater than Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crore). Success may be limited in chocolates (4%), detergents (4%) and noodles (4%). Ghee, biscuits and Ayurvedic medicine will be the main contributors to Patanjali turnover.
PATANJALI BISCUITS According to an institutional research conducted by HDFC Securities available in Bloomberg (March 2016)[8], following are the conclusions drawn on Patanjali biscuits in comparison with Britannia biscuits:
Waste reduction is a crucial tool for cost efficiency. Patanjali is operating on 100% waste reduction. There is still room for growth. 14
The biscuit category is highly competitive and difficult to penetrate compared to other consumer categories.
Patanjali is currently focused on wheat biscuits.
Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has created quite a stir in most consumer categories, making
FMCG companies sweat. It is one of the fastest growing companies and is rapidly becoming a strong contender in the consumer goods space with growing market share.
Britannia and Patanjali have two products in common — ghee and biscuits. While the ghee business’ contribution in the overall revenues is minute for Britannia, the biscuit share is ~84%.
Patanjali is present in the biscuit category with key brand ‘Aarogya’ and other brands in different sub-categories (less than 15 Stock Keeping Units). The key differentiator for the company is the use of wheat in biscuit manufacturing.
Price comparison of Patanjali with its competitors:
PRIMARY STUDY & FINDINGS: The primary study comprised of interviewing 30 consumers (20 to 75 years of age; residing in urban India) in order to understand the consumer psyche and their buy behavior for Patanjali products in general. A further detailed analysis was done to comprehend the consumer rationale related to Dant Kanti (toothpaste) and Patanjali biscuits. The responses of the survey are used to address the objectives: Assessing the brand name, position and market share of Patanjali against other FMCG firms:
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The brand name of Patanjali is highly associated with Patanjali being perceived as Ayurvedic brand and the image of Baba Ramdev who is considered as a yoga guru and spiritual guide which is evident from the following findings:
Findings: More than 66% respondents perceive Patanjali as Ayurvedic product brand.
The popularity of Patanjali products is spreading and consumers are not just focusing on the healthcare products of Patanjali but are trying out other products being offered. This objective was studied according to various parameters of the consumer buy behavior
LOYALTY: The consumers who are satisfied with the product quality of Patanjali have quickly become loyal customers of Patanjali and are even experimenting with products in other categories (other than healthcare). It has been observed that most of them started using healthcare product of Patanjali though others like personal care, food products and homecare are gaining popularity. The trust in the products (with respect to the quality offered and the associated benefits) has led to buzz marketing in which people using these products are recommending it to their friends and families. A common trend observed amongst the younger generation (<28 years) is that most of them have switched to Patanjali based on the recommendation of their family elders in order to maintain their health.
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Findings: More than 65% respondents are regular buyers.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: The regular consumers though are satisfied with the overall quality of the product, would like to have better packaging of the product as well as more variety. It was observed that customer satisfaction depended on the demographics of the consumer based on age:
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20-30 years old: This group is satisfied the results of Patanjali products but do not like the taste/smell of the product and hence prefer to switch to other brands they were previously using.
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>30 years: This group is highly satisfied with the products and do not care about the taste/smell of the product. In other words, their buying behaviour doesn’t take into account the taste/smell of the product.
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Findings: More than 85% respondents above 30 years are satisfied with Patanjali products
whereas only 42% respondents below 30 years are satisfied with Patanjali products.
REPENT PRACTICE TENDENCIES: Many of the survey responses indicated that consumers repented their purchase and bought a particular type of product only once but it was surprising to notice that in-spite of that most of them were willing to try or have tried other products. Hence, it is a good point to note that consumers are not basing their opinion of the brand based on just one product and are experimenting with variety which shows that they are interested in the products offered by Patanjali and hence with a little improvement in the products to make them aligned with consumers’ interest will work in favour for Patanjali.
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Findings: More than 57% respondents never regretted buying Patanjali products.
VALUE ATTAINMENT: The prices of Patanjali products are comparable to other brands available in the market and also provide an additional health benefit. For example, Dant Kanti uses herbal ingredients and doesn’t have side effects; the A mla juice is good for hair and various drinks/juices improve digestion and help to keep the body fit (as claimed by these products)
RECALL AND RECOGNITION OF PATANJALI PRODUCTS: The image of Baba Ramdev is highly associated with the brand image of Patanjali and consumers view it as the ultimate brand for “healthier” alternatives to the FMCG products available in the market. The trend is that many industries are slowing moving towards “natural” products
which Patanjali provides. Overall the issue of health is being taken more seriously in the 21st century (with people spending more in Yoga and exercises; switching from fast-food to healthy food; trying to reduce pollution and promote sustainability). The image of Baba Ramdev as the Yoga guru who is promoting products made from natural ingredients has given a boost to Patanjali in creating a successful brand image in India. For example, even if Nestle Maggi is considered to be harmful, Patanjali noodles are considered to have an added health benefit.
To understand the standing of Patanjali in the healthier product category, consumers were asked whether they would stick to Patanjali even if other brands came up with similar products. Most of them who would stay loyal to Patanjali attributed it to the fact that it is Indian brand and highly associated with the Ayurvedic image developed in the past which related to the roots of the country. Hence, the trust in Patanjali is very high as compared to other foreign brands (in which the image of Baba Ramdev has been leveraged to create a loyal customer base).
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Findings: More than 70% respondents will never switch to other FMCG firms even if they offer
natural & healthy alternatives.
Though Patanjali products lack the appeal of nice packaging and advertisement, they were preferred over other natural products offered by other companies.
Study the current market position of Patanjali biscuits (non-medicinal product) to understand customer perception & buy-behavior:
The questions were designed so as to grasp following points pertaining to Patanjali Biscuits-
UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION: Most of the consumers buy Patanjali biscuits because they are made of whole wheat and do not contain Farnia (Maida) or cholesterol and are also good for the digestive system. They are easy to digest for kids and also available in a sugar-free variety.
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BRAND IDENTITY: Most of the consumers of Patanjali biscuits have relied on the trust of the brand to provide a healthy option. Though similar products are being promoted by other brands also, Patanjali biscuits are more popular when it comes to choosing the one that would prove more beneficial to the human digestive system.
Findings: In our survey more than 40% respondents quoted Healthy & Natural Alternative to
going for Patanjali biscuits.
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NEXT BEST ALTERNATIVE TO PATANJALI: For biscuits, consumers mostly buy the brand which is easily available. Not much thought is given to buying biscuits and depends a lot on the taste of the biscuits. Many varied responses to the next best alternative were given like Priya biscuits, Good Day biscuits, ParleG, ITC, Oreo, etc.
CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION: Patanjali biscuits are priced at par with the biscuits of other brands and hence there is not much comparison in those terms. Though with Patanjali biscuits consumers get the added health benefit.
REPENT PRACTICE TENDENCIES: Most of the one- time consumers who didn’t like the product said it was because it didn’t suit their taste. They would also prefer more
variety in the product.
REGULAR USERS: Regular users are happy with the product and many of them have acquired the taste for Patanjali products. Though the distribution network in North India is established pretty nicely, same can’t be said for Southern India and many IIM
Bangalore students who were regular users of Patanjali biscuits have switched to a different brand which is available in the nearby shops.
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Findings: More than 53% respondents will definitely buy the biscuits again.
Study the current market position of Patanjali toothpaste Dant Kanti (medicinal product) to understand customer perception & buy-behavior:
The questions were designed so as to grasp following points pertaining to Dant Kanti-
UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION: Most of the consumers using Dant Kanti prefer it because it allows them to utilise the health benefit provided by it. Its ingredients include Neem, Babul, Pudina etc. which is recognised by most Indians to have medicinal benefits. It is useful in curing Gingivitis, Toothache, Bad Breath and Spongy Bleeding Gums.
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BRAND IDENTITY: Most of the consumers of Dant Kanti have relied on the trust of the brand to provide a healthy option. Not many products exist in the market that can claim to be made entirely from natural ingredients and hence Dant Kanti is gaining popularity.
Findings: More than 33.3% of the respondents bought Patanjali Dant Kanti because of its
health benefits.
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NEXT BEST ALTERNATIVE TO PATANJALI: Colgate and Close-up have come up as the most used toothpaste brands by most of the users. The upside for Patanjali is that though these brands are now promoting natural ingredients toothpaste, Patanjali started with that and the complete image of the brand of Patanjali complements it.
Findings: Majority of people were using either Colgate or Close-up.
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CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION: Patanjali Dant Kanti is little cheaper than its competitors and claims to have additional medicinal benefits associated with it. It sells under the name of “Patanjali Dant Kanti Dental Cream” and not as toothpaste. It has very
clearly identified its product to be used to take care of teeth and gums (dental)
REPENT PRACTICE TENDENCIES: Most of the one- time consumers who didn’t like the product said it was because it didn’t suit their taste. They would also prefer more
variety in the product. REGULAR USERS: Regular users are happy with the product and many of them have acquired the taste for Patanjali products. Though the distribution network in North India is established pretty nicely, same can’t be said for Southern India . Even regular users
would prefer to have more variety in toothpaste.
Findings: More than 46.7% of the respondents will rebuy Patanjali Dant Kanti.
Patanjali as Herbo-mineral or Ayurvedic product:
From the graph below based on the answers collected from the survey, it is evident that almost all of the consumers perceive Patanjali as an overall Ayurvedic company with all Ayurvedic products as the name “Patanjali Ayurved” suggests. Though after explanation of the difference
between Ayurved and Herbo-mineral, many said that they knew it before though didn’t understand the concept as well and it wouldn’t change their buy behavior towards Patanjali products.
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AURA OF RAMDEV BABA: Baba Ramdev has indeed helped Patanjali to create its image as that of an Ayurvedic brand with medicinal advantages.
Findings: More than 56% respondents think that aura of Baba Ramdev is responsible for
Patanjali’s success.
AYURVEDIC VS HERBO-MINERAL: Though people know that all of the products of Patanjali do not have medicinal benefit i.e. they are not Ayurvedic but are made of natural ingredients (herbo-mineral) and hence do not have side-effects. We found below findings about people who were unware about this fact but even after knowing this many of them responded that they will stick with Patanjali.
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Findings: 60% respondents were unware about the fact about Patanjali being Herbo-
Mineral instead of Ayurvedic but still 70% people would stick with Patanjali irrespective of this fact.
QUALITY AND VALUE PROPOSITION OF PATANJALI PRODUCTS: Patanjali products have well established themselves in the market as the best choice for a healthy and fit body and are available at prices comparable to those of products of other brands (or cheaper at times). Consumers though are satisfied with the quality of the product would be happy to have improved variations of the products.
EFFECTIVENESS OF BRAND IMAGE AS AYURVEDIC PRODUCT: The aura of Baba Ramdev has been effective in creating the brand image of Patanjali. Consumers recognise this brand as “ Swadeshi” with the richness of ancient Indian medicinal
sciences. The image of Baba Ramdev has been closely associated with the products where in lies the trust of the consumers in the brand.
RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the primary study, Patanjali should focus on following three aspects in order to increase their market share:
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ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERSo
ADVERTISING: Patanjali has a wide variety of products but the consumers are not aware about products. Patanjali should start an extensive advertisement campaign to create awareness about the various products (and their variety available). Patanjali has started advertising a lot more through TV ads and print media and should continue to do so in order to acquire new customers.
o
SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING: There is a clear difference between the needs of younger and older generation when it comes to Patanjali products. Hence, the company should identify these different segments and target them accordingly.
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DISTRIBUTION NETWORK: Shops selling all types of Patanjali products should be increased as the demand for the products is increasing. Many new customers can be acquired if the products were accessible easily to them in general stores.
MAKE EXISTING CUSTOMERS BUY MOREo
IMPROVE EXISTING PRODUCT (Take customer feedback on existing products): Patanjali should continue to do R&D for the products and keep improving the quality. Also, the taste/smell of the product should also be improved.
o
OFFER VARIATIONS: More product variations should be offered to give more choice to consumers. For example, in toothpaste category, Patanjali offers Dant Kanti only. More varieties specific to different customer needs can help boost sales. Hence, line extension should be done.
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PRODUCT BUNDLING: Bundle discounts and promoting similar type of products to be bought together can help. For example, consumers buying Patanjali shampoo can be easily encouraged to buy its oil. 29
INTRODUCE NEW PRODUCTSo
HEALTHCARE: Since it is one of the most popular category for Patanjali products and not many other companies have been able to develop so many healthcare products based on Ayurvedic medicine sciences that improving and providing more options in this category will attract consumers.
o
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DAIRY PRODUCTS: Since these products are also natural, Patanjali owing to its brand image can easily find consumer base for such products.
VARIETY: Line extension should be done in the existing product line to provide consumers with more variety to choose from.
For long-term strategy Patanjali should concentrate on following points (based on the consumer interaction):
MOVE BEYOND THE IMAGE OF AYURVEDA: Most of the people perceive Patanjali as Ayurveda only brand even though they are into all kinds of products. By moving beyond their Ayurveda image they will be able to capture customers who were reluctant to buy Patanjali products because of their Ayurveda image.
IMPROVE PACKAGING: The general opinion of consumers has been that packaging of Patanjali needs to be drastically improved. Though Patanjali focuses primarily on providing value-added herbo-mineral products, it should still focus on the appearance of the product. For example, the packaging for the drinking health juices is like that of Phenyl product (used for cleaning). The appearance of the product helps in establishing its own identity and appeal.
UPWARD STRECH: Patanjali is trying to provide consumer products at a price lower than of the existing products in the market. Many consumers (of urban area and earning a regular income) have agreed that they would like to buy premium products offered by Patanjali. Thus, more research can be done in this matter as to whether Patanjali should offer premium variations for existing products for the mid and high income earning consumers. 30
REFERENCES [1]
Patanjali
Ayurved
(2016)
in
Wikipedia.
Available
at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patanjali_Ayurved (Accessed: 28 June 2016). [2] Dutta, A. (2016) Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali aims to double its revenue to Rs 10, 000 cr in
2016-17. Available at: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/baba-ramdev-spatanjali-aims-to-double-its-revenue-to-rs-10-000-cr-in-2016-17-116042700061_1.html (Accessed: 27 June 2016). [3]Singh, N. and Sinha, P. (2016) Article: Patanjali on track to hit $1 billion sales in FY17 - the
economic
times.
Available
at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-
products/fmcg/patanjali-on-track-to-hit-1-billion-sales-in-fy17/articleshow/51422878.cms (Accessed: 27 June 2016). [4] Anand, K. (2016) Here’s why Baba Ramdev’s Rs 5000 Crore empire is making corporate
India uncomfortable. Available at: http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/here%E2%80%99swhy-baba-ramdev%E2%80%99s-200-crore-empire-is-making-corporate-india-uncomfortable229410.html (Accessed: 27 June 2016). [5]Ramchandani, P. (2016) ‘A STUDY OF THE SUCCESS STORY OF PATANJALI: AN AYURVEDIC BRAND IN FMCG MARKET’, Sai Om Journal of Commerce & Management, 3(6) [6] Rukhaiyar, A. (2016) Patanjali eating into market share of FMCG majors. Available at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/business/fastmoving-ayurvedicgoods/article8187124.ece (Accessed: 19 July 2016). [7] Britannia, B. and Gold, M. (2014) Packaged food series THE SEVEN. Available at: http://consumeraffairs.nic.in/consumer/writereaddata/PackagedFoodSeries_MarieBiscuit.pdf (Accessed: 19 July 2016). [8] kandpal, parikshit D. (2016) Britannia industries BUY packing a crunchy bite. Available at: http://www.hdfcsec.com/Research/ResearchDetails.aspx?report_id=3017093 (Accessed: 19 July 2016).
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[9] Sinha, P. (2016) Patanjali eats into Colgate’s toothpaste market share. Available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Patanjali-eats-into-Colgatestoothpaste-market-share/articleshow/50764540.cms [10] Herbal toothpastes 13 (2013) Available at: http://consumeraffairs.nic.in/consumer/writereaddata/Herbal_Toothpastes_13.pdf (Accessed: 19 July 2016)
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APPENDIX-A (CUSTOMER SURVEY): Gender: Age: 1. Have you used any Patanjali product? 2. If yes, please specify the type of product used (you may select multiple options) a) Healthcare b) Medicine c) Personal Care d) Homecare e) Food products 3. Do you perceive Patanjali as an Ayurvedic product with medicinal benefits? 4. Do you know that Patanjali majorly produces herbo-mineral products though it is named as Patanjali Ayurved? 5. Will you stick with Patanjali even after knowing that they are herbo-mineral not necessarily Ayurvedic? 6. Have you tried Patanjali biscuits? 7. If yes, what you liked about Patanjali biscuits over other brands? a) Baba Ramdev/Brand Patanjali b) Healthy/Natural Alternative c)
Better quality
d) Cheap Price e) Easy Availability
8. Have you tried Patanjali toothpaste? Yes/No 9. If yes, what you liked about Patanjali toothpaste over other brands? a) Baba Ramdev/Brand Patanjali b) Healthy/Natural Alternative 33
c)
Better quality
d) Cheap Price e) Easy Availability
10. Are you satisfied with current quality offered by Patanjali or do you think that there is room for improvement? 11. Which company products were you previously using? 12. Do you regularly buy Patanjali products? 13. Would you prefer other FMCG products if they came up with natural products or stick with Patanjali? 14. Any case in which you regretted buying Patanjali products? And did it affect your loyalty towards Patanjali? 15. Does association of Baba Ramdev with Patanjali affect your notion about the brand value? 16. What new products should Patanjali introduce that you will surely buy? 17. Patanjali Biscuit: Would you buy it again? What improvements you want? 18. Patanjali Toothpaste: Would you buy it again? What improvements you want?
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