Detailed descriptions of the commercialization of yoga

1. Branding Yoga
Presented by:
Smriti Mishra
G.E.C Rewa
A Harvard business school case analysis

2. What is yoga?

3. Yogaisaphysical,mental,
andspiritualdisciplinethat
originatedinancientIndia.
YOGA

4. •TheSanskritword“yoga”literallymeanttoyoke
andcamefromtherootyuj,meaning“union.”
•TheearliestSanskritverses(circa1500–1000
B.C.E.),knownastheVedas,containedsomethemes
thatmayhavebeenantecedentsofyogatheoriesand
practices
.

5. • In2008,almost16millionpeopleintheU.S.were
practitionersofyoga
• Theirpracticesrangedfrommeditativetohighlyathletic
styles

6. What are the objectives
of the case?

7. Itfocusesonhowyogaguruscommercializethe artofyoga
fortheirprofits
Itfocusesonbrandinganartandtheculture
ItalsocreateawarenessoforiginofYogaandtheIndian
cultureItalsofocusesonthedifferentmarketingstrategiesand
expandingmarketforyoga

8. Branding Yoga: Two
different approaches

9. Approach 1: Bikram
Choudhary:the yoga guru

10. • BikramwasayogaguruwhopromotedyogaintheWest
duringthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury.
• In1971,hearrivedintheU.Swhereheopenedhisfirst
studioinLosAngeles
• In1979,Bikramobtainedhisfirstcopyright,forhisbook
Bikram’sBeginningYogaClass.Healsogotatrademark
forhiscompany’sname,Bikram’sYogaCollegeofIndia.
Who is Bikram Choudhary?

11. • In1994,Bikrambegantoofferanintensiveteacher-
trainingcourse,whichledtoariseinthenumberof
Bikramstudios.
• By2000,heacceleratedhistrainingprogramturning
about200teachersayear.
• Teacherswerecertifiedaftertwomonthsoftraining

12. • In2002,whenBikramlearnedthatotheryogainstructors
usedhismethodswithotherconcepts
• In2002,hesentacease-and-desistlettertotheownersof
ayogastudioinCostaMesa,California.Theowners
violatedhiscopyrightandwasfined$150,000
• Theyreachedasettlementin2003

13. • ByApril2003,Bikramhadmorethan700studiosin220
countries.
• In2003,OpenSourceYogaUnity(OSYU),basedinSan
Francisco,California,filedsuitagainstBikram.
• Itclaimedthathiscopyrightsandpatentswereinvalid,
andthatyogacouldnotbecopyrighted.
• In2005,thelawsuitwassettledoutofcourt.
• By2011,some5,000ofhisstudioshadopenedaroundthe
worldwhichearnedhimabout$5millionayear,

14. • Bikramcontinuedtohuntdownperceivedcopycatsand
sendcease-and-desistletters.Inthem,hewarned
practitionersandinstructors

15. Approach 2: Tara stiles-the
yoga guru

16. Who is Tara Stiles?
• Sheistheformermodelandballetdancerwhohas
differentstylesofteachingyoga
• Shemixupdifferentstylesofyogatocreateabeneficial
exercise
• Stilessaidherearlyexperiencesofyogawerepersonaland
drewfromdifferenttraditions.

17. • ThroughtheFordAgency,shemovedtoNewYorkin
2000.
• In2006,shewentonseveralfashionshootsthatinvolved
yogaapparel,andtheFordAgencyaskedhertocreateand
postpromotionalyogavideosonYouTube.
• In2007,StilesleftFord.ShebegantouseFacebookto
promotetheyogaclassesshetaughtoutofherapartment,
andofferedprivatesessions.

18. • In2008,Stilesopenedherownstudio,StralaYoga,inNew
York’sNoHodistrict.
• ShedidnotuseSanskritwordsforposesorchantinclass.
• Stilescreatedcontroversybecauseshewasmakingyoga
cool
• In2009,StilesworkedwithautomakerNissan.Nissan
sponsoredpromotionalvideosthatdiscussedtheir
approachestoexercise.

19. • In2010,ChopraandStilesalsoreleasedayogaiPadapp,
“AuthenticYoga,”andcollaboratedonavideo
• Stiles’sbook,SlimCalmSexyYoga,waspublishedinthe
summerof2010andwasthenumber-oneyogabookon
Amazon.comforseveralmonths
• Attheendof2010,JaneFondareintroducedherfitness
brandanddebuted“TeamFonda,”agroupoffitness
instructorswithwhomshelaunchednewworkoutvideos,
includingStiles

20. • Stilesdidnotthinkshewouldpatentheryogaclasses,as
Bikramhaddone.

21. Whether the commercialisation
of yoga is appropriate?

22. • Inawayyogaisnowbeingcommercializedwithoutits
rootfromtheHindufaith.
• Thereligionissomethingverypersonalandshouldnotbe
commercialized

23. • Ontheothersidecommercializationofyogahasmadethe
yogamorepopularamongthemasses.

24. What is HAF?

25. • HinduAmericanfoundation(HAF)isanadvocacygroup
forHinduismintheU.S.
• In2008,severalmembersoftheHAF,examinededitions
ofYogaJournal,whichhadbecomeapopularAmerican
yogamagazine.
• TheysawnoreferencetoHinduisminthemagazineand
concludedthatitassociatedBuddhism,Jainism,and
ChristianitywithyogamorethanitdidHinduism.

26. • HAFdecidedtolaunch“TakeBackYoga—Bringingto
LightYoga’sHinduRoots.”
• Thegoalofthecampaignwasnottoconvertyoga
devoteestoHinduismbuttohavethemacknowledgethe
connectionbetweenthem.
• HAFbegantopresentthepaperinsettingssuchasthe
2009CouncilforaParliamentoftheWorld’sReligionsin
Australia

27. • InMarch2011,SheetalShahofHAF,TaraStiles,Dr.Edwin
BryantofRutgersUniversity,Dr.VirginiaCowenofthe
CityUniversityofNewYork,andEdwinStern,founderof
AshtangaYogaNY,participatedinadiscussionat
PrincetonUniversitycalled“ThePoliticsofYoga.”
• Theeventwasrecorded,andvideoswerepostedto
YouTube.Topicsincludedthedefinitionofyoga,the
commercialization ofyoga,thevalidityofyogaasexercise
alone,andwhetheryogabelongedtoHinduismortoany
onetradition.

28. What is the overall
analysis of the case?

29. • Yogahasbeendevelopedasaprofitablebusiness
• Yogaentrepreneurshavebrandedtheirownstylesof
practice
• YogaisarguablyIndia’sgreatestculturalexport,yogahas
morphedintomassculturephenomenon.

30. • Theyogathatispracticedtodayhasverylittleincommon
withtheyogaofYogasutra
• Theyogaclassesthatareconductedtodayareunlikethe
oneattheearlyages,todaytheYogaguruchargelarge
sumofmoneyfromthestudents

31. • YogahasitsoriginrootsfromIndiaandentiretyisrooted
intheHinduphilosophybutisnotbeingacceptedbythe
west.

32. • Benefitofcommercializationofyogaititsincreased
accessibilityofyogatothemasses

34. Created by Smriti Mishra,G.E.C Rewa, during
an internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur,IIM
Lucknow
www.IIMinternship.com