Patanjali noodles riding on Ramdev's marketing

At the launch of Patanjali Ayurved's atta noodles on Thursday, Baba Ramdev, yoga guru and co-founder of the company, was not only seen having the noodles himself but urging others to do so. Though a yoga guru having instant noodles might seem at odds, it points to the savvy marketer that Ramdev is.

Apart from plugging into the need for a healthy noodles option in the absence of Maggi, Ramdev has done everything a smart brand ambassador would. This isn't the only instance when the 49-year-old yoga guru has weaved his magic on promotion and branding. In the 18 years since he co-founded his ayurvedic company along with scholar Balakrishna, he has virtually carried the Patanjali brand on his shoulders.

A recent CLSA report says the unlisted Patanjali Ayurved, which, at the end of 2014-15 had revenue of about Rs 2,500 crore, spends practically nothing on advertising and sales promotion. By comparison, the average advertising and sales promotion costs for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are nothing less than 12-15 per cent of sales.

Experts say Ramdev embodies what Patanjali is all about. "The difference between him and regular brand ambassadors is he lives the brand. There is no gap between what he espouses and what Patanjali wishes to communicate. While personality-led brands aren't uncommon in advertising - the late Steve Jobs personified what Apple stood for and Richard Branson lends his charisma and charm to Virgin - I don't think there are any examples of it in ayurveda," says Kiran Khalap, co-founder, Chlorophyll Brand and Communications Consultancy.

In many respects, Ramdev is also among the busiest FMCG brand ambassadors. He promotes Patanjali products during his yoga sessions and discourses, weaving it cleverly into his narrative and ensuring his followers also become users of his products.

According to N Chandra-mouli, chief executive of TRA, publishers of the annual Brand Trust Report (which measures the level of trust in a product or personality), Patanjali Ayurved broke into the list for the first time this year, featuring among the seven most trusted ayurveda brands in the country.

"Baba Ramdev was the only spiritual leader to figure in our top 21 personality list, at number 16 this year. This is the first time in the four years since we launched the report that a spiritual leader has featured on our personality list, otherwise dominated by Bollywood and cricket players," Chandramouli says.

With ad agency DDB Mudra now working with Patanjali Ayurved to promote some of its products, Ramdev's aura might only be enhanced. Madhukar Kamath, group chief executive and managing director of DDB Mudra, says the scale of Ramdev's business attracted his agency to Patanjali. "They have a great product, a modern manufacturing process, a wide distribution network and a large number of loyal followers, who are also users of the brand. What more would you want from an FMCG company?" Kamath asks.

With Patanjali growing (it has plans to enter almost every FMCG category and increase its reach from 177,000 outlets to two million), Ramdev is unlikely to get any respite from his endorsement duties.