Branding Yoga, HBR Case

1. Branding Yoga
A Harvard Business School Case
by
Rohit Deshpande, Kerry Herman, Annelena Lobb
Analysed by
Vishnupriya Aryabhumi
IIT Madras

2. What is branding
• The process involved in creating a unique
name and image for a product in the
consumers' mind, mainly through
advertising campaigns with a consistent
theme.
• Branding aims to establish a significant
and differentiated presence in the
market that attracts and retains loyal
customers.

3. What is Yoga?
• A physical, mental and spiritual discipline
that originated in ancient India

4. History of Yoga
• Indus valley archeological relics
• Vedas
• Mahabharata
• Panatanjali’s Astanga Yoga

5. Types of Yoga
• Hatha Yoga (includes physical postures
and breathing exerises)
• Karma Yoga
• Bakthi Yoga
• Gnana Yoga
• Raja Yoga
Each type focuses on different ideas of yoga

6. Yoga came to the US
• Began in mid-19th century
• Thoreau and Emerson- Indic and Hindu
Literature
• Swami Vivekananda (1893) followed by
Sara Bull
• Margaret Woodrow Wilson (1940)
• Indra Devi (1947)
• Richard Hittleman (1940s and 1950s) –
Hata Yoga
• The Beatles trip to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi

7. Popularity in US
• Hatha Yoga and TM became very popular
in US
• Maharshi+ Chopra used a holistic
approach eliminating the division between
mind and body (essentially Hindu or more
broadly Asian ideas)
– became very popular in US without actually
acknowledging the sources of the ideas

8. Situation of the case
• The main players
– Bikram Choudhury
– Tara Stiles
– The Hindu American Foundation (HAF)
Yoga Teachers

9. Bikram Choudhury vs Tara Stiles
(1/3)
Bikram Choudhury Tara Stiles
Born
in
1946, Calcutta, India 1981, Illinios
Befor
e
yoga
Student of yoga since
he was four years old
Ballet dancer, dancing
and commercials
Begin
ning
of US
saga
1971- arrived in US,
started teaching Yoga
2006- posted promotional
yoga videos on youtube
through Ford agency

10. Bikram Choudhury vs Tara Stiles
(2/3)
Bikram Choudhury Tara Stiles
Books 1979- Bikram’s
Beginning Yoga Class
– his First copyright
2006- Slim Calm Sexy
Yoga
Patents
or
copyrigh
ts
26 asanas and 2
breathing exercises
Sued other yoga
studios on violation of
copyrights
None--- YET!
Studio(s
)
5000 studios in 220
countries
5 million USD revenue
per annum
First studio in 2008

11. Bikram Choudhury vs Tara Stiles
(3/3)
Bikram Choudhury Tara Stiles
Yoga
style
Hatha Yoga
All about Sanskrit
Verbatim
“Cool” Yoga
Zero Verbatim
We see two different paths of two successful yoga teachers
There’s Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram yoga in
America, who has aggressively fought to patent his approach to
traditional yoga style.
Then there is the former model and ballet dancer Tara Stiles,
who isn’t particularly interested in yoga’s roots or rules, but
rather in mixing up different styles of yoga to create a
beneficial exercise.

12. Yoga- Present Stats
• 16 million practitioners in US
• Meditative to athletic styles
• 6$ billion industry
• Existence of copyrights and Patents
From a Business
perspective

13. So, What’s the point?
• Huge industry
• It’s all about creating value for a large audience.
– Can be achieved using marketing and branding
• You need legal protection for your branding (as
Bikram did)
We have seen two successful yoga teachers who
have reached out to different target markets in
their own style and cashed the market demand

14. Now the questions and
contradictions!
• Is Copyrighting asanas a reasonable
move?
• It is a part of India’s traditional knowledge.
How can one person have any control
over it?
• Isn’t it necessary to acknowledge the
“Hindu” roots of yoga?
And finally…
The religion perspec

15. This is where HAF comes in!!
“Take back Yoga-
Bringing to light
Yoga’s Hindu
Roots”

16. Objective of HAF
• The Yoga Journal magazine did not
acknowledge the association of yoga with
Hinduism.
– Associated it with Jainism, Buddhism and
Christianity
• So, the objective of HAF is to make them
acknowledge the connection between
Hinduism and Yoga

17. Summarizing the case…
• The case examines the different paths of
two successful yoga teachers who have
used branding to their advantage in
profiting from huge industry of Yoga
• On the other hand, case also voices the
arguments of entities that are against
commercializing Yoga and bringing in
religious aspect

18. Central Dilemma of the Case
Is everything brandable—
and should everything be brandable?
1. Should yoga be branded in connection to
Hinduism?
2. Should Yoga be commercialized or not?
3. How to deal with this, business vs
religious outlook of Yoga?

19. 1Should yoga be branded in
connection to Hinduism?

20. Argument
• The case clearly states that Yoga has its
origins in ancient India
• In 1940, When Margaret Woodrow
Wilson, daughter of former President
Woodrow Wilson, left the U.S. for an
ashram in Pondicherry, India, a clear
enough connection between India and
Hinduism existed that the U.S. press
seized on the idea that the daughter of a
U.S. president had decided to “become
The Religious
perspective

21. Argument contd.,
• But now, being Indian is not synonymous
to being Hindu
• So it would not be appropriate to say that
“Yoga is one of the greatest contributions
of Hinduism to mankind”
• In fact, Yoga should be secular and should
not be linked to any one particular religion
as rightly said by Stiles-“People need
Yoga, not another religious leader”

22. 2Should Yoga be commercialized or
not?

23. Argument
• Patents are to discourage intellectual
property theft. But this should not be
misused. Bikram could have patented his
technique of doing yoga in elevated
temperatures but is copyrighting the classic
asanas ethical even though its legal?
• So India headed the effort to catalogue the
traditional knowledge to prevent the “grant of
bad patents”. (as in Bikram’s case)
Branding and legal rights should not be misused.
Any product should not be commercialized beyond
reason.
The Business
perspective

24. 3So how to deal with the two
outlooks??

25. Some suggestions…(1/2)
• Balance tradition and Innovation
– B.K.S. Iyenger Vs. Bikram Choudhury
• Be authentic
– Build an authentic style of Yoga based on the
classic principles, innovating and
differentiating the style
• Understand Legality vs ethics of branding
yoga
– Do NOT forget the essence of yoga in trying
to brand it

26. Some suggestions…(2/2)
• Refrain from overstatement
– Acknowledge the sources of the basis of your
modified/branded style
• Remember what yoga is about
– When branding a unique form, consider
whether the practice has ceased being yoga. (
might become aerobics or gymnastics!)

27. Conclusion…
“The key to reconciling marketing and yogic
principles may lie in taking advantage of
branding’s beneficent aspects without
going overboard into abusing an
emphasis on marketing.”

28. Conclusion contd.,
• You need legal protection for your
branding
• Branding yoga has both a positive and a
dark side. It is easy to look to the abuses
and forget that branding, like other
marketing tools, can serve a useful
purpose
• Yes, Yoga is brandable but…
be reasonable and ethical

29. Credits
• http://www.businessdictionary.com/definitio
n/branding.html#ixzz3eecZslso
• Branding a Style of Yoga by MICHAEL H.
COHEN, J.D., M.B.A. in the YOGA
JOURNAL dated Aug 28, 2007
• thelimetreeyoga.com
Disclaimer
"Created by Vishnupriya Aryabhumi, IITMadras, during an internship by
Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIMLucknow.
www.IIMInternship.com"