Case Study of HBS Case "Branding Yoga"

1. Branding Yoga
Whether the commercialization of
yoga is appropriate?

2. Yoga – An Introduction
• The sanskrit word Yoga came from root ‘yuj’,
Meaning – union.
• The Yoga Sutras, a series of aphorisms, written
by Patanjali, considered to be yoga’s most
important precursor.

3. • He also wrote about Ashtanga Yoga (or the
eight limbs of yoga):- Yama or restaint,
Niyama or observation, Asana or physical
exercises, Pranayama or breathing
Techniques, Pratyahara or preparation of
Meditation, Dharana or Concentration,
Dhyana or Meditation, Samadhi or
Absorption.
Yoga – An Introduction

4. Yoga – Initial Purpose
Yoga was associated with quieting the mind,
transcending the physical self, and attaining
communion with the divine.

6. Yoga – Modern Day Evolution
• Modern-day yoga reflected a plethora of ideas
that teachers of yoga had passed down to
their students over thousands of years. Some
yoga practitioners focused exclusively on
meditation, while other yogis and yoginis
(male and female yoga devotees, respectively)
engaged in highly physical forms of yoga. Even
competitive yoga had a tradition in India.

7. • There’s Bikram Choudhury, the founder of
Bikram yoga in America, who has aggressively
fought to patent his approach to traditional
yoga style.
Yoga – Branding: A Case Study of 2
different approaches

8. • 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.
Yoga – Branding: A Case Study of 2
different approaches

9. Yoga – Issues with branding
The Indian government, meanwhile, took
umbrage with Bikram’s legal claims, arguing that
yoga was part of the country’s traditional
knowledge. The government put together a panel
of 100 historians and scientists that began
cataloging 1,500 yoga poses found in ancient
texts written in Sanskrit, Urdu, and Persian. The
goal was not to challenge Bikram in court, the
case explains, but rather to keep others from
following his proprietary example…

10. Yoga – Branding: The Big Question
Whether the commercialization of yoga is
appropriate?

11. Argument
• “The argument against it is that religion is
something that is very personal, and that it
should not be commercialized.”

12. • The Hindu American Foundation (HAF)
launched an awareness campaign called “Take
Back Yoga—Bringing to Light Yoga’s Hindu
Roots.” The goal was not to convert yoga
devotees to Hinduism, according to the
organizers, but rather to have them
acknowledge the connection.
Argument

13. • HAF cofounder and board member Aseem
Shukla in the Washington Post’s On Faith
column called “The Theft of Yoga” blasted the
“facile complicity of generations of Hindu
yogis, gurus, swamis, and others that offered
up a religion’s spiritual wealth at the altar of
crass commercialism.”
Argument

15. • The other side of the argument focuses on
business rather than religion.“ It’s all about
creating value for a large audience. By using
marketing and branding you can be more
effective and bring [your product] to a larger
audience.
Argument

16. Evaluation
• “Yoga’s very popularity creates the possibility
of corruption and distortion, and lowest
common denominator teachings,” says Philip
Goldberg, spiritual teacher and author of
American Veda, in an interview with the
Huffington Post.

17. $118 yogi crew sweater
from lululemon

18. $128 yoga mat from Manduka

19. • Yoga, at its roots, was for men. It was
traditionally a very sexist practice and women
were excluded from it. It has changed a little
bit and now, within civilizations, women go
into the city to practice but the majority of
practitioners in India are still men.
Evaluation

20. • The practice of yoga in the Western world
looks a lot different, with 83 per cent of
practitioners being women. Yoga classes are
rarely one-on-one; they usually take place in
mirrored studios with many students and one
teacher.
Evaluation

21. • A major benefit of commercialization is the
increased accessibility of yoga to the masses.
With yoga being offered in more venues, by
more teachers and in more styles than ever
before, the ways that anyone can get involved
increase dramatically.
Evaluation

22. • For example, Steve Jobs redefined the role of
technology in our daily lives by creating
elegant, effective, beautifully designed
products that simply make things easier and
more accessible.
Evaluation

23. • “The very fact that if you ask the average
person what yoga is, they immediately think
of a beautiful woman doing stretches and
bends; that tells you how commercialized it
has become.”
Evaluation

24. • "When a student recognizes they are going to
a teacher to learn something [meaningful and
useful] and that they are being given this great
information that this person has acquired,
they tend to value that more. On the other
hand, if they're going to be led through a
workout and it's a homogeneous workout that
could be had anywhere, it's just a matter of
time and place, then that doesn't have much
value."
Evaluation

25. • Instead of judging as "good" or "bad,"
however, it must be recognized that
commercialization quite simply is a large part
of the current reality of yoga in the West. This
pattern of commercialization can be seen in
many subcultures that have become popular
on a mainstream level, for example
technology, Hip Hop and entertainment.
Evaluation

26. Solution – Middle Path
Being aware of the opportunities created by
commercialization, while at the same time
taking on only those that support one's
authentic values. In this way, yoga as a culture
and a movement can thrive within the
industry it has created thereby transcending
conflicts that exist between the extremes of
supporting either commercialization or
authenticity alone.

27. Thanks