Promotion Techniques of Patanjali Atta Noodles and

Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles

Promotion of Patanjali atta noodles has two aspects. The popularity of

Patanjali and its promoter Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, who is also the

brand ambassador of Patanjali and the marketing efforts specifically for

the atta noodles.

Baba Ramdev is a globally recognized Yoga Guru. He popularized yoga

through mass yoga camps. He founded the Divya Yog Mandir Trust in

1995 and from 2003 he started featuring in the morning yoga slot of

Aastha TV. He gained large followers thus. He has improved the lives of

many people through Yoga, hence when he founded Patanjali Ayurveda

limited, along with Acharya Balkrishna, he could convert many of his

followers as the customers of Patanjali. Also, Baba Ramdev promotes

Patanjali products during his yoga classes. “The difference between him

and regular brand ambassadors is he lives the brand.”

The slogan of Patanjali is “Prakriti ka Ashirwad”. Their objective was to

bring to life the ancient wisdom and science of Ayurveda with the help of

latest advanced technology. The company manufacturers herbal products

by importing herbs from Himalayas of Nepal. Most of Patanjali’s

products are priced less than that of competitor’s. Patanjali projects itself

as a “swadeshi” alternative to foreign brands. Their campaigns have

focused on passing the information that by consuming swadeshi products

revenue generated will remain within India and that “revenue of Patanjali

is for Charity and not for Brand Owners”.

So, when Patanjali launches noodles and that noodles are been promoted

by Baba Ramdev, the message that they promote is or the differentiation

that they offer is, a new brand of noodles with natural ingredients.

Patanjali positions its noodles as “healthier and tastier noodles free from

the worry of toxic additives.” Launching the noodles in the context of

Maggi facing a massive ban helped in pushing their value proposition

across to the customers. Baba Ramdev gets much media coverage. So,

during the Maggi issue when he came forward and announced that he will

launch safer noodles, he got instant coverage and promotion for his

product, which didn’t cost him anything.

Patanjali Ayurveda, a zero-advertising company during initial days is now

a leader in advertising. They collaborated with DDB Mudra North to

create a jingle based ad for atta noodles. The jingle ‘Iss noodle mein kya

hai?’ is very catchy. It tries to explain that this noodles are different

because it has healthy attributes and “no unhealthy surprise”. It shows

kids, health conscious people and seniors family members savor the

noodles.

The punchline, ‘Jhatpat Banao, Befikar Khao’, comes up towards the end

of the ad. The ad was released across the nation first through television

and then through radio.

The product launch was an event with much fanfare. At the launch, Baba

Ramdev was seen having the noodles and also urging others to have.

Fig.1: Baba Ramdev during the product launch. Fig.2: A shot from the TV ad.

The major player in the Indian noodles market is Nestlé’s Maggi noodles.

Maggi is in the Indian market from 1982. Since then it is known as the ‘2

minutes’ noodles’. Even though one no could cook the noodles in 2

minutes, it became the favorite of Indians for the quick way to get a good

snack.

The initial promotion high-lighted the convenience factor and targeted the

working women. Even though they heavily advertised in media the sales

didn’t pick up. Then the brand came up with the tagline ‘Fast to Cook,

Good to Eat’ shifting their focus to mothers and children. They provided

utensils and toys as gifts along with the packets of Maggi. Also,

advertisements were placed in kid’s channels and also in between major

television programs in India. Many promotion strategies like distributing

free samples in schools and offices, fun books, scratch and win coupons,

discounts and money back offers, giving gifts on return of empty packets,

sponsor television programs and school quizzes, price-off offer, schemes

like 4-piece pack for 36 instead of 40. To celebrate 25 years in India, they

launched the ‘Main Aur Meri Maggi’ campaign in India. Famous

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan had been roped in for the

promotional activities. They advertise heavily when they launch a new

product in the market. Maggi didn’t advertise much on the print media.

In order to keep up the growth curve in the Indian market, they introduced

products like Maggi vegetable atta noodles. This went well with their new

tagline ‘Taste Bhi Health Bhi’. Tasty because it has the favourite Maggi

masala and healthy because it has fibers and real vegetables. They

advertised heavily for the launch of the product. The advertisements show

that the noodles suit the taste buds of the entire family members.

The advertisement also passed on the information that 80g vegetable atta

noodles provide dietary fiber equal to 3 rotis. In the recent advertisement

Madhuri Dixit is promoting the vegetable atta noodles. A welcome kit

consisting of 1 pack Veg Atta Noodles 320 g (4 packs), 1 pack Oats

Noodles 292 g (4 packs), 1 red Bowl, 1 yellow Bowl, 1 diary was provided

in the e-commerce site Snap deal to promote the product.

Fig.3: Madhuri Dixit promotes Maggi Fig.4: A shot from the TV ad

vegetable atta noodles