Himalaya Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategies of HIMALAYA COMPANY

HISTORY

The Himalaya Drug Company was founded in 1930 by Mr. M. Manal with a clear vision to bring Ayurveda to society in a contemporary form and to unravel the mystery behind the 5,000 year old system of medicine. This included referring to ancient ayurvedic texts, selecting indigenous herbs and subjecting the formulations to modern pharmacological, toxicological and safety tests to create new drugs and therapies.

Eighty one years ago, on a visit to Burma, Mr. Manal saw restless elephants being fed with a root to pacify them. The plant from which this was taken is Rauwolfia serpentina. Fascinated by the plant 's effect on elephants, he had it scientifically evaluated and went on to study various

FORMATIVE MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Himalaya shot into limelight with the high profile launch of its OTC brand Ayurvedic Concepts. Ayurvedic Concepts was launched in 1999. The brand was launched with much hype and was successful in getting the initial mindshare.

Ayurvedic Concepts was promoted by heavy load of television commercials featuring an English speaking Dadima ( old lady) broke the stereotype image associated with grandmothers in the country, unlike typical grandmother she was aware of the latest trends and happenings in the world around her, she conveyed the knowledge of age old health tips and products in fluent English and was successful to show a contemporary image of ayurveda. But then the brand did the unthinkable. After spending a truck load of money in promoting Ayurvedic Concepts, the company decided to create another Umbrella Brand . Thus corporate name Himalaya became the umbrella brand and Ayurvedic Concept brand was killed in the process.

I think it’s the dilemma faced by most of the Ayurvedic drug marketers. The sheer size of the brand portfolio makes it impossible for a marketer to think about individual brands. Most of the ayurvedic medicine marketers have an ethical line of products that they sell through prescriptions. Then they have another line of OTC products. Again the complexity of ayurvedic treatments makes the number of medicines in the list

In an interview in Express pharma online, the company CEO Mr Raviprasad cites an important consumer behavior regarding the purchase of Himalaya products. According to him. customers of this brand first will have a single positive experience and then he moves to other products from the brand.

That means that a customer will try out Himalaya product because of some urgency/prescription or referral and out of that experience, he will try other products. This insight has prompted the company to launch a campaign Himalaya First. The campaign was intended to bring in the first time users to the brand.

Himalaya is also credited with its initiative to launch the first ayurvedic boutique shops for the brand. I personally feel that Himalaya thinks a little ahead of times. Perhaps the brand wanted to be a Body Shop in the wellness segment. The company has opened more than 225 stores across India. But the task is to make the customers to use these wellness products. The brand should be thinking about tapping some celebrities to attract the consumers. The key is to link Himalaya brand to wellness. Even today, consumer associate ayurveda with remedial action rather than as preventive solutions. The task is to make the consumer use these products as a preventive solution that will