Selection of US as a market for the study

To select the markets in which we had to analyse the evolution of Yoga we decided to
analyse the most influential countries where the impact of Yoga was the maximum.
The selection was also based on the significance of the country in coming up with new
strategies to market Yoga to the public across the various continents. The selection of U.S.
was an obvious choice given its super power status & it being the biggest market for Yoga
outside of India. The strategies adopted in the U.S. were also very innovative & path
breaking in terms of introducing Yoga to a subset of people who were completely unaware
of its existence.
 Evolution of Yoga in the U.S. Market

First contact
Yoga in the United States has a very long history, foreshadowed in the 19th century by the
philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose poem "Brahma" is a statement of the Hindu
philosophy behind Yoga. Vivekanand back in his 1893 visit to the U.S. presented yoga as a
spiritual path without postures in stark contrast to the common modern exercise view of
yoga.

Vivekananda defined yoga as a spiritual path

without postures. He came out with a book
Raja Yoga in 1896 which was his interpretation
of Patanjali’s’ Yoga Sutra adapted for the West
He also taught a mixture of Pranayama,
Meditation & the distinctively Western idea
of positive thinking, but he explicitly rejected
the practice of asanas.

Introduction to Asanas
The practice of yoga as consisting mainly of physical postures began in 1919 when the
pioneer of asana-based yoga, Yogendra, brought his system, influenced by physical culture,
to the United States.
 In the very next year the Hindu spiritual

Leader Paramahamsa Yogananda spoke

about Kriya Yoga in Boston.

In 1925 he founded the Self Realization

Fellowship in Los Angeles, where he taught

Yoga, Meditation & Chanting to tens of

thousands of Americans.

Early Pioneers
In 1948, after the victory of the second world war America was undergoing a

major economic boom where several sectors were growing at a rapid pace.
Indra Devi, a pupil of the modern yoga pioneer Tirumalai Krishnamacharya,
opened her Hollywood yoga studio, teaching asanas to celebrities such as the
actress Gloria Swanson.

The above chart highlights the resurgence in the U.S. economy after the end of the World War
 Indra Devi with her Hollywood yoga studio
made Yoga mainstream. The women in
U.S. started adopting Yoga as a means
of leading a glamorous & desirable
lifestyle. In her book Indra Devi
addressed the women of the U.S. &
their needs for looking glamourous by
practicing Yoga in the comfort
of their homes.
Hollywood yoga studio
Indra Devi due to her popularization of Yogamadein theYoga
U.S.mainstream.
got to be known as the “first
The women in lady of
Yoga”. Devi's fascination with India began at 15 when she read a book by poet-
philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and a yoga U.S. started adopting
instruction book by Yoga as a means She
Yogi Ramacharaka.
visited India as a tourist but the mysticism of
ofthe art form
leading of Yoga had
a glamorous an everlasting
& desirable
impression on her.
lifestyle. In her book Indra Devi
Nepal's prince Mussoorie showing her some asanas and she was impressed by the yoga
guru Tirumalai Krishnamacharya's demonstrationaddressed the women
of apparently of the U.S.
stopping &
his heart. She then
trained under him & followed all the ritualstheir
that he usedfortolooking
needs for authenticity.
glamourous With
by the
learnings she gathered she began propagating Yoga throughout the world especially in the
U.S. practicing Yoga in the comfort
of their homes.

The different ideologies of Yoga

As a spiritual practice
The introduction of Yoga was as a form of spiritual practice to the U.S. which is a haven for a
lot of diverse cultures & is accepting of a lot of thought processes from across the world.
From 1918, Pierre Bernard and his wife Blanche DeVries ran yoga studios for women,
offering a combination of spiritual practices including tantra, traditional Indian medicine,
and Vedic philosophy. They influenced American perception of yoga for the next century,
combining athleticism, the exotic, sexuality, and a willingness to separate religious practices
from their source religions. Americans seeking spirituality were immediately drawn to the
teachings Yoga offered along with the other spiritual practices that had come from the
Indian sub-continent
As a form of Physical Exercise
Yoga started to be associated as a form of physical exercise with the setup of studios by the
people who were heavily inspired by the Indian culture & saw an opportunity to
commercialize it. The women in the U.S. were the first to adopt it as a form physical exercise
due to its non-rigorous & easy to practice asanas.

From then to now

As of 2018, there were 6,000 yoga studios in the US with about 30 million American’s
practicing yoga and spending $16 billion on yoga classes, clothing, equipment, and
accessories each year. The popularity of yoga has only grown in the 21st century with more
and more people jumping on the bandwagon.
The reasons for this popularity are similar to why yoga became popular in the first place –
the incredibly varied health benefits for the mind and body are appealing to anyone. But
yoga’s meditative ability to calm your mind is becoming ever more relevant in this digital
age where stress seems to follow you wherever you go.
The growing popularity of Yoga in the U.S. market comes in tandem with its popularity back
in India the incumbent NDA government has led multiple campaigns & drives to promote
Yoga. The inclusion of Yoga as being an integral part of the brand “India” in the foreign
market has aided in the widespread popularity of it in the U.S. market.

Current Yoga Market in the U.S.

The Yoga being practiced in the U.S. has been modified to accommodate for the various
customer needs the various forms of Yoga practiced are:

 Ashtanga Yoga
 Power Yoga
 Aerial Yoga
 Laughter Yoga
 Goat Yoga
 Immersive Yoga
 Disco Yoga
All these are modified versions of Yoga to appeal to specific set of people, a lot of the
prevalently practiced forms of Yoga in the U.S. is an amalgamation of 2 exercise forms.
The average yogi spends $62,640 over their lifetime on classes, workshops, and accessories
— or nearly $90 per month. They practice regularly, with a majority (44%) going 2-3 times a
week, preferably in the morning (34%) or evening (18%).

The Reasons for wide spread adoption in US

 The high population of Indian Americans living in the U.S. the heterogenous society
in America has seen a gradual growth in the population of Indian Americans.
  The change in spiritual ideology of Yoga to a form of exercise part of a healthy
lifestyle was crucial in the marketing of Yoga as it aligned seamlessly with the
capitalist ideology of America which saw it as a great business opportunity.

 Yoga in the U.S. is primarily targeted at the women, 70% of the people practicing
Yoga are women. With their growing representation in the workforce their spending
power increased that further led to their increased spend on their lifestyle which
includes keeping fit under which Yoga profited.

 The mainstream introduction of Yoga in the American market came at a very

opportune time with the economy booming & the disposable incomes with the
working class growing.

 The ease of trade & influx of information from India into the U.S. had a great role in
spreading the popularity of the Indian culture & along with-it Yoga.

The Evolving trends in Yoga

1. Peripheral to Central: The evolution of Yoga just as a form of exercise to now a
complete life style choice encapsulates the transformation that Yoga has undergone
in terms of its perception among the people in the U.S.

2. Local to Global: The major changes that took place in Yoga in the U.S. were initially
restricted to the place of origin but today they are being implemented globally.
 3. Male to (predominantly)Female: Gender shift has been evident in the evolution of
Yoga where earlier men practiced Yoga as a spiritual ritual now women are adopting
as a form of exercise.

4. Spiritual to Secular: The association of Yoga with Hinduism has diminished over the
years & now people across all religions practice Yoga.

5. Meditational to Postural: The asanas in Yoga have also been evolved with earlier a
lot of the asanas being meditational in nature & focussed more on breathing to now
the asanas being focused on the physical activity & the posture.

The Current Market Analysis of U.S.

For any new entrant the U.S. Market is pretty saturated in terms of the lifestyle related
industry.

The buyers are

A lot of Yoga studios are
overloaded with the
being setup but the
Threats of choices that they have &
number is gradually
new entrants the power lies with them
decreasing with the
in the decision-making
market maturing &
process
hitting saturation

Bargaining power
Bargaining power of buyers
of supplier

New exercise routines are

The market in the U.S. is
picking up in the U.S with
now being saturated with
Threat of aerobics incorporating
Yoga studios so the service substitute other forms of dance in
providers are a plenty hence products/service its form of exercise
rendering them with very
little bargaining power

Yoga is not only

competing with other
forms of exercising it is
also competing with
other lifestyle activities
like sports & biking
Potential New Markets
To seek out the potential new markets for Yoga we need to see what are some of the
reasons that worked for the U.S. & which can be easily be implemented in the new markets
that we are going to market Yoga to.

One of the reasons we saw was the presence of a huge Indian demographic in the U.S.
which allowed for the cultural intricacies of India to gel along with the cultural intricacies of
the U.S. for this reason alone we can see why Canada will be an Ideal market for the
propagation of Yoga.
Moreover, with its close proximity the U.S. in not only geographically but also culturally
makes a lot of the implementation of the marketing strategies deployed in the U.S. work in
case of Canada as well.
Yoga being primarily a woman centric with the growing representation of women in the
workforce in Canada their lifestyle choices are changing they are focusing more on their
health & they need substitutes to the regular gym & aerobics.
The Market Environment Analysis of Canada

Political:
Canada is a democracy & is a capitalist economy with the free flow of trade taking place
from a lot of countries. Canada has great trade relations with India & the Canadian Prime
Minister has welcomed Indians to come to Canada, to study & work there.
Economic:
The economy of Canada is a highly developed market economy.[23] It is the 10th largest
GDP by nominal and 16th largest GDP by PPP in the world. As with other developed nations,
the country's economy is dominated by the service industry which employs about three
quarters of Canadians. The economy of Canada is an open economy that is it is easy for new
products & services to be promoted in Canada.
Legal:
Canada has Free trade Agreements with India & has influx of information & commodities
between the countries. Canada has relaxed its laws for filing for citizenship & also for
entering into the country for skilled workforce.
Social:
The people in Canada are used to the consumerism & capitalism that is also a commo
feature they share with their neighbour the U.S.
Technological:
With the use of technology, the conducting of online classes & transfer of information has
made the world a lot more interconnected, which expedites the propagation of any thing
that has been newly launched.
The Current Lifestyle Market of Canada

The people have

A lot of Yoga studios
Threats of limited options with
are being setup but
new entrants them in the decision
the number is still
making process
relatively less

Bargaining power
Bargaining power
of buyers
of supplier

The market in the Canada New exercise routines are

is still relatively Threat of picking up in Canada with
substitute
underdeveloped with the aerobics incorporating
products/service
studios having more other forms of dance in
demand its form of exercise

Yoga is not only

competing with other
forms of exercising it is
also competing with
other lifestyle activities
like sports & biking