As a continuation of my "Curiosity Selling" Concept, I would like to talk about the "Genius Marketeers" world has ever seen. Do you people admire these set of personalities am going to talk about? I don't think everyone would. But I strictly do admire them. Not for their concepts and ideas to make people enlightened, but for their brilliance in selling nothing but desire and curiosity of achieving happiness and their success in making happiness a scarce resource.
The "God man" strategy:
I would like to term this strategy as the “God Man” strategy. These “God Men” are believed to be either the representative of God or even the God himself/ herself. People follow, praise and worship them to find out answer for the most curious question, “how to be happy?” which of course does not have an answer. But ultimately the gurus end up making themselves happy with villas, charter jets and of course, the power of God!
This case is also a best example of playing with the curiosity of people and promising of enlightening them with ways of being happy. Unlike the TV shows which I would talk about in my next post, this concept has a wider scope and can cross borders easily as they claim to have invented the unique technique applicable for all religions and cultures. In this context, people are all same and equal and God is one who is obviously the founder of that particular ‘ism’.
Art of Living Foundation (AOLF) has its international headquarters in Bangalore, India at Veda Vignan Mahavidyapeeth or VVM campus (usually referred to as the Bangalore Ashram)and has regional centers in more than 140 countries. In Europe, the organization is known as "The Association for Inner Growth". The foundation was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Along with its function as the vehicle for spreading his teachings and Vedic knowledge, the organization is involved in community service through its centers. The Foundation operates as a social business and its main activity is to organize Art of Living courses; yoga, breathing, and meditation workshops, and education and trauma relief in regions of trauma and disaster.
The Art of Living has established itself as an international brand reaching out to over 300 million people in over 140 countries with its various programs. The best part is that this has been achieved in a very short interval of just 30 years.
AOLF is a member to the following international associations
· CONGO (Conference of NGO's in consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York
· United Nations NGO Committees: Health, Mental Health, Committee on Aging, New York
· United Nations NGO Values Caucus, New York and Geneva
· International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris
· NGO Forum for Health, Geneva
· National Association of Women's Organizations, Uganda
According to the tax return filed by the American chapter, AOL Foundation had total revenues of $5.5M (mainly 3.5M from course fees and 1.7M from public support ) and expenditure of $3.6M from July 2006 to June 2007. Net assets at the beginning of July 2007 amounted to $7.7M. Although AOLF is said to work in partnership with its sister organization the International Association for Human Values which implements humanitarian programs, no direct reference in this tax return is made to humanitarian relief and training programs conducted directly or through IAHV. However, cash allocations including foreign grants of 0.95M are included in the above reported expenses.
If revenue generated from one of its chapters counts to a mammoth sum, it becomes tough to even imagine the size of Business Empire that they have created over the period of time.
Not only the Art of Living, there are various such spiritual organizations which have found customers all over the world. They include Amrita foundation, Sai foundation trust etc. Charity is the best part of these organizations as they utilize the generated revenue for welfare and development of the society. These empires stand tall unless and otherwise they fall in for some scam which sends vibes all through their channels and serves to be a prey to the media. In recent times we have seen such cases so the risk involved is so high.
SrinivaS
Curiosity and Craziness are never ending phenomena!!!
The "God man" strategy:
I would like to term this strategy as the “God Man” strategy. These “God Men” are believed to be either the representative of God or even the God himself/ herself. People follow, praise and worship them to find out answer for the most curious question, “how to be happy?” which of course does not have an answer. But ultimately the gurus end up making themselves happy with villas, charter jets and of course, the power of God!
This case is also a best example of playing with the curiosity of people and promising of enlightening them with ways of being happy. Unlike the TV shows which I would talk about in my next post, this concept has a wider scope and can cross borders easily as they claim to have invented the unique technique applicable for all religions and cultures. In this context, people are all same and equal and God is one who is obviously the founder of that particular ‘ism’.
Living can be so artistic:
Art of Living Foundation (AOLF) has its international headquarters in Bangalore, India at Veda Vignan Mahavidyapeeth or VVM campus (usually referred to as the Bangalore Ashram)and has regional centers in more than 140 countries. In Europe, the organization is known as "The Association for Inner Growth". The foundation was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Along with its function as the vehicle for spreading his teachings and Vedic knowledge, the organization is involved in community service through its centers. The Foundation operates as a social business and its main activity is to organize Art of Living courses; yoga, breathing, and meditation workshops, and education and trauma relief in regions of trauma and disaster.
An International Brand:
The Art of Living has established itself as an international brand reaching out to over 300 million people in over 140 countries with its various programs. The best part is that this has been achieved in a very short interval of just 30 years.
AOLF is a member to the following international associations
· CONGO (Conference of NGO's in consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York
· United Nations NGO Committees: Health, Mental Health, Committee on Aging, New York
· United Nations NGO Values Caucus, New York and Geneva
· International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris
· NGO Forum for Health, Geneva
· National Association of Women's Organizations, Uganda
Sold a lot and still selling:
The revenue generated every year by the Art of Living organization is absolutely miraculous. Keep in mind that they have sold nothing other than curiosity in people about living happy and free of diseases.According to the tax return filed by the American chapter, AOL Foundation had total revenues of $5.5M (mainly 3.5M from course fees and 1.7M from public support ) and expenditure of $3.6M from July 2006 to June 2007. Net assets at the beginning of July 2007 amounted to $7.7M. Although AOLF is said to work in partnership with its sister organization the International Association for Human Values which implements humanitarian programs, no direct reference in this tax return is made to humanitarian relief and training programs conducted directly or through IAHV. However, cash allocations including foreign grants of 0.95M are included in the above reported expenses.
If revenue generated from one of its chapters counts to a mammoth sum, it becomes tough to even imagine the size of Business Empire that they have created over the period of time.
Other Famous Foundations:
Not only the Art of Living, there are various such spiritual organizations which have found customers all over the world. They include Amrita foundation, Sai foundation trust etc. Charity is the best part of these organizations as they utilize the generated revenue for welfare and development of the society. These empires stand tall unless and otherwise they fall in for some scam which sends vibes all through their channels and serves to be a prey to the media. In recent times we have seen such cases so the risk involved is so high.
My bottom line:
My bottom line is yet the same and simple. In the present world, no one needs to create anything, but just understand the target audience. What do they need? the ultimate answer turned to be "happiness". As the U.S declaration of independence states, it is "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" the ultimate aim for anyone on earth. And our gurus had segmented the market rightly for people who had a life, targeted the ones with liberty to waste money and positioned in their minds their pursuit of happiness.
Hope you liked this post. Stay tuned for my article on our dear TV reality shows and what they do to ensure that we are glued to our seats.SrinivaS
Curiosity and Craziness are never ending phenomena!!!
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