Welcome to the spiritual marketplace, where the sacred is on a fast-track to becoming secular. This is where society is dizzy with commercial clamor and religion has become yet another product, being sold in the consumer souk. And it’s competing with a myriad of more colorful, gratifying and dazzling pursuits.
There is some tough competition to keep up with. To remain relevant, religion is quickly transforming into brands that are a celestial union between commerce and faith. And it’s being done with by an army of new age clergy-- MBAs, image consultants, design & tech gurus, publicists, salesmen, mavericks and media moguls. Like other successful businesses, their focus is to draw “consumers,” build brand loyalty, and of course, add to the bottom-line! But how are these brands of faith being built and what goes behind them? Here’s the #HolyGrail of the haloed razzle-dazzle of religion in the 21st Century.
Even Faith Needs Branding
The secret is out. Religion has gone on the marketplace. #FaithBranding is the mantra that treats religion as a product and uses the latest marketing gospel to "push" this product in a media-dominated culture. #BrandStrategists are working closely with religious groups and helping them to reinvent or identify core values that make them stand apart. They are crafting communication strategies and constructing distinct brands that are recognizable to the general public. And their designers are creating logos and icons that will go a long way in brand building.
Leaders Need An Image
The #Bhagavad Gita said, “We are what we eat.” But image consultants have given it their own spin, “We are what we look.” Religious leaders and #gurus seemed to have homed into this mantra instinctively and created their own stereotypes. The long, flowy bearded look is still the most popular with male gurus, even though they travel only in their bulletproof, uber luxury limos, Harleys or private jets. Whilst the ma-in-a-simple-cotton-sari look has remained on top with female gurus. An image, it seems is the sacrosanct stepping-stone into the godly playground.
Distinct Is Divine
When it comes to #marketing religious leaders, lack of distinction could be the death knell in the crowded space of spiritual solutions. So distinction works wonders. PR bigwigs strongly advise on a distinct USP that can make you memorable and #newsworthy. From being an alien, to healing through hugs or being dolled up as the eternal bride in dazzling jewelry that could feed a small nation. Whatever your #SpiritualTrademark, it’s vital to have one. And be creative!
Talk! Show! Talk!
Would #Shiva or #Jesus appear on a talk show? If the new age publicists had their way, they most definitely will. And they may also be commenting on politics and promoting the herbal medicines and mats they sell! Modern day #Godmen are religious superstars. They court the media and it’s a mutually beneficial love affair. One only has to look at the long list of #televangelists who have risen from obscurity to mega fame, thanks to daily gigs on the idiot box. After all, visibility and recall are the buzzwords for any successful brand. It’s all about being out there and in-your-face, for the way to a devotee’s heart may well be through their TV screen. Oh, and scriptures apart, they must master the art of zippy sound bites.
Be A Digital Shepard
The new generation of dharma leaders can no longer escape the power of texting, #Facebook, #Twitter and other online #social media, as young people today are neurologically adapted to a digital lifestyle. Even the #Pope has gone digital and the #Vatican has an all-new online avatar that reaches out to millions of Catholics worldwide. The Vatican’s website provides access the Pope’s encyclicals, homilies, apostolic letters and info on basilicas and chapels. And it seems like a good way to herd followers from all over the world to one centralized online destination.
However, the #Gospel is not all that is being globalized. Other faiths have been quick to harness this digital power; mobilizing people for missions, garnering new followers and boosting funding. In fact, #Jews worldwide are attending virtual Seders, Buddhist scholars are imparting dharma teachings through podcasts, and apps like iQuran are enabling people to read scriptures on the run.
Garner Celebrity Endorsements
Brand consultants are all in agreement over the fact that the popularity of faiths get hugely boosted with celebrity endorsements. In this celeb crazy culture, religion needs it’s own poster people to keep it hot and in the news. See what Tom Cruise did for #Scientology, Madonna for the #Kaballah, Richard Gere for #Buddhism and Julia Roberts for Hinduism. They suddenly got scores of people interested in the faiths they were endorsing. They made these faiths “cool.” And cool is a hot-seller in every market!
Manufacture Divinity
Religious leaders are digging their heels in the nirvana bazaar by creating heavenly products that give followers a tangible piece of the sublime. It’s something they can take home, use, watch and most importantly, spend on! Like mementos gathered along the spiritual path to #enlightenment. Reminders of spiritual growth and gurus. Some of the most popular religious leaders have flourishing businesses that run purely on their product lines of spiritual gifts and goods. From selling soaps, shampoos, candles, #Ayurvedic elixirs, #yoga mats, apparel, incense, spiritual music, books, organic foods and self-help workshops, there’s something for everyone. What better, devotees make a loyal consumer base, with malls and insatiable online shopping appetites further adding to lustre of divine currency.
The bottom-line, is that like it or loathe it, in these times of attention deficits, quick fixes, hype, publicity, marketing blitzkriegs, online promotions and PR coups, religious commercialism is here to stay. While repackaging religion to stay pertinent may be necessary, what remains to be seen is if the content gets obscured in frivolousness. Even more importantly, will the sacred loose its Unique Selling Proposition – the very ability to rise above the mundane and the materialistic? Perhaps the answer may lie in a sound bite!
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