How do religious groups reinvent themselves in order to attract new
audiences? How do they rebrand their messages and recast their rituals
in order to make their followers more diverse?
In Branding Bhakti, Nicole Karapanagiotis considers the new branding
of the Hare Krishna Movement, or the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON). Known primarily for their orange robes, shaved
heads, ecstatic dancing on the streets, and exuberant Hindu-style temple
worship, many contemporary ISKCON groups are radically reinventing their
public presentation and their style of worship in order to attract a
global audience to their movement. Karapanagiotis explores their
innovative and complex approaches in both the United States and India by
following three new ISKCON brands aimed at gathering new followers. Each
is led by a world-renowned ISKCON guru and his global disciples, and
each is promoted through a mix of digital and social media and the
construction of an innovative "worship-scape." These new spaces trade
ISKCON's traditional temples for corporate work-life balance programs,
posh yoga studios, urban spiritual lounges, edgy mantra clubs/lofts, and
rural meditative retreat facilities.
Branding Bhakti not only investigates the methods the ISKCON movement
uses to position itself for growth but also highlights devotees' painful
and complicated struggles as they work to transform their shrinking,
sectarian movement into one with global religious appeal.
