Since I posted the first part of this article on January 9, 2008, Eckhart Tolle and his particular teaching of nonduality have been raised in public consciousness.
In the earlier article I asked whether Eckhart Tolle was as strong a brand as Deepak Chopra. At this point it is clear that the name Eckhart Tolle is a very strong brand. A few months ago I might have thought that “The Now” was a stronger brand, but I no longer think that. Although the Deepak Chopra brand goes back decades, in current times Eckhart Tolle is as strong or stronger a brand name.
Also in the earlier article I felt that the Ken Wilber name was a stronger brand than the Peter Fenner name. I don’t think that’s as true any longer. Fenner’s Radiant Mind — the book and course — is becoming more well known. And I feel it is easier to find one’s way from Tolle to Fenner, while not so easy to find a bend in the Tolle road that leads straight to Wilber.
The other update is about the 9choirs.com site. It has improved its look and name and thereby strengthened its branding. Now the site is called SoulsCode: Everyone’s a guru. I like the site and branding much better, although I still don’t easily grasp its focus or niche.
There are hundreds of other examples in the nonduality field that could be discussed in terms of branding. I’m only giving my impressions and have no hard evidence to back them. My main purpose is to get you to think about the business of nonduality in terms of branding. The question you might ask is whether you are optimally branding your work in nonduality.
Nonduality needs to be run as a business in order to communicate it worldwide. Take the most low-profile nondual people in the nonduality racket, for example a guy like david carse who doesn’t teach, doesn’t encourage personal contact, doesn’t even copyright his popular book, Perfect Brilliant Stillness: beyond the individual self: he still has to run a business, ship books, advertise, deal with publishers, printers, distributors, banks, etc.
And I have to say, if david has a brand it is david carse himself, the reclusive Vermont carpenter who writes brilliantly about the nondual state and claims no ownership of his writing. What a job of branding!
