BJ Bueno, Author at The Cult Branding Company

26 Aug

Get Your C-Suite Telling One Story

The customer doesn’t care about your org chart. They don’t separate the “marketing experience” from the “operations experience.” It’s all the brand experience. The most effective CEOs I know break down turf wars and get the C-suite aligned around a single narrative. Here’s how: Create a Brand Council....

22 Aug

Make AI About Humans, Not Just Data

AI is everywhere in the CEO conversation. The mistake I see? Treating AI like a cost-cutting tool rather than a connection-deepening tool. The cult brands don’t bolt technology onto an old culture; they integrate it to make the customer feel known and valued. Top brands used...

11:00 / AI / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Culture / Customers First / Trust / BJ Bueno

19 Aug

Stop Letting the Quarter Dictate Your Brand’s Future

If you’re a CEO, you already know the quarterly game can trap you. I’ve watched too many leaders mortgage their brand’s long-term equity to please the market in the short term. That’s a slow path to irrelevance. Brands that last, such as Apple and Patagonia, resist...

10:25 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Leadership / Strategy / Vision / BJ Bueno

15 Aug

3 Strategies for When You Feel Life Has Lost Meaning

Reclaim the Inner ChildPlay. Create. Touch the parts of you untouched by judgment. Life becomes dull when you abandon the one who still dreams. Pick up a brush, a journal, a guitar, anything that brings wonder back to your fingertips. Confront the ShadowDon’t look away. Turn...

10:17 / Inspiration / Leadership / Personal Development / BJ Bueno

12 Aug

Discovering Your Brand Lover: The Shortcut to Loyalty, Clarity, and Growth

Many brands chase growth by casting the widest possible net. More impressions. More clicks. More eyeballs. But in the race for reach, they often miss the people who matter most—their Brand Lovers. From The Cult Branding Workbook: “The sole purpose of business is to create a customer.” ...

11:13 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Marketing / Strategy / BJ Bueno

05 Aug

Fast Growth or Lasting Brand? Why CEOs Must Refuse to Choose

“How do we grow fast and build a brand that lasts?” This is one of the most important questions modern CEOs face. Every quarter brings new revenue targets, performance dashboards, and boardroom pressures to deliver now. Yet, every brand that truly matters—Nike, Apple, Patagonia, Trader Joe’s—was built...

10:05 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Leadership / Marketing / Strategy / BJ Bueno

03 Aug

Brand–Culture Alignment: Delivering on the Promise from the Inside Out

“Are we delivering on our brand promise at every customer touchpoint—from the inside out?” This is the question smart CEOs are asking. Because no matter how inspiring your brand story is, how slick your campaigns are, or how bold your customer promise may sound—it all breaks down...

10:45 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Marketing / Strategy / BJ Bueno

01 Aug

Differentiation in a Saturated Market: How Cult Brands Win Where Others Fade

In today’s noisy, choice-rich economy, CEOs are losing sleep over one pressing concern: “Why should anyone choose us over the competition—and stay with us?” With price wars, mature categories, and advertising overload, simply having a “better product” isn’t enough. Consumers aren’t just buying features anymore. They’re buying...

13:44 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Marketing / Strategy / BJ Bueno

25 Jul

The Schwab Strategy: How to Build a Brand People Actually Trust

In a world full of noise, hype, and marketing gimmicks, there’s something undeniably refreshing about a brand that just keeps showing up, doing what it says, and earning people’s trust year after year. Charles Schwab is one of those rare brands. In 2025, Schwab took home the...

09:05 / Branding / Cult Branding / Cult Marketing / Customers First / Trust / BJ Bueno

22 Jul

Putting Customers First (No, Really)

Over the years, I’ve written a lot about customer loyalty, brand love, and building communities. But if I had to sum up the heart of it all in two words, it would be this: 👉 Customers First That’s why I wrote my third book with exactly that...

10:05 / Branding / Customers First / Marketing / Strategy / Trust / Vision / BJ Bueno

Author: BJ Bueno