BJ Bueno

A setting like the NFL Draft, which is equal parts art and science, is ideal for the likes of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who play Walter White and Jesse Pinkman on the critically acclaimed television series Breaking Bad, to devise a winning strategy for the Los Angeles Rams as they prepare for this week’s crucial game. Not only does this TV commercial get people excited for what’s to come, but it also gives them a tantalizing sneak peek at the game they love. 

You can enhance your communication by using a similar strategy. Enjoy!

Hornbach, a European DIY and garden chain, has launched a new advertising campaign encouraging gardeners to let their gardens run wild this year. The campaign promotes the idea that allowing nature to take its course is one of the best ways to ensure a healthy garden. The tagline of the ad, “Lass die Natur mal machen” which translates to “Let nature do its thing,” aims to challenge traditional notions of garden perfection and inspire gardeners to embrace a more sustainable approach. 

Challenging the status quo is a great way to message against your category. What norms can your advertising message break that will surprise and delight your customers?

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With over 20 years of experience as The Cult Branding Company, we’ve honed our strategies and methods to help companies identify their brand’s DNA, gain deep consumer insights, and understand the marketplace ecosystem. We are an independent agency that creates strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. Visit us at www.cultbranding.com and unlock the secrets to building a brand that resonates with your audience and stands the test of time.

Pepsi is celebrating 125 years in business with a new logo. It’s good to keep the visual identity fresh – always a challenge with a legacy brand – but what I think is especially interesting is the language Pepsi leadership is using to describe the change. 

“Unapologetic” is the word that keeps cropping up. For a while, the brand was playing with the “Is Pepsi OK?” phenomenon experienced in restaurants, but now the tone is different. Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo’s chief design officer, explained that the new logo takes everything people love about Pepsi’s past to create a bold, confident look for the future. 

Classic elements of Pepsi’s identity are presented in a nostalgia-inspired red, white and blue round with a newer darker color scheme – all the surrounding black is a nod to Pepsi Zero Sugar, the current star beverage – with the logo centered in black. The font is much bolder and more aggressive than the previous version: this is a soft drink not ashamed to command your attention.

I think it will be successful. It’s never a bad time to be proud of who you are – and that’s a message Pepsi’s target market of teens and young adults understands and appreciates. But I’d love to hear your thoughts – do you like the new logo & the storytelling behind it? What would you do differently if you were in charge of this decision? Let me know!

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With over 20 years of experience as The Cult Branding Company, we’ve honed our strategies and methods to help companies identify their brand’s DNA, gain deep consumer insights, and understand the marketplace ecosystem. We are an independent agency that creates strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers.

IBM’s “What If?” campaign highlights the importance of asking big questions and exploring the possibilities of technology solutions. IBM invites its customers to challenge the status quo that drives innovation within its organization. In addition, the visually appealing and playful design communicates a complex concept engaging and comprehensibly to its intended audience.

The idea that a Texas grandma planned a fun family vacation for her grandkids is hardly newsworthy – but the idea that the theme for this trip was to visit every Buc-ee’s in the state made the pages of Southern Living.

One week, five grandchildren, 36 Buc-ee’s: it was certainly an event. Judy Martin took the kids -ages 3 to 8 – 1,600 miles in a mini-van she’d decorated with a special vinyl checklist decal documenting which Buc-ees they’d been to; there was an entire Facebook group of family and friends following the adventure online. Souvenir group photos were taken at each stop. And when the power went out at one Buc-ee’s, according to Martin, it just added to the adventure. 

I think it is fair to say Martin is a Brand Lover – the passionate, devoted fan that has a stronger-than-average connection with the brand they care about. Did I mention that her vacation also included a stop at Buc-ee’s corporate headquarters?

Would Someone Plan An Epic Family Trip Around Your Brand?

Maybe you love Beaver Nuggets, maybe you don’t – but it’s hard to argue with the idea that Buc-ee’s is definitely a Cult Brand. Any organization can create events for its customers, but customers crafting events to celebrate a brand is another level entirely.

Do you have customers who would love to see your corporate headquarters? So much so that they consider it a highlight of their precious family vacation time?

We see tourists doing exactly that at the Googleplex and Apple Park; Harley-Davidson offers factory tours at three facilities, including a Steel Toe factory floor tool that must be booked in advance. Brand Lovers are drawn to the source. They’ve been to where the magic happens; now they want to see where it originates. 

This is one of those odd-but-useful metrics brand builders should keep an eye on. Are your customers exerting special efforts to interact with your brand? How often does this happen? If you are getting visitors, what is that experience like for them? 

If you take the time to read the Southern Living story about Judy Martin, you’ll see she describes the Buc-ee’s headquarters as being unassuming and like a big house – terms that have meaningful positive associations with southern Living’s readership, which beautifully overlaps Buc-ee’s target market. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts, both about what it’s like having customers visit your offices and what facilities or headquarters you yourself would like to visit. Any point where there’s a desire to deepen the connection and better understand the people behind the brand is a demonstration of Cult Brand potential.

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With over 20 years of experience as The Cult Branding Company, we’ve honed our strategies and methods to help companies identify their brand’s DNA, gain deep consumer insights, and understand the marketplace ecosystem. We are an independent agency that creates strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers.

Hagerty might not be the auto insurance company for you. For example, if you’ve got a great brand-new car that you drive every single day, you’re not going to be interested in what Hagerty offers. But among classic car collectors, Hagerty’s is a top choice – in fact, Craig Fitzgerald, the editor-in-chief at Car Talk says that even though there are some limits on what the policies cover, the benefits offered by Hagerty makes it difficult to look elsewhere. 

What are these benefits? Fitzgerald calls out the Hagerty’s Driver’s Club magazine specifically as beautiful and entertaining. Additionally, Hagerty’s Driver’s Club is actually a full suite of services, including unlimited classified ads and vehicle valuation lookup – hugely important to people who are continually buying and selling vehicles and vehicle parts as their primary form of recreation. There’s also a robust roadside assistance program with flatbed towing – that’s the only kind of towing acceptable for many classic cars. And Driver’s Club members get early access to exclusive automotive events.

So is Hagerty a Cult Brand? 

While definitely not for everyone, Hagerty does demonstrate a deep understanding of their specific customer. By specializing in collectible vehicles, Hagerty is able to offer their customers lower premiums. They also offer a very different approach to compensation, in which the vehicle owner and insurance company come to an agreed-upon value for the vehicle that’s much higher than traditional insurance companies would offer. 

Additionally, and this is the benefit that really demonstrates the deeper level of customer understanding going on here, in the event of a claim, Hagerty will pay for you to do your own repairs. 

If you’re not a recreational knuckle-buster, that may not seem like a big deal. But if you know you know – it’s bad enough that your car is damaged, never mind finding someone you trust enough to work on it! Car people generally strongly prefer to do their own work, and Hagerty knows that. 

So yes, I’d say they’re on their way to becoming a Cult Brand. Other factors that caught my eye include:  

The Attention to Detail

One of the first things you see when you visit Hagerty’s website is the data collection pop-up – the typical notice letting you know that cookies are collected, yadda, yadda, yadda. But Hagerty’s pop-up doesn’t include the typical cut-and-paste text you’ve seen a million times. Instead, it’s been customized to appeal to the classic car enthusiast Haggerty is trying to attract, referencing how the site has been built to function like a finely-built motor. It’s a small detail, but only the first of many examples of how Hagerty continually reinforces the idea that they’re for car people. 

The Merch 

Where do Hagerty’s customers go when they want to have fun? To classic car shows and other events where they can show off all the work they’ve done on their car. Hagerty has a merch shop full of smile-provoking apparel for this setting. Where else are you going to get a T-shirt that says Shift Happens?

The Support of Driver Education

Hagerty isn’t just about cars, it’s about classic cars. A strongly nostalgic story, the world of classic cars often talks about the freedom and independence these drivers experienced upon getting their license and first cars. Hagerty puts a portion of the proceeds from their sales into Driver Education programming, helping their current customers feel like they’re doing something to help the next generation feel the same joy they feel. 

Will Hagerty ever have the broad, mass-market appeal we see in Cult Brands like Apple and Ikea? Probably not. They by definition are in a limited arena – but in that space, they are a dominant brand. If the Cult Brand status hasn’t yet been fully realized, Hagerty is well on the way there. 

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if there are brands you’d like me to take a look at in terms of Cult Brand potential, just drop their names in the comment below. As time allows, it would be my pleasure!