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Retention Is Having a Moment ✨ — And It Deserves Your Full Attention

Let’s face it: this isn’t the same marketing landscape we were operating in even a year ago.

💸 Budgets are tighter.
🧑‍💼 Teams are leaner.
🛍️ And customers? They’re more cautious, selective, and value-driven than ever.

In this environment, there’s one area that smart brands are doubling down on:

Customer Retention.

Because when new acquisition gets harder and more expensive, your existing customers become your most valuable growth engine.


Why Retention Matters Now More Than Ever

Retention isn’t just a support metric anymore — it’s a core business strategy.

Here’s why:

  • It costs 5–7x more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
  • Loyal customers are 5x more likely to repurchase.
  • Increasing retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25–95% (Bain & Company).

Retention gives you predictability. Efficiency. Stability.
And right now, that’s exactly what marketing leaders are looking for.


The Metrics That Matter

If you’re ready to shift from acquisition obsession to retention mastery, Robbie Kellman Baxter’s Customer Retention Metrics Kit (📊 see image above) offers a smart foundation.

Here are just a few metrics every brand should be watching:

  • Churn Rate: Are people leaving, and how fast?
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Will your customers recommend you?
  • Gross Revenue Retention (GRR): Are you keeping the revenue you already earned?
  • Feature Adoption Rates: Are customers using what you’re building?
  • Time Between Purchases: Are you staying top of mind?

Each one tells a story — not just about your product, but about your relationship with your customer.


Retention Isn’t Just Keeping — It’s Growing

Retention isn’t just about keeping people around. It’s about:

  • Deepening loyalty
  • Increasing customer lifetime value
  • Creating brand advocates
  • Driving additional and repeat sales
  • Reducing reliance on short-term acquisition hacks

When you shift your focus here, everything compounds.


How to Start the Shift

Here’s what I’m seeing from brands that are doing retention right:

✅ They know their metrics and track them consistently
✅ They create intentional post-purchase journeys
✅ They connect product, marketing, and support for seamless customer experience
✅ They reward loyalty — not just first-time purchases
✅ And most importantly, they treat retention as a strategic growth lever, not a back-end support metricHere’s to keeping the customers who already love you — and giving them more reasons to stay.

—BJ

Ask This One Question Before Approving a Media Plan

Here’s a simple but powerful question I ask every time I review a media plan with a brand team:

👉 How did the idea inform this media strategy?

Most media plans start with audience behavior:
What do our customers watch? Where do they scroll? When are they most likely to see us?

That’s a solid start — but it’s also what everyone else is doing.
If your plan only follows habits, you’ll end up in the same places as your competitors, saying slightly different things. That’s not brand leadership — it’s brand camouflage.


Great Media Strategy Starts with a Great Brand Idea

What separates exceptional brands is this:

They use media not just to reach people — but to amplify the brand idea.

Let’s look at a few standout examples where the idea came first and the media made it real:


Spotify — “Wrapped” Meets the Real World

Spotify’s core idea: You are what you listen to.

Every year, they bring this idea to life with Spotify Wrapped, turning user data into personal stories. But what really sets it apart is how they extend that campaign into physical environments.

They’ve taken over subways, buses, even laundromats with hyper-local, highly specific ads like:
“You played ‘Sorry’ 42 times after your ex moved out.”
That’s not just advertising — it’s self-reflection turned cultural currency.

It works because the media placements are where life happens — amplifying the idea that our playlists say something deeply personal.


GE — “Unseen Heroes” of Energy

GE’s idea: We power the world in ways you never think about.

Rather than flood primetime with product features, GE placed beautifully crafted content in airports, train stations, and long-form podcast sponsorships — places where thoughtful decision-makers have time to reflect.

Even their film “The Message” (a sci-fi podcast about alien communication) was a storytelling platform that mirrored GE’s own message: We make the invisible, visible.

It wasn’t just smart content. It was placed where curious minds go to think — making the media strategy an extension of the brand’s essence.


Netflix — Turning Culture Into a Canvas

Netflix doesn’t just buy space. It hijacks culture.

When promoting Stranger Things, they didn’t settle for trailers and digital banners. They transformed entire towns, mall storefronts, and even elevators into 1980s Hawkins, Indiana.

In Paris, they took over 100 metro station ads with black-and-white photos — then flipped every single one to vibrant color overnight to promote the new season of The Umbrella Academy.

Why does it work? Because the media becomes the medium of surprise. It mirrors the emotional shifts Netflix is selling. Again, the idea drove the placement — not the other way around.


AT&T — “It Can Wait” Campaign

AT&T’s idea: No text is worth a life.

Instead of just running PSAs, they put their message in parking lots, outside high schools, and within apps teens use the most. They even embedded it into driving simulations at events and used Snapchat filters to simulate distracted driving consequences.

The result? A campaign where the media meets the moment of danger — and reclaims it with intention.

This is the kind of media planning that not only lands — it saves lives.


What Happens When the Idea Leads? You Lead.

If your brand is serious about moving from safe and expected to bold and unforgettable, let’s talk.

My team and I are now offering in-house brand strategy sessions for companies ready to break the mold.

We’ll walk your leadership and marketing teams through the 7 essential frameworks we use to help top brands build powerful, idea-driven strategies that outperform the competition.

💡 Whether you want to pressure-test your positioning, unlock new creative energy, or finally bridge the gap between strategy and media — we’ll help you turn insight into action.📩 Send me a note or visit www.cultbranding.com to start the conversation.

Why the Most Powerful Medium in Marketing Is Still Underpriced

For years now, many in the advertising world have been ringing the death knell for television. “TV is dying,” they say. “Nobody watches anymore.” “It’s all about digital now.”
But what if I told you that a lot of what’s been said about the value of TV is completely false?

That’s not my opinion — that’s the clear conclusion drawn from decades of rigorous data by marketing effectiveness expert Peter Field.

Peter is known for his work with Les Binet on effectiveness marketing, popularizing the now-famous “60/40 rule” (60% brand-building, 40% activation). He’s a tireless advocate for the power of reach, emotional storytelling, and long-term brand investment.

But one of Peter’s most passionate — and often overlooked — messages is this:

TV advertising is not only still effective — it’s more effective now than ever before.


The Case for TV: What the Data Tells Us

Peter Field doesn’t deal in gut feelings or hot takes. His work is grounded in data — thousands of campaigns tracked over decades through the IPA Databank. And the numbers paint a clear picture:

  • TV delivers unmatched attention: In a world of skippable ads, banner blindness, and silent autoplay videos, TV still commands full-screen, full-sound, often co-viewed attention.
  • TV offers scale and reach: Linear TV still reaches millions in one go. And now, connected TV and BVOD (broadcaster video-on-demand) allow precision layering on top of that reach.
  • TV builds long-term memory structures: The combination of sight, sound, and story in a relaxed environment creates an ideal cocktail for brand-building.
  • TV ads are becoming more efficient: Counterintuitive but true — as TV CPMs have been relatively stable and digital ad clutter has increased, the effectiveness per dollar of TV is rising.

Why This Matters for C-Level Leaders

If you’re leading a brand today, the pressure to chase short-term ROI is relentless. Performance marketing dashboards glow with attribution models, tempting you to pull dollars away from brand-building into ever-more trackable — and often diminishing — returns.

But here’s the cold, hard truth: without sustained brand-building, your activation efforts will hit a wall. You’ll get diminishing returns, increased price sensitivity, and shorter customer lifecycles.

TV, when used properly, is still the gold standard for brand-building. It amplifies creativity. It fuels fame. It adds scale to storytelling. It builds mental availability — the thing that matters most when a customer is ready to buy.


“TV Is Dead” Is Lazy Thinking

Smart marketers know not to mistake change for decline.

Yes, how people watch TV has evolved. Streaming. Time-shifting. Second screens.
But that doesn’t mean TV has lost its power — it means you have to get smarter about how you use it.

The most effective campaigns today are integrating traditional and digital — not choosing between them. TV acts as the tentpole for emotionally resonant, long-term stories that digital can then extend, retarget, and personalize.


Brand Fame Still Matters

Peter Field reminds us that fame is the most effective brand metric, and TV is the most reliable channel for generating it.

So the next time someone tells you that TV is outdated, remember:
The truth isn’t just on your side — it’s on Peter Field’s spreadsheets.

TV is underpriced. It’s the original storytelling machine. And it’s ready to work harder than ever for your brand.

Great Marketers Drive the Business and Build the Brand

There’s a big debate happening in marketing right now.

Some people argue that a marketer’s main job is to drive the business — bring in sales, hit the numbers, boost short-term performance.

Others say it’s to build the brand — create emotional connections, increase loyalty, and make the company culturally relevant.

But honestly? I think we’re all asking the wrong question.

Because today, successful marketers have to do both. It’s not “either-or” — it’s “and.”

Let me explain why.


The Pressures We’re All Facing

Let’s be real: the pressure on businesses right now is intense.
We’re dealing with economic uncertainty, a culture that’s constantly shifting, fast-changing technologies, and consumers who want more for less. And on top of that, there’s relentless internal pressure to deliver results — quickly.

Thanks to the rise of digital tools and analytics, marketers today have endless data at their fingertips. It’s no surprise that a lot of effort goes into short-term tactics: driving conversions, hitting targets, and showing immediate ROI.

These “push” strategies definitely work — they can move product and hit goals. But they’re also expensive to maintain and, over time, don’t necessarily deepen a consumer’s relationship with the brand. That leaves brands vulnerable: if someone else comes along offering a lower price or a flashier promotion, those customers might walk.


Brand Building Is About More Than Looking Good

On the flip side, there’s often this idea that brand building is a fluffy, “nice-to-have” part of marketing — the pretty campaigns, the big emotional ads, the creative work that’s hard to tie directly to numbers.

But here’s where we bring in the cult branding perspective.

When you build a strong, distinctive brand, you’re not just making cool ads — you’re creating pricing power. You’re setting yourself apart in a way that makes people want to pay more for you, trust you, and buy from you again and again.

Think about a brand you personally love. Chances are, you pay more for it than you would for a generic version — and you probably buy it more often. That’s not just habit; that’s an emotional connection. That’s loyalty.

Cult brands understand this deeply. They know how to create symbols, rituals, and stories that pull people in, turn them into fans, and make them feel part of something bigger. And that pays off, not just in awareness, but in real dollars and long-term growth.


Balancing Today’s Sales with Tomorrow’s Loyalty

Here’s the secret: marketing isn’t about picking sides between sales and brand. It’s about balancing them.

The best brands don’t just chase the next transaction or the next viral moment. They find smart, creative ways to connect short-term wins with long-term health.

They hit their sales goals and make work that people talk about.
They bring in new customers and win awards for creativity.
They execute flawlessly and shape culture.

This is where a smart marketing strategy comes in. Cult brands don’t treat performance marketing and brand marketing like two separate departments. They integrate them. They let brand purpose guide their creative work, and they let data sharpen their storytelling. Every touchpoint — from a social ad to a product launch — reinforces what they stand for and why they matter.


Embracing the “AND”

So, next time you hear someone ask, “Is marketing’s job to drive the business or build the brand?” push back.

The brands that win today do both.
They move hearts and wallets.
They deliver short-term numbers and build long-term meaning.

When you embrace the AND — instead of choosing between performance and purpose — you unlock a much more rewarding journey for yourself, your team, and your brand.
P.S. Want to see what bold creativity looks like in action (without sitting through another dull pitch deck)? Cult. Creative. is our latest live deck—packed with killer ideas, unforgettable ads. View it in Google Slides—no downloads, just instant inspiration. [Request access here.]

Marketing Myth: TV Ads Don’t Work Like They Used To

We’ve all heard it:

“TV advertising isn’t what it used to be.”

In the age of TikTok, YouTube, and programmatic everything, it’s easy to think TV is yesterday’s news — expensive, clunky, and hard to measure compared to sleek, digital-first campaigns.

But here’s the truth:
TV has actually gotten more effective over time.

And yet, marketers are spending less on it than the numbers suggest they should.

Let’s dig into why.


The Attention vs. Spend Gap

According to eMarketer, U.S. adults still spend around 2.5 hours a day watching live or time-shifted TV. That’s almost the same as the 2.7 hours they spend on their smartphones.

So why are we throwing so many ad dollars into digital, while TV gets less love?

One reason: TV can feel like a black box.

Digital’s easy — you set your budget, target your audience, watch the clicks roll in, and track every move.

TV, on the other hand, is pricey, the buying process is complicated, and measuring results isn’t as immediate.

For a lot of marketers, that makes it feel risky.

But here’s where smart brands — especially those building cult-like followings — see the opportunity.


What TV Still Does Better

Let’s break it down.

It Drives Short-Term Sales
Yep, TV still moves the needle right now. Direct-response ads on TV, combined with digital or retail pushes, can create a real sales lift. TV also boosts things like search activity and web traffic.

It Builds Long-Term Brand Power
This is where TV really shines. Research (like Binet & Field’s famous studies) shows that long-term emotional advertising consistently beats short-term, purely performance-driven campaigns.
Why? Because great TV ads stick in people’s heads, shape how they feel about your brand, and make you the first name they think of when they’re ready to buy.

It Creates Cultural Moments
Digital ads are hyper-targeted, but they rarely create the big, shared moments that TV does. Think Super Bowl commercials, big product launches, or national campaigns — these become part of the cultural conversation in a way few digital ads ever do.


So Why Are Brands Pulling Back?

A lot of marketers simply don’t know how to make TV work today.

The landscape has changed — the upfronts, the scatter market, programmatic TV — it’s a lot. Add to that the fact that you can’t always track TV’s impact in real time, and many brands decide it’s easier to just keep pouring money into digital.

But here’s what cult brands understand:
Building lasting customer loyalty isn’t about what’s easiest to measure — it’s about what sticks in people’s hearts and minds.


How to Win with TV Today

If you want TV to become your most powerful marketing tool, you have to fully embrace what it’s good at — both the short-term and long-term play.

Here’s how:

1️⃣ Make Creative That Actually Connects
Don’t just shout offers. Tell stories. Build meaning. Use symbols and emotions that your audience can connect to. That’s what creates loyalty.

2️⃣ Balance Now and Later
Yes, you can run performance spots that drive immediate action — but don’t forget the big, emotional brand-building campaigns that set you up for long-term growth.

3️⃣ Mix TV and Digital
TV doesn’t live in a vacuum. It boosts your digital performance, drives social engagement, and primes search. Think of it as part of your overall ecosystem, not a standalone channel.

4️⃣ Experiment with Modern TV Tools
It’s not just about old-school linear anymore. Connected TV (CTV), addressable, programmatic — there are so many new ways to target and measure that can make TV smarter and more efficient.


The Bottom Line

People don’t just buy products — they buy meaning, emotion, identity.

And TV, when done right, delivers all three at scale.

So maybe it’s time to stop thinking of TV as outdated or risky — and start seeing it as the most underused weapon in your marketing arsenal.

Ready to rethink TV?

P.S. If this resonated with you, don’t miss our latest white paper: Cult. Creative. It features cutting-edge research on building culturally magnetic brands in the age of distraction—plus a curated collection of some of the best TV spots ever made to inspire you and your team. You won’t download a PDF—you’ll view it live, right in Google Slides. Click here and request access to explore the work.

Branding vs. Marketing

Branding and marketing are fundamentally different disciplines. 

They serve distinct purposes, operate on different timelines, and impact your business in unique ways. 

While they must work together to build a powerful, sustainable brand, failing to understand the difference between them can sabotage growth, dilute your message, and reduce your long-term impact.

Let’s begin with a clear distinction:

Branding is why you exist. 

Marketing is how you communicate that reason.

Branding is the soul of your organization. It’s the essence of what you believe, the values you uphold, and the story you tell about who you are. It’s embedded in your culture, your customer experience, and your point of view. Branding is strategic, emotional, and enduring.

Marketing, on the other hand, is tactical. It’s the deployment of tools, messages, and campaigns that promote your products or services. It’s how you gain visibility, drive traffic, and generate short-term action. Marketing is execution—it’s dynamic, responsive, and measurable.

This distinction reveals a simple truth: branding builds relationships; marketing initiates transactions.

You can market a product effectively and generate sales, but unless your brand communicates something meaningful—something that resonates with people on a deeper level—those customers won’t come back. Loyalty isn’t built through clever slogans or optimized conversion funnels. Loyalty is built when customers see a reflection of themselves in your brand’s identity.

Another key distinction lies in their time horizons. Branding is long-term. It’s about building equity and positioning over years. It’s what your organization becomes known for. Marketing, by contrast, is short-term. It’s the campaign you launch this quarter, the offer you test this week, the impressions you track by the hour.

When businesses over-invest in marketing and under-invest in branding, they often find themselves in a cycle of diminishing returns. They’re chasing clicks, fighting for attention, and optimizing for conversion—without investing in the emotional connections that actually create durable growth. Eventually, their messaging becomes fragmented, their values unclear, and their market position vulnerable.

But when branding and marketing work together—when the why and the how are aligned—something remarkable happens. Your marketing efforts become more effective because they’re anchored in meaning. Your customers respond not just because you reached them at the right time, but because your message mattered.

This alignment is what separates cult brands from transactional ones. Brands like Disney, Apple, and Netflix don’t just market products. They stand for something. They deliver a consistent experience rooted in a strong identity, and their marketing simply amplifies that identity across every channel.

Ultimately, branding is the being. Marketing is the doing.

Branding defines your trajectory—where you’re going and why it matters. Marketing defines the steps that get you there.

So no, we shouldn’t separate them. But we must stop confusing them. Because only when both are understood and integrated can a brand truly lead, inspire, and grow.

In a world where attention is scarce and trust is everything, branding and marketing are not just business tools. They are levers of belief, loyalty, and human connection. And if you’re building a brand designed to last, that distinction isn’t just helpful—it’s foundational.

P.S. If this hits home, check out Cult. Creative. — our new live white paper on building culturally magnetic brands. No PDFs. Just inspiration, research, and iconic TV spots, all in Google Slides. [Click here to request access.]

Why Cutting Low-Converting Traffic Starves Your Future Growth

In today’s performance-obsessed marketing culture, optimization feels like the golden rule. We measure, we A/B test, we trim the fat. We narrow our targeting to the most “efficient” segments. It feels smart. Clean. Precise.

But there’s a problem: what feels like smart marketing on a dashboard is often the first step toward starving your future.

Let me explain.

The Dashboard Deception

We’ve all been in the room when a team proudly reports on how they’ve optimized their campaigns by cutting “low-converting” traffic. They beam as they show higher CTRs, better ROAS, cleaner funnels. It’s a dopamine hit for the data-driven mind.

But zoom out. What’s being cut is not just inefficiency—what’s being cut is discovery.

That top-of-funnel “inefficient” traffic? That’s tomorrow’s loyal customer. That mobile evening browser? She’s not converting today—but she’s getting to know your brand. And when she’s ready to make a purchase—likely on a desktop, likely in the morning—you may have already cut the thread that connected her to you.

The Hidden Cost of Hyper-Efficiency

We’ve worked with some of the world’s most beloved cult brands. One pattern we’ve seen again and again is that they don’t treat attention like a transaction. They treat it like a relationship.

Relationships require patience. Not everyone converts on the first touchpoint—or the fifth. But if you’re only investing in people who are ready to buy today, you’re ignoring the journey that leads them there.

And more importantly, you’re handing tomorrow’s buyers to your competitors.

Building for Tomorrow

Too often, marketers focus only on quick wins—optimizing for immediate conversions while unknowingly shutting down the pathways that lead to long-term growth. When discovery moments—like evening mobile browsing—are ignored or undervalued, the brand misses a crucial chance to make an early impression.

Instead, the brands that win are the ones planting seeds. They understand that someone browsing on their phone at night might come back the next morning on a desktop, ready to convert. That trust, built quietly over time, is what drives tomorrow’s results.

This is the “messy middle” that Google describes—a nonlinear, emotional journey filled with loops, detours, and returns. If your brand isn’t showing up early in that journey, you may never be in the running when the final decision is made.

CEOs: This Is a Leadership Issue

The temptation to prioritize short-term gains is strong. Your board wants results. Your team wants wins. But leadership isn’t about chasing the nearest carrot—it’s about having the courage to invest in long-term value.

Ask yourself:

  • Are we cutting spend that builds awareness simply because it doesn’t convert fast enough?
  • Are we designing our customer experience to support exploration and evaluation, or are we fixated only on conversion?
  • Are we building loyalty, or just transactions?

Remember: cult brands aren’t built on conversions. They’re built on connections.

The Cult Branding Mindset

Cult brands don’t optimize people out of their funnels. They create magnetic experiences that pull people in. They understand that brand love is a journey—and they’re willing to invest in it.

If you’re serious about building a loyal following, stop starving your future pipeline in the name of short-term efficiency. Get curious. Get expansive. Play the long game.

You’re not just building for today—you’re building for tomorrow.P.S. Want to see what bold creativity looks like in action (without sitting through another dull pitch deck)? Cult. Creative. is our latest live deck—packed with killer ideas, unforgettable ads. View it in Google Slides—no downloads, just instant inspiration. [Request access here.]

Why Your CFO Should Care Deeply About Your Brand

In many organizations, brand is still viewed as the domain of marketing—something colorful, creative, and occasionally nebulous. But in today’s competitive landscape, that view is dangerously outdated. The truth is this: your brand is a financial asset.

And it’s time the CFO paid closer attention.

A strong brand does far more than differentiate your company in the marketplace. It enhances almost every key business metric that matters to the CFO:

  • It lowers customer acquisition costs by creating recognition and trust before a sales conversation even begins.
  • It commands pricing power by anchoring value in the minds of customers, often allowing for premium margins.
  • It increases customer lifetime value by deepening loyalty and retention.
  • It reduces talent acquisition costs by attracting employees who want to be associated with a purpose-driven brand.
  • And it protects market share, serving as a moat against newer or cheaper competitors.

In other words, brand strength shows up not just in marketing dashboards, but in the P&L and the balance sheet.

This is especially true in legacy businesses. Consider First American, a company with more than 130 years of history and billions in revenue. Its CMO, Chelsea Sumrow, understands the delicate balance required when managing a brand with such deep roots. In her words:

“Don’t get stuck in old routines.”
“Test, learn, pilot, and fail fast.”
“Effectiveness is about outcomes over outputs.”

It’s a message every CFO should hear: legacy shouldn’t mean inertia. Innovation isn’t a threat to brand value—it’s essential to sustaining it. That’s why the most successful heritage brands are the ones that invest in experimentation while staying true to their core identity.

Too often, CFOs and CMOs speak different languages. One talks in margins and ROIs; the other in emotion and storytelling. But when you look closely, brand investment and financial performance are tightly linked.

In fact, numerous studies—including those from McKinsey and Kantar—show that companies with strong brands outperform their peers in revenue growth, profit margins, and shareholder returns.

So here’s the bottom line:

If your brand vanished tomorrow, would anyone notice? Would your revenue suffer? Would your customers still know who you are—or care?

If the answer is yes, then you have a real asset worth protecting and growing. And that makes brand a matter not just of marketing strategy, but of financial stewardship.

It’s time to bring the CFO into the brand conversation—not as a skeptic, but as a strategic partner. Because in today’s world, a brand is not a cost center. It’s a growth engine.

And those who understand that—at every level of leadership—will be the ones who win.

What 9,000 Studies Reveal About Attention—and Why It Matters More Than Ever for Cult Brands

We now have the clearest evidence to date that attention drives brand outcomes—and the implications for digital strategy are huge.

In the largest study of its kind, Lumen Research, Havas Media Network, and Brand Metrics analyzed 9,000 brand lift studies to explore the link between attention and memory in digital campaigns.

📊 The results? Jaw-dropping.
Let’s break it down:


🔥 Key Findings:

  • Attention time is the best predictor of brand preference and intent.
  • Aggregate attention time matters more than just reach.
  • Frequency boosts attentive reach and total attention time.
  • Different attention strategies lead to different brand outcomes.
  • And—most importantly—attention directly correlates with brand lift at every stage: Awareness, Consideration, Preference, and Action Intent.

💡 What This Means for Cult Brands:

If you’re building a brand people love—not just one they buy—this research is gold.

Because attention = connection.
And connection = memory.
And memory = loyalty.

Shortcuts and shallow impressions won’t cut it anymore. It’s not about being seen—it’s about being remembered.

At Cult Branding, we believe in earning attention—through story, meaning, and authenticity. Now we have 9,000 studies saying: You’re right to invest in depth over reach.


👏 Huge kudos to Mike Follett and the team behind this.
If you’re a CEO or brand leader, it’s time to revisit how you measure success—and how your brand earns a few more seconds of attention each day.


Want help building campaigns that don’t just perform—but stay in the minds of your customers? Let’s connect.

What £1.8 Billion in Ad Spend Teaches Us About Building a Cult Brand

We’ve always said cult brands are built on emotional connection, not just conversions. Now, the data backs it up.

A major new report, “Profit Ability 2: The New Business Case for Advertising,” was recently released, analyzing £1.8 billion in advertising spend across 141 brands and 14 sectors from 2021 to 2023. When presented, marketers sat silently, scribbling notes nonstop for an hour.

Here’s what stood out—and why it matters for CEOs serious about building long-term brand loyalty:

Long-Term Branding Delivers the Biggest Payoff

💡 60% of advertising impact comes from long-term brand building.
Sound familiar? 

That’s the same 60:40 rule from Binet & Field. The best ROI isn’t overnight. It’s over time.

Want a loyal customer base? Tell a compelling story. Build meaning. Be consistent. Harley, Apple, Nike—none of them scaled through short-term hacks.

Stop Thinking in Terms of “Performance Channels”

No channel is purely for performance or brand.
Instead, ask:

  • How fast do I need a payback?
  • What scale am I after?
  • How efficient is this channel for my goals?

Cult brands treat every media decision as strategic, not tactical.

Traditional Channels Still Win

TV. Print. Audio.
These came out on top in effectiveness. Yet brands are shifting away from them every year.

Want the insider move for startups? Use radio.
Affordable. Intimate. Mass reach. It’s a wide-open opportunity few are taking.

Know Your Category Dynamics

Don’t copy the biggest brand in another industry.
The research dives into how ad performance shifts by:

  • Gross margins
  • Innovation pace
  • Purchase cycles
  • Distribution strategy

Cult brands are self-aware. They build media strategies based on where they play—and how customers behave.

Bottom Line for CEOs:

This research confirms what we’ve seen for decades:
🧠 Long-term thinking creates brands people love.
💬 Performance comes from meaning, not manipulation.
❤️ Media works best when your message comes from the heart.

So—what story are you telling?

And are you giving it enough time to matter?