Is Cult Branding right for your business? 

Perhaps you are hesitant, thinking your business is not ready to ascend to cult status. 

You may question the effort required to foster a fervent community of followers.

Regardless of where your business stands on the cult spectrum, delving into the world of cult brands and their formation offers invaluable insights applicable to businesses of all sizes.

Consider this:

• Cult brands teach us the art of forging genuine connections with customers.
• They unveil the secrets to outshining competitors and winning the loyalty of the masses.
• They demonstrate how to harness the power of customer advocacy, turning enthusiasts into ambassadors for your brand.
• They illuminate the path to cultivating unwavering customer loyalty, which propels businesses toward lasting success.

Indeed, the lessons from cults extend far beyond the realms of fanaticism. 

Let us explore why customers are drawn to join these movements:

The Need to Belong: As Abraham Maslow outlined, humans crave connection and belonging. They actively seek out social groups that resonate with their identities.

Crafting Identity: Psychologist Erik Erikson noted that individuals develop a sense of self and loyalty to valued ideals. Brand communities offer a platform for customers to express and reinforce their identities.

Shared Values: People gravitate towards brands that reflect their core values. Brands serving as beacons of these values naturally draw in like-minded individuals seeking alignment.

Emotional Connection: Emotions enrich our lives, and communities provide unique emotional experiences. Customers are drawn to these emotional peaks, whether the excitement of a concert or the sense of belonging at a convention.

Hope for Tomorrow: In challenging times, people crave hope. 

Cult Brands offer promises of a brighter future, whether it is creativity, freedom, or optimism.

Management guru Peter Drucker explained that the purpose of business is to create a customer. 

In contemporary marketing, your job is to create a repeat customer who will likely build a relationship with you and buy from you year after year. 

To accomplish this magnificent feat, you must develop a brand. 

A brand is a customer’s association with certain feelings and images a company represents, not simply a company name or logo. 

You cannot create a brand alone because branding is a co-authored experience between you and your customers.

When a group of customers strongly associate your brand with a desired feeling, the brand has “equity” it can leverage to grow.

The secret ingredient to a sustainable enterprise is called Brand Lovers: 

The customers who love you the most. Brand Lovers emotionally connect with what you do and want to celebrate who you are. 

Their connection with your brand is so strong that they often do not consider doing business with anyone else. Apple’s Mac users, for example, do not consider purchasing a PC. To them, there is no alternative.

At the very least, your Brand Lovers choose you more often than your competitors. 

For many companies, their best customers drive a significant part of their profitability through purchasing and acting as evangelists to convert others into customers—yet the business generally knows very little about them. 

Primary market research does not offer insights into your best customers. 

Emotional connections to your brand are the drivers of choice for your best customers.

Certain brands have a legion of Brand Lovers – Cult Brands. 

In a Cult Brand like Apple, CEO Steve Jobs knew he was selling a unique, intelligent, creative, and memorable way of life—he was not just selling computers, digital music players, and mobile phones. 

Oprah became a Cult Brand by being more than just another talk show host: 

Genuine, honest, and loving. 

Oprah radiates hope and the promise of a better tomorrow.

What do your best customers help you focus on?