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How Important Is Branding To My Company?

"Your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without."

 

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Which companies have "Cult Brand" status?

There are many weak brands and Average Joe brands out there. There are even numerous iconic brands in the world, which most other companies aspire to.

But few brands ever develop a deep, penetrating relationship with their customers. Few brands truly win the heart's of their customers, which breeds authentic customer loyalty. Few brands ever adhere to the rules -- knowingly or not -- that define a Cult Brand.

We present you with profiles of eleven of the world's greatest Cult Brands.

Apple iPhone Cult Brand Profile
Apple iPhone Cult Brand Profile

With enough word-of-mouth to make snakes get off the plane and enough hype to have many bloggers dub it the Jesus Phone, the iPhone launched to camped-out crowds nationwide.

 
Oprah Cult Brand Profile
Oprah Cult Brand Profile

It’s hardly an accident that Oprah Winfrey has maintained such a fervently steadfast and devoted fan base during her career. She has used her talk show as a daily platform for holding heart-to-heart discussions with her audience.

 
Apple Cult Brand Profile
Apple Cult Brand Profile

Apple Computers is the epitome of self-empowerment and self-fulfillment combined in one brand. How else to describe a Cult Brand whose original slogan for the Macintosh was, “the computer for the rest of us”?

 
Harley Davidson Cult Brand Profile
Harley Davidson Cult Brand Profile

To say that Harley had fallen on hard times by 1981 would be a drastic understatement. Japanese companies were destroying the company on pricing and Harley-Davidson’s bikes had lost the quality that made them famous.

 
Jimmy Buffett Cult Brand Profile 
Jimmy Buffett Cult Brand Profile

When an unknown Jimmy Buffett moved to Nashville in 1969 to take his shot at making it in the music business, he was not embraced with open arms.

 
IKEA Cult Brand Profile
IKEA Cult Brand Profile

People are camping outside. Traffic jams are so severe that highway exits must be shut down. Traffic lights are rendered useless requiring police to direct traffic. Is it a new Star Wars film? No, it’s the opening of a new Ikea store.

 
Linux Cult Brand Profile
Linux Cult Brand Profile

In 1991, Linus Torvalds, a twenty-one-year-old college student, set out to change this picture and develop a “cheap alternative” to UNIX.

 
Southwest Airlines Cult Brand Profile
Southwest Airlines Cult Brand Profile

In the wake of September 11th, airlines suffered a major setback. Even after a $15 dollar attempt by the government to save airlines, American, Delta, and United collectively lost $4 billion; the major airlines laid off 16% of their workforce.

 
Star Trek Cult Brand Profile
Star Trek Cult Brand Profile

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry couldn’t have been further away from fitting the mold of the typical Hollywood director. He wasn’t born into a Hollywood family, and he didn’t have any connections in the film industry.

 
Vans Cult Brand Profile
Vans Cult Brand Profile

While Vans is today known as a symbol of alternative sports like skateboarding and snowboarding, the company didn’t start out this way.

 
The Volkswagen Beetle Cult Brand Profile
The Volkswagen Beetle Cult Brand Profile

Today the Beetle is regarded as arguably the best-selling car of all time, but back in 1948 it was unknown in the U.S., and many sales types believed no one would ever buy, partly because of its association with Nazi Germany

 
World Wrestling Entertainment Cult Brand Profile 
World Wrestling Entertainment Cult Brand Profile

World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Vince and Linda McMahon are both masters at challenging and shattering conventional wisdom. They prove that anyone can build a Cult Brand.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

  • Delivers the message clearly
  • Confirms your credibility
  • Connects your target prospects emotionally
  • Motivates the buyer
  • Concretes User Loyalty

To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact.

Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.

A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all, your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without.

"Cult Branding" | Why it is important

2009 March 28
by Jeffrey, Scott

When a person first hears the term Cult Branding, there are two basic responses. Understandably, some might be put off by the term “cult” which rightly has negative connotations. Second, if they are a marketer, they often get excited about the idea.

Who is a Cult Brand? Sure, there are some easy answers that might come to mind: Apple, Oprah, Harley-Davidson, and Star Trek, to name to a few. But these appear to be anomalies more than anything else.

The small business owner might say, “Yeah, that’s great for them, but I’m a little shop. I can’t create that kind of a customer loyalty.” A valid concern, but not necessarily true.

The chief-level marketer of a Fortune 500 company might say, “We’re a global brand with mass market appeal. We can’t just cater to a small group. We’ll lose market share.” A valid point, but again, not necessarily true.

The important take-away from Cult Branding, as the concept’s originator BJ Bueno often notes is that great brands serve their customers better than anyone else. Any business can learn the principles that Cult Brands live by and adopt whatever principles seem appropriate in their context.

As BJ explains, “We must recognize that brands don’t belong to marketers. Brands belong to the customer. The customer’s embrace is the only vote that counts, yet it is constantly ignored by strategies that place our products and services as the ‘goal’ rather than the means to satisfy our customer’s needs, wishes, and fantasies.”

Cult Brands actually uphold a higher level of integrity by focusing on the needs of those who support and grow their business: their best customers (or what we call, Brand Lovers).

Seven Golden Rules of Cult Branding

by BJ Bueno

Why do people love this brand? Why are they so loyal to it? What does this brand mean to them? Why? Why? Why!

An interesting thing starts happening after you've asked a lot of questions for a long enough period of time. Not only do you start getting some really good answers, but you begin to see patterns and similarities between the responses that you receive.

This was exactly what happened in the dozens of interviews conducted. Clear patterns emerged. Although each of the nine brands was clearly different, their individual formulas for Cult-Branding success shared many of the same core ingredients.

These seven points won't tell you everything there is to know about Cult Branding, but they will give you a nice overview and practical framework to utilize in your own marketing endeavors. Think of this list as your indispensable "Cult Branding Cliff Notes." Here they are. Read them. Use them!

#1 – The Golden Rule of Social Groups
Consumers want to be part of a group that’s different.

#2 – The Golden Rule of Courage
Cult-Brand inventors show daring and determination.

#3 – The Golden Rule of Fun
Cult Brands sell lifestyles.

#4 – The Golden Rule of Human Needs
Listen to the choir and create Cult-Brand evangelists.

#5 – The Golden Rule of Contribution
Cult Brands always create customer communities.

#6 – The Golden Rule of Openness
Cult Brands are inclusive.

#7 – The Golden Rule of Freedom
Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies.

Learn how to apply the Seven Golden Rules in your business with the Cult Branding Workbook.

Cult Branding Workbook

Seven Steps to Understanding Your Customer and Cultivating Brand Loyalty

by BJ Bueno 

Numerous business professionals had approached BJ Bueno with the question, “How do I do it?”

In the Cult Branding Workbook, BJ answers that question. In this practical, step-by-step guide, you’ll be walked through the process of developing a brand your primary customers will love. From crafting your Brand Lover statement to understanding the basic human needs of your customer, you’ll learn what it takes to cultivate true brand loyalty.

In order to cultivate a “magnetic” brand, you must understand what drives your business: your customers! Few businesses take the time to better understand who they are in business to serve and, as a consequence, there are few brands that have earned “Cult” status.

Companies like Apple, Harley-Davidson, and Southwest Airlines invest a great deal of time in understanding and serving their Brand Lovers—and the results are obvious.

The Cult Branding Workbook takes you through the stages necessary to help you get in touch with your business’ brand lover. Only then can you make intelligent decisions about the overall direction of your enterprise—not just for advertising direction, but ALL your business decisions.

The seven steps of this brand discovery process are:

Step 1: Determine Where You Are Now

Step 2: Discover your Brand Lover

Step 3: Understand Your Brand Lover’s Human Needs

Step 4: Address your Key Touch Points

Step 5: Translate Your Ideas into Creative Communication

Step 6: Train your Organization

Step 7: Put your Knowledge to Work

After completing these seven steps, you’ll be armed and ready to begin cultivating a cult brand that takes on a life of its own.

Cult Branding WorkbookCult Branding Workbook
Seven Steps to Understanding Your Customer and Cultivating Brand Loyalty
by BJ Bueno

Email Us to Request A Copy of the Cult Branding Workbook

 

 

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