The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers

Douglas Atkin is revered as a brilliant account planner for a reason - he is one of the sharpest minds in marketing. I teach this book in my branding class at NYU because I believe Douglas is onto something - in an age where most Americans have been uprooted and lack communal identity, consumers are latching onto brands as a means of self-identification. Sometimes this leads them into classic cult behavior. The nice thing about this book is that Douglas has really done his homework - he's gone inside classic cults like the Moonies as well as religions (the Mormons), the armed forces (the Marines) all the way into brand cults like Apple, Harley Davidson and JetBlue.

Doug Atkin reveals what "cultism" really is (not funny Kool-aid for the mind-numbed) and why we should aspire to having our customers "cult our brand." He points out the massive changes which have taken place since the Attraction Principle replaced a lot of Spot TV, and helps us evaluate lower-cost options which get big results. The point of view is valuable and well-presented, the supporting evidence and other argumants are equally well-handled. If you have customers, and are anything from a sole propriator on up, this book is challenging and valuable.

the truth be told, author Atkin began his research on cults and brands more than seven years ago. then his premise was discovered by Forbes about four years ago and eventually became the COVER STORY (in which he is cited) of Forbes on April 16, 2001. Then later, a grad student did a thesis on the same topic and published it as a book. Stick to the real deal: The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers by Douglas Atkin Not a diluted, "borrowed" grad student thesis. "My Professors would failed me for plagiarism." ?? Your professors should have failed you for more than just that...diction, grammar, etc. Perhaps this is one reason Atkin's book was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal and the grad student thesis was not.

Atkin is quite correct when suggesting that a cult brand is one "for which a group of customers exhibit a great devotion or dedication. Its ideology is distinctive and it has a well-defined and committed community. It enjoys exclusive devotion (that is, not shared with another brand in the same category), and its members often become voluntary advocates." A cult brand attracts certain customers for a variety of reasons and rewards them in a variety of ways but it is important to keep in mind that few brands possess the power to do so. Also, that a cult brand is not necessarily a consumer product nor even a physical object. It can also be a uniquely enjoyable experience (e.g. Starbucks) or even a way of life (Harley-Davidson). Atkin is convinced (and I agree) that the same dynamics are at play behind the attraction to brands and cults: Both offer membership in a community of shared values and interests, both give unique and satisfying personal identify, and both inspire uncommon loyalty. According to Atkin, what he characterizes as the "cult paradox dynamic" is best understood in terms of a four-step process: "1. An individual might have a feeling of [in italics] difference, even [in italics] alienation from the world around them. 2. This leads to [in italics] openness or to [in italics] searching for a more compatible environment. 3. They are likely to feel a sense of [in italics] or [in italics] safety in a place where one's difference from the outside world is seen as a virtue, not a handicap. 4. This presents the circumstances for [in italics] self-actualization within a group of like-minded others who celebrate the individual for being himself." Atkin asserts that the same paradox can be found at the heart of cult brands. Rather than joining others inorder to conform, people do so to express, indeed to affirm their individuality. Apple is only one of several companies which have cleverly leveraged the feelings associated with the cult paradox to elevate its brand to cult status: alienation and rejection, followed by validation that in turn sets the stage for self-actualization. If your organization does not now have a cult brand or one which has the potential to become one, why read this book? Good question. Here are three reasons which I presume to offer. First, Atkin can help you to increase your understanding of human motivation. Who among those (non-customers) who purchase what you sell now feel alienated? Why? To which of their unmet needs can you respond? Second, Atkin can help you to develop a marketing plan which creates or increases market demand for what you offer. How can you position your brand so as to differentiate it from its competition? Of equal importance, how can you differentiate a customer's relationship with you from relationships with your competitors? Third and finally, Atkin can help you to formulate and then implement a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective plan by which to develop a sense of evangelism

first an admission: i not only know the author, but bear a striking similarity to a certain "shaved-head (bald) mid (late) thirties (motorcycle) rider in the media business" mentioned on p. 91. what i love about the book, having read tons of them over the years, is 1) it talks to you, not at you and 2) it's not just an idea, it's evidence based. on the first point, so many latter day brand experts are brilliant but also have brilliant egos. they write dogmatically as if they love their own ideas more than their readers. this book is written in almost a conversational style that makes you part of the dialogue not a prisoner to it. to the second point, this book is based in research, not just a new paradigm or metaphor for much of the same old thinking. the author spent several years studying and interviewing his subjects. hearing (reading) cult members talk in their own words, makes them less scary and more relevant than i could have thought.