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 throughout as well as beyond your organization.
To this third point, Atkin identifies and then rigorously examines what he calls "Principles of the Primacy of the Person" in Chapter Three. In this context, I am reminded of what Herb Kelleher once said during a conversation with David Neeleman, then working for Southwest Airlines and currently CEO of JetBlue. "I don't care about my shareholders." Neeleman was shocked. What did he mean? Was Kelleher really serious? "Because I just take care of my employees. I know if I take care of my employees, they'll take care of my customers, and my customers will take care of my shareholders." Long before Neeleman went to work for Southwest Airlines, Kelleher once observed "You can get the same airplane. You can get the same ticket counters. You can get the same computers. But the hardest thing for a competitor to match is your culture and the spirit of your people and their focus on customer service because that isn't something you can do overnight and it isn't something you can do without a great deal of attention every day in a thousand different ways. That is why I say that our employees are our competitive protection." This is precisely what Atkin has in mind when explaining each of the "Principles of the Primacy of the Person."
In the final chapter of this book, he reviews the most important principles of cult formation which, in my opinion, are relevant to literally any human community, whatever its size and nature may be. I conclude these brief remarks with a few observations of my own. Warren Buffet once said that price is what you charge for what you sell but value is what the customer thinks it's worth. Only the marketplace can determine which are cult brands and which are not. Beware of the "Field of Dreams Syndrome." Be prepared to accept and (yes) celebrate the fact that your organization -- rather than any product or service it offers -- may well prove to be your most powerful brand. Finally, if you are not a "true believer" in the integrity of your own enterprise, find another.
