The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers into True Believers (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: cult paradox, cult brand, cultlike devotion, Mary Kay, The Body Shop, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Atkin, a strategy director for a New York ad agency, believes the process through which consumer brands build customer loyalty is equivalent to the way religious cults recruit members—and, he says, that's a good thing. To him, cults are little more than well-defined affinity groups engaging in a few activities outsiders find unusual because they believe something different. Yet his superficial consideration of groups like the Unification Church and the Landmark Forum rarely gets into the specifics of those belief systems, instead presenting a fuzzy image of people bonding together to give their lives meaning. (Obvious negative examples, like Waco and Jonestown, are cursorily dismissed as badly managed.) Atkin then takes this broad definition and applies it to the commercial realm, making a reasonable case that Harley riders and Apple users, among others, follow similar behavioral patterns. But he overuses the term "cult" to the point of meaninglessness: it's one thing to compare Marine Corps training to an initiatory ritual, quite another to label eBay or JetBlue customers cult members just because they use the product repeatedly. While little argument can be raised against Atkin's proposition that "few stronger emotions exist than the need to belong and make meaning," more conservative readers may balk at his notion that the decreasing power of our culture's traditional institutions is an opportunity to exploit those emotional drives for profit. Perhaps would-be cult leaders will be able to use Atkin's marketing strategies to repackage themselves for broader mainstream appeal.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Atkin, an advertising executive, examines the techniques to develop extreme buyer loyalty and discusses cults and cult-brand members' motivations, desires, and attitudes. The elements common to brand definition (used by companies such as Harley Davidson and Saturn) and to cult definition are ideas of community and belonging, ideology, devotion, and advocacy. Atkin researched many cults, including established religions, fan clubs, current and ex-marines, AA, and numerous CEOs of cult-brand companies and cult leaders. With the growth of sophisticated consumerism and the reality that institutions are increasingly inadequate sources of meaning and community, Atkin believes that alternative religion and brands that offer these benefits will flourish. His advice for establishing a cult brand includes understanding that people "buy" people and not things and ideas alone and investing at least as much into developing a cult brand as your members do in emotional and financial commitment, energy, and creativity. This is an insightful and challenging perspective on marketing for everyone, even those who may not agree with the author. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Trade (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591840961
• ISBN-13: 978-1591840961
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #643,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Core Values Which Affirm "The Primacy of the Person", September 10, 2004

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers (Hardcover)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating expression of brands, September 9, 2006

By	Dana Al-Husseini (Stamford, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Culting of Brands : Turn Your Customers into True Believers (Paperback)

I must admit, I was at first immensely intimidated by the concept of this book and would not typically have picked it up were it not for my sacrificial duties towards work. I was fortunate enough to have heard Douglas Atkins speak, and was immediately intrigued by the power of his language in referencing consumers devotion towards certain brands. This book sheds an incredible amount of light on modern day cults and the brands you would never imagine would reside beneath that category.

Kudos to Atkins for a well researched book. He draws very compelling parallels between typical cults and brands. The book is very easy to follow and is extremely engaging especially because a lot of the examples he uses are common to our everyday lives, and draw from classic human needs and behaviors. This is definitely an interesting book for anyone inhabiting the marketing/branding bubble although I must say; I did not find his philosophies and recommendations to be a far throw from rudimentary loyalty/CRM principles. It is the perspective and not the solution that wins the four stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "new" marketing takes on an intriguing face., November 3, 2006

By	Craig Jennings "Business Coach" (Port Washington, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.