Cult Branding

Cult Branding Sr.No

Topic

Pg.No

01

Design of Study

01

02

Branding

02

03

Market Segmentation

06

04

Cult Brands

11

05

Seven Golden Rules of Cult Branding

22

06

Nine Cult Brands

36

07

The Indian Cult

57

08

Case Study on Harley- Davidson

64

09

Conclusion

75

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Cult Branding

Design of study Objective of study 

To study about brands

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To know regular brand is transformed into a colossal Cult movement.

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To understand Cult brands & know about the Global & Indian Cults.

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To understand impact of Cult brands have on people.

Scope The project focuses on the study of Cult Brands found in global markets through collection of secondary information regarding it

Methodology All the information, data, cases gathered and analysed is from secondary source like magazines, books, internet, etc… .

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Cult Branding

BRANDING

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Origin of Brands The origin of the term “brand” in its contemporary sense is relatively new. The term derives from the practice of indelibly marking or stamping property, usually with a hot iron. Cattle or sheep would be marked this way, but it was equally a means of signalling disgrace. Criminal would be “fixed with a mark of infamy” using a hot iron or tattoo. Branding therefore signalled a loss of esteem that could not be restored and could be publicly recognized. One still talk of people being “branded a Liar”. Branding is principally the process of attaching a name and a reputation to something or someone. In the mid 1880’s, there were no brands and little quality control by manufacturers. Wholesalers held power over both manufacturers and retailers. Manufacturers had to offer the best deals to wholesalers in order to get their product distributed. This created a squeeze on profits. As a result of this profit squeeze some manufacturers decided to differentiate their products from the competition. They gave their product names, obtained patents to protect their exclusivity and used advertising to take the news about them to customers, over the heads of the wholesalers and retailers. Thus, the concept of branding, in its contemporary sense was born.

What is a Brand ?

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Cult Branding A brand is a simple thing, it is effect a Trademark, which through careful management, skilful promotion and use, comes in the minds of consumers, embrace a particular and appealing set values and attributes, both intangible tangible. It is therefore much more the product itself, it is also more than

“Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of seller and differentiate them from those of competitors.” The American Marketing Association

wide to of and than

merely a label to consumers it represent a whole host of attributes

and a

credible guarantee of quality and origin. To the brand owner it is, in effect an annuity, a guarantee of future cash flows. A brand identifies the seller or maker. A brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational, and cultural image that one associate with the company or a. When one thinks Volvo he might think safety, when he think of Nike the h might think of Michael Jordan or “Just do it”. Thus a brand name and the positive association with that brand makes one selection easier and enhances the value and satisfaction one get from the product.

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Cult Branding

Brand Loyalty Brand Loyalty is the degree to which consumer purchases a certain brand without considering alternatives. Brand Loyalty in its strongest form is described as brand insistence; where the consumer refers to be unsatisfied with a substitute. All manufacturers of branded goods want consumer loyalty i.e. the consumers should insist on a particular brand & accept no other substitute. A brands most powerful advantage is rooted in human tendency to habits and stick to routines. Most people will buy the same brand over and over again if it continues to satisfy their needs. What brand loyalty really is, whether the consumer is committed one and the test is if he or she will wake up a mile to get it. In other words will the consumer go to another shop and ask for it, will he or she leave the substitute being offered by the shopkeeper?

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Market Segmentation

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Introduction to Segmentation The starting point for discussing market segmentation is mass-marketing. In mass marketing the seller engages in the mass production, mass distribution and mass promotion of one producer for all buyers. Henry Ford epitomized this marketing strategy when he offered the Model T “in any colour, as long it is Black”. The proliferation of advertising media and distribution channels is making it difficult and increasingly expensive to reach a mass audience. Hence many companies turned to market segmentation. A company cannot serve all consumer in a broad market such as computers or soft drinks. The consumer are too numerous and diverse in their buying requirements. The company needs to identify the market segments that it can serve more effectively. Since no product or service can please everybody marketers need to segment the markets that offer the greatest potential for sales. By doing so, marketers can fine-tune their mix including advertising, to match the needs, wants desires of the target markets.

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Levels of Market Segmentation Segment Marketing: A market segment consists of a large identifiable group within a market with similar wants, purchasing power, geographical location, buying attitude or habits. e.g. an auto company may identify four broad segment car buyers who are primarily seeking basic transportation or high performance or luxury or safety. Segment marketing offers several benefits, A company can create a more fined tuned product or service offering and price it appropriately for the target audience for the target audience. The choices of distribution and communication channels become much easier. The company also may face fewer competitors in the particular segment. Local Marketing: It means marketing programs being tailored to the needs and wants of local customers groups. Citibank provides different mixes of banking services in its branches depending on neighbourhood demographics. Krafts helps the supermarkets chain identify the cheese assortments and shelf positioning that will optimise the cheese sales in low, middle and high income stores, and in different ethnic neighbourhood. Those favouring localizing a company’s marketing see national advertising as wasteful because it fails to address local needs. While those against this strategy argue that it increases the manufacturing and marketing costs by reducing economies of scale.

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Cult Branding Individual Marketing: The ultimate level of segmentation leads to “segment of one”, “customised marketing” or “one to one marketing”. Mass marketing is thee ability to prepare on a mass basis individually designed products and communications to meet each customer’s requirements. For centuries, consumers were served as individuals: tailors made suits and cobblers designed shoes for individuals. Much business to business marketing today is customised the offers, logistics, communications and financial terms for each major account’s. Niche Marketing: A niche is more narrowly defined group, typically a small market whose needs are not well served. Marketers usually identify a niche by dividing a segment into sub segments or by defining a group seeking distinctive benefits. E.g. the segment of heavy smokers includes those who are trying to stop smoking and those who don’t care. Segments are normally large and attract several competitors, whereas niches are fairly small and normally attract only one or two. These segments need more decentralization and some changes in the way they do business. The prevalence of niche and even “microniche” marketing can even be seen in the Media. There was a proliferation of magazines (in 1998 there were 1000 first edition magazines launched ) targeting specific niches, divided and subdivided along the lines of ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation: B 1 G 2 ( Black first Gay second) is an N.Y based first lifestyle magazines for Black Gay Men. Miami based Quince for Hispanic teenage girls.

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Cult Branding Niche marketers presumably understand their customer’s needs so well that the customers willingly pay a premium. Ferrari gets a high price for its cars because buyers feel no other automobile comes close to it. Thus Attractive Niche is characterised as follows: The customer in the niche have a distinct set of needs, they will pay a premium to the firm that best satisfies their needs, the niche is not likely to attract other competitors, the nicher gains certain economies through specialisation, and the niche has size, profit, and growth potential.

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CULT BRANDS

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Meet Mister Maslow —The Father of Cult Branding The connection between customer loyalty and cult brands is an area that up until now has been filled with lots of questions and relatively few answers. For example, one knows that certain brands enjoy incredible customer loyalty and devotion. And that the most loyal customers of certain brands will do seemingly almost anything to support their cherished brands. But Why? Why are certain brands so important and meaningful to some customers that they feel compelled to tell the world about them? What makes them go that extra mile? Successful brand owners will tell that a solid grasp of human behavior what motivates people to do certain things and act certain ways is at the very core of successful marketing. Maslow postulated that we humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchal pyramid to prioritize them. At the bottom levels of the pyramid are our physiological needs, which include basic things like food, shelter, and clothing that we all need to survive. At progressively higher levels in Maslow’s Hierarchy are the needs for safety and security, social interaction, and self-esteem. At the very top is self-actualization, a term Maslow coined to describe the ultimate human need to learn, grow, and reach one’s full potential as a person., Maslow describes self-actualization as follows: A musician must make music, and an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to ultimately be at peace with him-self. What a man can be, he must be. This need one may call self-actualization. . . . It refers to man’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially; to become everything that one is capable of becoming. In other words, we all desire on some level to self-actualize, both to be at peace with ourselves and to try to be the best we can be. As humans, we are drawn to people, places, groups, causes, companies, and, ultimately, brands that we believe can help us towards our ultimate goal of self-actualization and total fulfillment.

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Cult Branding The Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs can be explained with the help of the pyramid below.

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Cult Branding

Why the Hierarchy of Needs Is a Crucial Tool for Branding? Perhaps the most important thing to take away from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs is his theory that all human beings start fulfilling their needs at the bottom levels of the pyramid. In short, we fill our low physiological needs first. Higher needs like safety, esteem, and social interaction basically do not exist. At this point. Logically, survival comes first. However, once an individual has satisfied his or her lower level needs, the higher level needs become influential in motivating behavior. As Maslow notes time and time again in his work, “Man is a perpetually wanting animal.” This quick refresher on Maslow and his Hierarchy of Human Needs is important, because many of Maslow’s findings lie at the core of what makes companies with cult brands so successful. Maslow’s writings break down the underlying drivers of human behavior and decision making. Maslow never mentions the phrase “brand loyalty” in his books, but his Hierarchy Of Human Needs and concepts like self-actualization are key to understanding why consumers consistently choose one brand over another and enjoy such strong relationships with them. The makers of cult brands aren’t like mainstream marketers whose focus is largely on selling “feature-benefits” from the bottom of the pyramid to their customers. Rather, cult branders enjoy incredible loyalty because they work hard to connect with their customers at the very highest levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy. Cult brand companies all have products and services with great “feature-benefits,” but their products and services also fulfill the high-level needs of esteem, social interaction, and self-actualization found at the top of Maslow’s pyramid. So, why is fulfilling higher level needs so integral to building strong customer loyalty? What’s the connection? The answer is, higher level needs influence future human behavior much greater than lower level needs. It is the brands that can fulfill human needs

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Cult Branding on the higher levels of the hierarchy that become irreplaceable in the mind of the consumer. What customer loyalty is really all about “Being Irreplaceable”. True customer loyalty is not only about getting a customer to consistently choose a brand over another. It’s for that same customer to always believe (and then go tell the world) that company’s brand has no equal!

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Characteristics Cult brand customers range in age from eight to eighty Get out into the field and look at a cult brand's typical customers. Visit and walk the floor of a Star Trek convention. Go to a Jimmy Buffet concert. Have a cup of coffee with some Harley-Davidson owners. Talk to some Linux or Macintosh fanatics, even check out a WWE wrestling event, the conclusion would be that cult brands are all incredibly open and inclusive companies. In fact, their customer bases are so diverse that their followers generally cut across all ages, races, genders, creeds, and socio-economic backgrounds. Why do cult brands like Star Trek, Jimmy Buffet, Linux, Apple, and WWE all have customers that range in age from eight to eighty? Simple. Don't forget that cult branders aren't just selling a product or a service; they are selling the opportunity to fulfill their customers' passions, dreams, and aspirations. The need for feelings of self-empowerment and self-fulfillment is timeless and ageless. These are universal qualities that all human beings share. A rebellious young teenager and an aging baby boomer, while separated in decades by age, both want the same feelings of temporary escapism and unrestricted fun that seemingly only Jimmy Buffet’s island-lifestyle-inspired concerts music can provide. A great cult brand like Harley-Davidson would likely have never got off the ground and recovered fabulously in the late eighties if it had fallen into the trap of brand exclusivity and nearsighted targeting. Can one imagine what would have happened if Harley had started running ads and sponsoring events geared only toward single blue-collar males living in rural markets with a median household income of $30,000 to $35,000 a year? While it's hard to predict the outcome of a hypothetical future, if Harley had followed this strategy, it likely would have outmarketed and outsmarted itself right out of hundreds of thousands of loyal new `weekend riders'.

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Cult Branding

A peek into the Harley nation today reveals thousands upon thousands of middleaged lawyers, doctors, accountants, and other upwardly mobile professionals happily coexisting with long-time blue-collar Harley owners. In short, the Harley nation is now as diverse as a cross-section of the entire American population, and for good reason. What Harley is ultimately selling through its motorcycles is the opportunity to experience the feelings of raw freedom and empowerment that one receives from strapping on some leather and riding a bike down an open road. These are feelings common to Americans of all ages, races, and backgrounds.

Cult brands are universal It's hardly by accident that Oprah Winfrey has maintained such a fervently steadfast and devoted fan base during her career. For over 15 years now, she has used the Oprah Winfrey Show as a daily platform for holding heart to heart discussions with her audience. While some TV personalities seem distant and removed from the general public, Oprah has never shied away from sharing intimate personal details about her life with her audience. Oprah has openly discussed such incredibly difficult and personal topics as being, raped at nine years old and using cocaine in her twenties, as well as her ongoing high profile battle with obesity. By sharing these intimate personal details, Oprah shows her viewers that when the lights and cameras are all put away she faces many of the same problems as they. She is indeed an ordinary person with ordinary problems to overcome. It's her seeming vulnerability and fragility that make her that much more of an inclusive brand. As for Star Trek, the TV series and movies have always had themes of openness and acceptance of all races, creeds, and nationalities. Let's not forget that the cast of the original TV series included a black female (Uhura), a Russian

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Cult Branding (Checkov), an Asian (Sulu), and even an `alien life form', the Vulcan Spock, all working together as the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It doesn't get much more inclusive than that! Explains long-time Star Trek expert Richard Arnold, "Star Trek is about a future society where we have all survived with dignity. We don't all get killed by a huge bomb. Instead, we unite as a planet."

Cult brands are `sharing' and `collaborative' Nothing lets a customer better know that a brand is truly inclusive than when the company listens and acts on the advice its customers give it. As human beings, we all get pleasure from sharing our thoughts, ideas, experiences, and discoveries with others, and we are naturally drawn to people and organizations that value and appreciate what each of us has to share. We are even more drawn to people and organizations that actually take our input and act upon it. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of cult brands all have a strong `sharing' and `collaborative' component associated with them. This theme of collaboration and sharing is a prime driver behind the fiery passion and fierce loyalty that software developers have had for Linux for over a decade now. The open source development process that the Linux operating system is built upon is a superb example of the power of openness and inclusiveness in practice.

Cult brands abolish “command-and-control” thinking A company's employees can also be powerful secret weapons for building a genuine environment of sharing and openness between its brand and its customers. Unfortunately, far too many brand holders ranging from monolithic Fortune 500 giants right down to small mom and pop corner shops still stick with a command and control management style. A company maybe a department store, a car dealership, or an appliance mega store whose well intentioned employees clearly

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Cult Branding want to provide honest advice but can't. They come off sounding like robots spouting the company line. Invariably, this kind of experience leaves a nasty taste in our mouths about that company's brand. Instead of feeling appreciated and welcome, the customer feels frustrated and excluded. Harley-Davidson demonstrates beautifully companies whose employees are not only free of command and control shenanigans but are actually encouraged to mix and mingle with customers.

Use advertising to convey openness and inclusiveness Beyond `sharing' with its customers and setting its employees free, there is another way a brand can become more inclusive, and that is through advertising. A brand's advertising can either enhance overall message of openness and inclusiveness or it can tear this message to pieces. Few things hurt a brand worse than an advertising campaign that conveys a different marketing message from how the product or service "walks, talks, and acts" in reality. This kind of disconnection in communication should never happens to a brand. Before one launches any new advertising campaign, always ask one question: Do these ads convey a message that the brand is open, friendly, and inclusive? Analyze the marketing plan behind any cult brand and one will find that every facet of its advertising from print and TV ads all the way down to its in store displays gives off a feeling of openness and friendliness. These ads all focus intently on demonstrating that anyone and everyone is welcome to use the company's product or service. No one is left out. It is hardly an accident, for example, that every issue of Oprah Winfrey's O magazine features a smiling photo of Oprah on its cover. Sure, Oprah is the brand people are `buying into' when they purchase a copy of O, but the reason Oprah is on the cover goes much deeper than that. Study the rack of women's magazines. Pick up a copy of O, and one will see that Oprah's cover photo is always warm,

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Cult Branding friendly, and approachable. She creates a stark contrast to the tall svelte models with seemingly impossible body dimensions on the covers of many other women's magazines. Oprah's inclusiveness wins out over the other magazines' exclusiveness. Cult brand car manufacturer Volkswagen is another company that effectively uses advertising to deliver its message of family and inclusiveness. While the vast majority of car manufacturers design their new models to sell to a particular segment of the car buying public, Volkswagen has largely refused to go down this path. And for good reason trying to use demographics and psychographics to develop a profile of the ideal Beetle buyer is wasted effort, because the lifestyle, attitude, and dream a Beetle fulfills defies age, race, gender, and socio-economic background. Wisely, for the launch of the New Beetle in 1998, Volkswagen made a conscious decision not to show any actual `drivers' in magazine or television ads. VW wanted its funky shaped and lovable little car - not an actor or actress - to be the centre of the public's attention. Advertising can make or break efforts to make a brand more open and inclusive. Keep in mind that cult brand advertisements consistently reinforce the notion that anyone and everyone is always welcome to use their products and services.

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Cult Branding

SEVEN GOLDEN RULES OF CULT BRANDING

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Cult Branding Nothing frustrates one more than to read a book that has good ideas but fails to break them down into bite-sized pieces for the reader to digest and implement. So this is about cult branding into seven key points. Why do people love this brand? Why are they so loyal to it? What does this brand mean to them? Why? Why? Why! These seven points won’t tell everything there is to know about cult branding, but they will give a nice overview and practical framework. Think of this list as an indispensable thing, “Cult Branding Cliff Notes.” Here they are The Seven Golden Rules of Cult Branding 1. Consumers want to be part of a group that’s different. 2. Cult brand inventors show daring and determination. 3. Cult brands sell lifestyles. 4. Listen to the choir and create cult brand evangelists. 5. Cult brands always create customer communities. 6. Cult brands are inclusive. 7. Cult brands promote personal freedom and draw power from

their

enemies.

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Cult Branding

Rule 1: Consumers Want to be a Part of the Group that’s Different Human beings are social animals. They have a strong need to communicate and relate to each other. Marketers of cult brands have made use of this knowledge about human nature. They have created groups around their brands that not only buy the product but also support and advocate it. These consumers’ communities see the product as a lifestyle, not just a product. The product thus becomes a tool for self-actualization and these cult brands become symbols for distinct social groups that are recognizably unique. Cults give people a unique ways, “to be weird together and feel weird no more" Not only this, cults brands sometimes serve as surrogate facilities, which product the followers from many societal pains. They are temporary way for consumers to rebel against the society while having the love and support of like-minded individuals. Oprah enjoys this cult like following because she can make her customers feel unique reading a book featured on the show allows the viewers to be a part of the Oprah family and still remain unique from the non-Oprah viewers. Look, say and feel: The three amigos of every cult brand: One perceives and understands the world through his senses. In the same way, makes purchase decisions also through senses. Every brand has its look, say and feel, which influences the consumer preference in a big way. Cult brands use these three powerful amigos of look, say and feel to differentiate their products and services. In fact, Apple has achieved this cult status due to attention to look, say and feels.

Its endeavour is to build products that are

‘aesthetically beautiful ‘and ‘insanely great’. Another great example of look, say and feel is Volkswagen Beetle. Its unique egg shaped design combined with the unique advertising message (‘Think Small’ et al) lent a truly unique personality to the car.

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Cult Branding Most of the cult brands do not stop at just look, say and feel pay tireless attention to details. For instance, by 1996 the open source developers started discussing a need for Linux to have a recognizable identity. After much deliberation, the penguin was chosen because in the words of Linux Torvalds, it is ‘cute’ and ‘cuddly’. This logo in the midst of other cold corporate logos screamed that the company is different. Another characteristic of cult brands is that they just don’t quit easily. Though today Jimmy Buffet is considered as a strong cult brand, he has gone through enough travail to achieve this cult status. His first album Down to Earth sold a total of 374 copies. Subsequent attempts were no better, but he did not give up. His unique blend of country and folk music left the entire industry confused as to how to market him, because his music was a category unto itself. He found success with his sixth album when his Margaritaville made it to the Top Ten. Jimmy Buffet has grown into a cult brand because he fought hard to create and maintain the category his music belonged to. A cult brand is not just different from competition but is insanely different. No competitor even comes close to a cult brand because any alternative to the cult brand looks woefully inadequate.

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Rule 2: Cult Brand Inventors Show Daring and Determination. The consumers associate so strongly with the cult brands because their inventors dare to be different. In the market where all the products look alike, cult brands stand apart from the rest because their inventors took risks and did not follow the conventional wisdom. They have challenged the conventional wisdom not only about products or services but also about consumer needs and wants. Star Trek challenged the belief that the public was not interested in watching serious science fiction. And this is precisely the reason that Star Trek became so popular. Star Trek fans are so involved with the show because of its real plot lines, real characters and real subject matter. In fact Star Trek took its subject matter so seriously that they invited scientist as a consultant. Very gadget in the shows and movies had some real science behind it, a fact widely appreciated by the scientific community. Similarly, Oprah ignored the conventional wisdom when she decided that her show would not include tabloid topics and off the wall guests and would offer only solutions, not problems. The sceptics predicted that this move would make it difficult to survive in face of competition from news, more outlandish players. Oprah ignored these sceptics, as she believed that her viewers wanted a show whose content was more fulfilling and went ahead with rolling out a new format of the show based on self-improvement. Vince and Linda McMahon of WWE are also extraordinary risk takers. They believed so strongly in the potential of wrestling at a national level that they brought the family wrestling business from Vince’s father. They agreed to make quarterly payments of $250,000 each and if they missed a payment, they would lose everything and the business would revert back to its owners. This was a big gamble, which required extraordinary courage and faith in the dream. At that time, creating a national brand for wrestling was a risky proposition as the business was

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Cult Branding controlled by regional fiefdom who has agreed not to complete in each other’s territories. McMahon’s took on these players when they started paying local TV channel to broadcast their company’s matches. And the rest, as they say, is history. These

businesses were driven by their inventors’ tremendous zeal, faith in

themselves and an ability to take risks. Their ‘never say die’ attitude even in face of failures is what is responsible for their tremendous success today.

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Rule 3: Cult Brands Sell Lifestyles Harley Davidson is not just a bike: it is a statement of a lifestyle. Thousands of fans meet each year to participate in the races just to have fun. Jimmy Buffet draws millions of fans to his concerts because they have fun there. Linux is so popular among developers because it was initially built for having fun. Almost all the cult brands have strong ‘fun’ factor attached to them. Jimmy Buffet is a master at the art of sharing this fun with his followers. With his songs, he paints a vivid picture of a tropical beach with a lot of fun, sand and surf. Buffet does not sell only music; he sells an opportunity for temporary escapism to his fans. His fans aren’t buying a product or a service; they are buying a lifestyle, which is shared with like –minded individuals. Cult brands also understand that people need something more from life than simple fulfilment of their physiological needs. They have dreams that are more than new cars or bigger housed. And they have an immense need to pursue their dreams and passions. Developers making six-figure salaries devote their time to work on a free open source code program like Linux? The need to work on this comes from within not from the organization or the boss. Working on Linux allows people to pursue their dreams and passions and have fun at the same time. Not only Linux, but also all the cult brands serve as tools for self-actualization for their customers. Cult brands weave themselves around the dreams and passions of their customers. That is why Vans organizes and sponsors dozens of events related to extreme sports. Cult brands somehow enable people to feel in control of their own destiny; to feel self-empowered.

Apple advertised its Macintosh as

‘Computer for the rest of us’. This ‘rest of us’ refereed to the brave individuals who wanted to break free IBM’s controlling grip. The look, feel and say of the product should communicate this self-empowerment as does Harley’s engines that come with their characteristics ‘potato-potato’ sound.

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Rule 4: Listen to the Choir and Create Cult Brand Evangelists Star Trek, when it was first introduced did not make it really big. Though the ratings in the first year were respectable, the second season was not very encouraging and NBC decided to withdraw the series. When the news got around, the husband and wife team of Bjo and John Trimble started a ‘Save Star Trek’ letter writing campaign. This letter writing campaign stands out as an example of what a bunch of fervent loyalists can achieve for the brand. Most of the companies focus their selling efforts and communication programs on the mass market. But this is where they rarely find true brand evangelists. These evangelists will be the happy customers who already know the product and the brand and feel real excitement for the company’s product. When Vans started the company, they were simply manufacturing and selling shows to the public. Their shoes were then tried by California Skateboarder’s association in the 1970s.

Vans paid heed to these customers, unlike other

manufacturer’s and began catering to their needs and desires. The company even started sponsoring well-known Skateboarders. Van listened to them closely and responded to their demands and in the process created its own fiercely loyal set of ‘brand evangelists’. A company cannot expect to build strong relationships with its customers, if it ignores what they have to say. Fans would be only as loyal to the company as they perceive the company to be to them. Apple has mastered some interesting ways to relate to brand evangelists. It hosts a User Group University twice a year at Macworld New York and San Francisco. At each of these universities User Group leaders from all over the world meet for workshop and conventions. They are also briefed about company’s latest products. Apple regional liaisons and Apple User Group advisory board. These user groups give apple valuable feedback from the market and also share Apple stones with anyone who would listen.

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Cult Branding

Cult brands use evangelists to strengthen their relationships with other segments. They understand how to keep their customers happy at all costs which immediately ingratiates them to their customers. A great brand cannot be created without brand evangelists. A company needs them as much as they need the company. Evangelists like to see their unexpressed needs being realized as happened in case of Linux when Linux Torvalds wrote the code for Linux. And when he decided to share it with others and involve them in the creation process, he helped translate their vision and dreams into reality. Every cults brand also consistently needs to offer the unexpected to the evangelists. Even when their beloved brand commits a mistake, these evangelists will not hesitate to come to its rescue.

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Rule 5: Cult Brands Always Create Customer Communities In 1982, Harley Davidson was a company on the brink of financial ruin. It was beleaguered with heavy debts, stiff competition from Japanese bikes and a host of quality and production problems. expensive mass marketing.

In this condition, Harley could not afford

In 1983, the CEO Vaughn Beal’s announced the

launch of Harley Owners Group. This laid the foundation of an entirely new way to connect with customers. As the concept gradually caught on, thousands of Harley riders became members. Each local HOG chapter was sponsored and promoted by the local dealer. This not only improved the relations between the dealers and the customers but also increased the sales of Harley merchandise and spare parts. Harley did not stop at launching a membership club. Every year, it organise hundreds of local and regional rallies around the world. The rallies provide an excellent opportunity for Harley’s fans to meet each other and share their stories. At these rallies the also unveil new bikes and encourage people to try them. Both Startrek and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville followed a similar path in creating their customer communities. In both these cases, the seed of ideas came from fans that started the community in their own way. In case of Startrek it was an 18 year old Dan Madsen, who began publishing and distributing a small photocopied to fellow trekkers. Similarly, Scott Nicksen came up with the idea of forming a small informal “Parrot head club”. Both these organisation once convinced of the power of the idea, took these small initiatives forward. Madsen’s company has now been operating the official Startrek fan club and publishing the Star Trek Communicator magazine for over 20 years And Nickerson runs a MNC, non profit organisation called Parrot Heads in Paradise Another powerful tool to keep this customer community active and engaged is to build a Mecca for them. This can be a focal point that can help revitalize the brand’s faithful. It can be the first factory, first retail store or even the garage or

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Cult Branding house of owner. Jimmy Buffet has a retail music store that is widely popular among his fans. For many wrestling fans attending Wrestle mania is the culmination and fulfilment of their true devotion to their cult brand. Apple created its Apple Expo and Macworld conventions, which are more than trade shows. These conventions provide the fans with an opportunity to meet Apple’s developers and take a look at the newest products. These customer communities enable Cult brands to touch their customer’s lives on a regular basis and reinforce their connection with their brand.

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Rule 6: Cult brands are Inclusive Advertisers and marketers believe that great brands are built upon product exclusivity and targeting marketing. As brand become more and more exclusive, it drifts further and further away from its customers. It alienates the very same customer who is instrumental in making it so big. Cult brand do not target customer with “exclusive” products but they market the products to real customer to fulfil the real needs and wants. The customer base of these cult brands do not simply sell products or services, they sell opportunities to fulfil their customer’s dreams and passion. Harley owner range from lawyer, doctors, accountant to blue collar workers. When Van Doren started his company, his attention was not to build an exclusive brand. In fact, he wanted to make and sell shoes for the public. Once he realized that his shoes are being worn by skateboarders, he started paying special attention to their needs and want at the time they were considered as outcast. Oprah has maintained such a large and devoted fan base primarily because she was never shied of sharing her own problems with the audience, including her rape at the age of 9, addiction to cocaine at 20 and her on going battle with obesity. Her vulnerability and fragility make her an inclusive brand. And a brand becomes truly inclusive when it listens to its customers and acts on their feedback. This theme of collaboration and sharing is best demonstrated by Linux. Its popularity is a sterling example of power of openness and inclusiveness.

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Cult Branding

Rule 7: Cult brands promote personal freedom The developers who actually write the Linux code are attracted to it because to them it signifies freedom. It is a form of expression for them. Cult brands signify personal freedom and encourage their fans to break from the moulds and follow their own path. Cult brands also create lasting memories. They blend environmental stimuli like people, place, images, sounds and smells to create memorable experience. One incredible sensory experience is enough to entrench the brand firmly in the consumer’s mind, and these warm feelings, which that experience is able to create for the brand should be reinforced so that the brand-customer connection remains fresh and strong. For cult brands work hard to communicate with their customers with the same message day after day, year after year. Jimmy buffet consistently tours every summer and works hard to bring out a new album every year. Oprah works on a new edition of the Oprah Winfrey show on a daily basis. Similarly, Paramount has produced five different Star Trek television series and nine different movies over the past 35 years. Cult brands also use nostalgia as a potent weapon to reinforce the brand memory connections. The New Beetle though is very different from the older one as far as the mechanical parts are concern, but the Volkswagen has taken care to preserve the styling details including a flower vase on the dashboard. People buying the New Beetle are reminded about their past. The resulting excitement has also brought new customers.

35

Cult Branding

The Nine Cult Brands

36

Cult Branding Grand ivory-tower thinking and high level academic theories are annoying to most people. One want to see ideas put into practice, not theories floating around in the clouds. After all, grand “cloud theories” designed for a perfect world aren’t very useful to marketers and brand builders who have to operate in the real world. That’s why it is of prime importance to support the concepts and ideas with stories and experiences of real cult branders in action. What they did right. What they did wrong. The cult brands are not necessarily the biggest and most well-known brands, but they are companies with the most fanatical and most loyal customer followings. These are the brands that consistently connect with their customers at the very highest levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and form deep and lasting emotional bonds with their followers. Some well-known multinational brands are missing . Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Ford, DELL, and McDonald’s. Big doesn’t necessarily equal the best when it comes to customer loyalty. Customer loyalty can’t simply be measured by market share or the size of a company’s wallet. While these big companies are all greatly revered brands, none of them invoke the fire and passion in their customers that makes a genuine cult brand. These brands may have some of the world’s largest marketing budgets by far, but none of them enjoy customer relationships that reach the highest levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy. These companies still have much to learn about cult branding! Also absent from the list are brands that are still unproven and may be only fads. Think of Cabbage Patch dolls, Razor scooters, Swatch watches, and many other trendy consumer products. A brand has to have been around for at least a decade to make the list of cult brand candidates. The companies into Cult Branding are real businesses that had to start at the bottom and fight and claw their way to the top. Not only are they more interesting to learn about, they are also more inspirational for other marketers. None of the nine cult brands were born with silver spoons in their mouths. They clearly prove that any company or any person can become a cult brand if they truly put their heart and mind into it. Each comes from a different part of the business world (from music and media to manufacturing and technology), but all have similar lessons to teach. All these nine cult brand companies are attention getting for

37

Cult Branding slightly different reasons. Yet all of them have fanatically loyal follower’s not just customers who have supported these brands for years now.

38

Cult Branding

Oprah Winfrey

Is there anyone alive in the world today who doesn’t know who Oprah is? Probably not, considering that the Oprah Winfrey Show now airs in more than 100 countries around the world and reaches more than 26 million U.S. viewers per day.8 Oprah just may be the strongest one-person cult brand in the world today. Just the fact that everyone refers to Oprah on a first name basis demonstrates the personal relation-ships she has been able to form with millions of her viewers over the past fifteen years. Even if these relationships do exist largely through a TV screen. Like or dislike Oprah, every “know her” in some way. The Oprah brand oozes strong emotions and feelings. How loyal are Oprah’s followers? So loyal that Oprah has hosted the highest rated television talk show in TV history for over a decade. Her ratings longevity and dominance is virtually unheard of in the TV world let alone the talk show business! So loyal that her twoyear-old magazine “The Oprah Magazine” is the most successful magazine startup in publishing history, 8,500 of her followers paid $185 per ticket last year just to hear her speak at one of her four “summits.” So loyal that every single monthly selection (over forty-five different books) of Oprah’s Book Club since its inception have amazingly leapt onto the bestseller’s list! Without a doubt, Oprah has single-

39

Cult Branding handedly taken the concept of turning customers into lasting loyal followers to the next level. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 1998, Time magazine named Oprah one of the hundred most influential people of the 20th century. Fortune magazine estimates that Oprah today controls a “$1 billion empire.” The break-away success of this self-described “colored girl from Mississippi” is all the more amazing given that she came from quite humble beginnings (a broken family, child abuse, and a house with no running water). One cannot successfully learn the full power of Cult branding without studying the Oprah phenomenon in depth.



40

Cult Branding

The Volkswagen Beetle

How popular has the Beetle been over its more than fifty-year life span? So popular that in 1981 it passed Henry Ford’s Model T as the world’s best-selling auto-mobile. Over 22 million of the original Beetle has been sold since it first went into mass production in Germany in 1938. Of course, sales and popularity alone do not make a cult brand. What interests the most about the Beetle is the enduring passion and zeal that people everywhere still have for it. Why is the Bug the world’s most loved car? Even before the release of the New Beetle by Volkswagen in 1998, there were literally hundreds of active Beetle clubs and organizations all around the world dedicated to restoring and driving old Bugs and meeting with other Beetle owners. While the vast majority of other out of production cars quickly fade from memory, the Beetle’s hold on the passion and enthusiasm of millions of its followers has never waned. Rallies and meets for classic Beetles regularly still attract hundreds of enthusiasts, even though VW stopped importing the original Bug into the U.S. back in 1977. Today, Mexico is one of only four countries that still make the original Bug. It is a brand that has managed to stay at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy for nearly fifty years. The staying power of the Bug brand cannot be understated. Ownership of a Beetle is just as much a statement of individuality and self-expression today as it was back in the fifties and sixties. How many other brands can one point to that have

41

Cult Branding managed to stay cool for multiple generations? There simply aren’t many. The Beetle brand continues to make and maintain strong emotional connections with many of its followers.



Star Trek

42

Cult Branding

While the original Star Trek TV show lasted only a short time, it has spawned one of the most successful television and motion picture franchises in entertainment history. Star Trek seems to age like fine wine. It has spawned five separate Televisions series and nine different movies over the past thirty-five years and in the process has become one of the licensing industry’s most enduring properties. Star Trek merchandise has generated roughly $2 billion in retail sales since creator Gene Roddenberry had his great idea. None of this success would have happened without the undying support of the Trekkers, the legions of loyal Star Trek fans that consistently scoop up both new and old merchandise, watch the TV shows, go to the movies, and attend hundreds of Star Trek conventions held around the world each year. The loyalty of the Trekker nation truly amazes everyone. While there are other TV programs and movie series with a greater number of total Fans (Star Wars comes to mind); none exude the same level of excitement and passion that Trekkers regularly demonstrate for their brand. NASA even named its first space shuttle “The Enterprise” after receiving 400,000 requests from Star Trek fans!. Cult brands always establish strong emotional connections with their followers. Few brands do this better than Star Trek. Talk to any Trekker, and one will quickly find out that Star Trek is much more to them Than a TV show or a motion picture. Star Trek’s storylines reflect many of the feelings, values, and ideals of its followers

43

Cult Branding and mirror the wants and needs of its customers. Of course, lots of brands have tried to mirror customer wants and needs, but they have failed.



World Wrestling Entertainment

44

Cult Branding

Daring to be different and the willingness to take significant risks are key components of every cult brand. Perhaps no cult brand better epitomizes this philosophy than World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation). WWE founders Vince and Linda McMahon have always been risktakers, and their fans love them for it. While it would be easy to try to brush aside professional wrestling as just some gimmicky side attraction or fad not to be taken seriously or studied by other marketers, the WWE brand has been rock solid for nearly twenty years now. In fact, it easily has the most loyal and devoted fan base of any major entertainment brand we have encountered. How loyal are the WWE’s fans and how large are their numbers? Really loyal and Really big. For starters, over 2.5 mil-lion people attended the WWE’s 350 live events during 2001 alone. The WWE has delivered eighteen consecutive sellouts at Madison Square Garden in New York. WWE television shows like Raw are consistently rated the number-one regularly scheduled cable TV program. And unbeknownst to many, the WWE is the largest and most successful Pay Per View provider in the world. WWE also has two monthly magazines with a combined circulation of roughly 7.5 million. In addition, three autobiographies by WWE wrestlers have turned into bestsellers. The voracious appetite that WWE’s fans have for “all things WWE” has helped propel the company’s market value to over $1 billion in recent years. A truly amazing feat for what started out as a small

45

Cult Branding regional wrestling company. WWE’s relentless drive to dare to be different and take significant risks in its business clearly played important roles in the company’s evolution into a cult brand.



Jimmy Buffet

46

Cult Branding

The record industry is notorious for having one-hit wonders and bands that enjoy success for a few years, release one or two popular albums, and then quickly fade into history. This scenario could have easily happened to singer songwriter Jimmy Buffet. After all, the only Top Ten hit that Buffet ever had happened back in 1977. And his island inspired music has always been difficult for the record industry to categorize and figure out how to properly promote. Yet over twenty years later, Buffet couldn’t be doing any better as an entertainer. Now in his fifties, Buffet has become a one-man cult brand with few equals. While he doesn’t have the promotional benefit of music videos on MTV, and his songs rarely get played on the radio, Buffet regularly finishes each year among the top twenty earners on the concert circuit. An artist without a current mega hit simply isn’t supposed to be able to sell out entire arenas in a matter of minutes. Yet it’s safe to say that as long as Buffet continues to tour each summer, he will remain one of the top grossing live acts in the world. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that his fans (just call them Parrot Heads) collectively spend some $50 million a year on Buffet concert tickets, albums, merchandise, and food at his four Margaritaville restaurants. Buffet’s Parrot Head legions are so loyal that not only do they continue to purchase hundreds of thousands of copies of his albums each year, they have also sent two books he authored right to the top of the bestseller list. In fact, Buffet is only one of six writers ever to reach the top spot on the New York Times’ fiction

47

Cult Branding and non-fiction bestseller lists. To say that Parrot Heads have a deep love for Buffet is a drastic under-statement. Parrot Heads are addicted to the Buffet brand.



Vans Inc.

48

Cult Branding

Founded in 1966 by entrepreneur Paul Van Doren and his partners, the Vans story is a combination of the American dream and David versus Goliath. While Vans footwear may not be familiar to many people over the age of thirty, Vans has enjoyed an incredible lock for decades now on the ten-to-twenty- four-year-old demographic, particularly among skate-boarders, BMX bikers, surfers, and participants in other extreme sports that Vans refers to as “Core Sports.” Even in the face of constant attacks from tremendously larger multi-national rivals like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas, Vans continues to retain its core followers and to find new ways to expand its business and grow its sales. Today, Vans operates a growing universe of unique lifestyle-branding enterprises, including over 160 retails stores in the U.S. and Europe, nearly a dozen large Vans skateboard parks around the U.S., its own record label (Vans Records), the Vans Warped Tour, and a number of Core Sports events. Add this all up, and Vans has grown over the past thirty-five years from one small struggling retail shop and shoe factory in Anaheim, California, to a powerful and growing cult brand with millions of loyal followers that now generate annual sales of over $340 million. Cult brand companies don’t simply sell a product or a service, they sell their customer the tools for building and creating unique lifestyles. Few management teams have done as effective a job over the past six years in building a comprehensive lifestyle environment around their brand. How strong a relationship

49

Cult Branding does Vans have with its customers today? So strong that shoe giant Nike, one of the world’s largest corporations and over fifty times the size of Vans, can’t gain any meaningful market share in the Core Sports market. Customer loyalty can’t just be bought, and the Vans brand is full of good cult branding tactics.



Apple Computer

50

Cult Branding

How many times over the past decade have technology commentators written off Apple and left the company for dead? To put it simply, this is a brand that its millions of loyal followers love their Macintosh computers too much to ever let it die. Apple Computer is as strong and healthy today as a company and a brand as it has been in years. While the pioneering company founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a cramped garage in Silicon Valley in 1977 now controls only 5 percent or so of the worldwide PC market, it retains the most loyal group of customers of any technology company in the world today. While saturation of the PC market has forced many major tech companies to either merge or leave the PC market all together over the past few years, the incredible customer loyalty among Mac followers keeps Apple sitting pretty. It still cranks out annual sales of over $5 billion.17 Even as a niche PC player, it still finds itself setting and defining many of the major trends in the computing business. Cult brands are leaders not followers. At no time in recent memory was this more evident than, after the release of the wildly successful new iMac in 1997, much larger PC companies like Compaq launched their own iMac looking PCs. Brand loyalty in the technology world is virtually non existent While there are well-known and powerful brands in this sector, notably Microsoft, there is very little true customer passion and excitement surrounding other technology brands. Can one picture a diehard Microsoft user donating time at a local store to show prospective customers how the newest version of Windows

51

Cult Branding works? Yet thousands of Mac users show up at computer stores and other public places all the time, for free, to evangelize about Apple’s products and their love of the Mac. That’s customer loyalty! Apple has successfully cracked the customer loyalty code for the past twenty years.



Linux

52

Cult Branding

Much like Vans Inc., Linux is a David versus Goliath story. For those of not that familiar with Linux, it is a relatively young operating system that was created in 1991 by a twenty-one-year-old Finnish programmer Linux Torvalds. While Linux started out as a small side project and hobby for Torvalds, it has grown over the past decade to become one of the most popular and well-known operating systems in the world. In fact, recent research suggests that Linux now powers 33 percent of all Web servers in the world today, putting its popularity only behind Microsoft’s Windows. Want to make computer programmers break out into big smiles, Just ask them about Linux. The amazing thing about Lenox’s growth is that it is a brand and product not even controlled by one company or organization It never had millions of dollars behind it for marketing and development. The software code that makes up Linux is written entirely by volunteers. Many of the smartest programmers in the world donate their time on an ongoing basis because they love the product so much. They believe in it. Like any good cult brand, Linux helps empower its followers. Unlike Windows, Linux has been developed under the philosophy of “open source,” which allows developers to freely exchange and modify the intellectual property (code) that comprises the system Linux is a powerful differentiator and motivator for software developers. Spend some time in the same room with a group of Linux advocates, and one will feel the same sort of electricity and excitement that must have existed among the American colonists during the Revolutionary War. In the

53

Cult Branding minds of Linux followers, they are fighting a revolution for freedom from shoddy software and building a product “for the people, by the people.” It is fascinating to watch. While virtually every other product that has tried to compete directly with Microsoft has failed, all indications are that Linux will continue to increase its market share in coming years .With a decade of history under its belt, Linux is a unique cult brand

Harley-Davidson

54

Cult Branding

Even though enough business books have been written about Harley to fill an entire library, there was absolutely no way one could think on cult branding and ignore Harley-Davidson. Harley is without a doubt the largest and most powerful cult brand in the world today. After all, which other brand people regularly feel compelled to tattoo on their skin for life? That’s customer loyalty! What started out as a small motorcycle manufacturing company in a shed in Milwaukee back in 1903 has evolved into the sole remaining American motorcycle maker, the top worldwide seller of heavyweight motorcycles, and a company with more successful brand extensions than any other brand. Today, the Harley logo can be found not only on its legendary chrome-covered motorcycles, but on everything from clothing (Motor Clothes) like jackets, Tshirts, jeans, and panties to off-beat items like Harley-branded leather toilet seat covers, playing cards, wall clocks, and coffee mugs. HD also operates HarleyDavidson Cafés in New York and Las Vegas. In recent years, HD has partnered with Ford to manufacture the Harley-Davidson Ford F-150 pickup truck that has sold like hot cakes among Harley enthusiasts. The Hog nation just can’t get enough of anything and everything HD. In spite of the fact that Harley has continued to ramp the production of its bikes each year, waiting lists to buy new Harleys are still common place at many Harley

55

Cult Branding dealerships around the country. The undying brand loyalty Harley’s followers have for the company became perhaps most apparent in the past two years during the bitter economic recession when Harley’s sales continued to soar. The stock market now values Harley’s business at a princely $16 billion. Forbes magazine recently named HD its Company of the Year. It’s hard to believe that this is the same company that nearly disappeared into bankruptcy in the mid-eighties.

56

Cult Branding

AN INDIAN CULT

57

Cult Branding

History The beginning go backs to the early 1890s when Albert Eadie and R.W Smith joined together to form The Eadie manufacturing company, having taken over the business and premises of George Townsend and company, Cycle manufacturers in the small hamlet of Hunt End, about two miles south of Redditch. In 1893 the Enfield Manufacturing Company Ltd. was registered for the purpose of marketing the Enfield bicycle, manufactured by the Eadie Company. In 1896, The New Enfield Cycle Co.Ltd. was formed to take over the bicycle section of both the Enfield Manufacturing Co. and the Eadie Manufacturing Co. Twelve months later the word "new" had been dropped from the title and became the Enfield Cycle Co.Ltd., as it was to be known through the remainder of it's history. In the same year the Eadie Manufacturing Co. moved to new premises in Lodge Rd., Redditch. leaving the Enfield Co.Ltd. in sole possession of the Hunt End works. During this period the Enfield enjoyed the fruits of the pedal cycle boom and with the advent of the petrol engine were not slow to move in that direction. By 1899 they were producing, almost certainly under patent license, a tricycle powered by a De Dion engine mounted at the rear and driving the axle by a spur gear. They also produced a Quadricycle which was virtually a tricycle rear half, but having two wheels at the front in between which was fitted a wicker basket for the passenger. Both these vehicles were produced up to around 1903.

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Cult Branding

Introduction in India Royal Enfield “They call it the Harley of the Himalaya. Besides a Draconian

bureaucracy, it's the best thing that England left India.” In the early part of the century, the Royal Enfield was a British bike made in England, Burrell said, but in 1954, the Indian government ordered 500 bikes, and the struggling company could barely meet the order. When India called for 500 more bikes the next year, the British company decided to build a factory in Madras, India. Enfield established the Indian Enfield factory at Madras in 1955. In the 60s the parent company in the U.K., along with most other British manufacturers, ceased production. Enfield India continues production of the original 350 Bullet, known locally as the Raja Gadi (loosely translated – "Royal Enfield"). Originally built as a military bike by The Royal Enfield Motorcycle Co. of England, production ceased in that country at the end of World War II., but demand grew in independent India. The Bullet was and still is the Army and Police "All Purpose Motorcycle" in India. Indian Industrialists, subsequently acquired the entire company and production line, continued operations at Madras factory and could not do better than to build bikes to the original specifications. To this day, they continue to churn out brand new 40-year old bikes! It is a true classic, with the single-cylinder 350cc or 500cc engine producing a deep, throaty rumble and powerful torque that have prompted some to christen it the two-wheeled tractor. At idle speed one can audibly count the engine revolutions per minute. High speed is not what the Enfield is about (any faster than 80kph in India is suicidal anyway), it is about aesthetics, comfort and style. Some non-conventional

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Cult Branding aspects take a moment to get used to, such as the gear-change on right foot and brake on the left, but riding one gives a pure, unadulterated pleasure.

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Cult Branding

An Indian tale "The fun thing about riding (an Enfield) is the conversations that it starts, If some one asks about your bike and you have to decide whether it's worth the time. There's so much to say”. The Enfield factory at Tiruvottiyur, in Madras, is now over forty years old. Some 20,000 motorcycles are still put together annually, using many of the original machine tools and dies from the original British parent factory. Most parts, right down to the pinstripes on the paint work, are still hand finished. In India, the first thing one need to adjust himself to, is the speeds of the traffic, or the lack of it( 70KMPH and above would brand one as Kamikaze) and Royal Enfield did exactly that

Royal Enfield is for "affluent urban youths who are looking at a total motorcycle experience". Royal Enfield has repositioned the Bullet as a fun urban power bike (engine size of 350cc and above or power of over 20 bhp), overcoming its earlier rugged rural bike image, that's the target audience that Royal Enfield is now gunning for. A high-powered version of Thunderbird has been launched this year and Royal Enfield's two recent launches -- the Machismo A350 and the Lightning 535 -- has set the beat going. Within the next three months, Royal Enfield -- a business unit of the Rs 650-crore Eicher group since 1996 -- plans to set the roads on fire with a 625cc super bike, which will deliver a whopping 28 bhp plus. The most powerful bike in India today is the Lightning 535, which delivers 25 bhp. None of the conventional motorcycles made by the big four bike makers -- TVS Suzuki, Bajaj, Hero Honda and Escorts Yamaha -- crosses the 15 bhp barrier.. The CBZ and the Fiero cannot be compared with Enfield bikes in automotive terms, but the fact is that both products are targeting the same buyers -- upwardly mobile youth. And, the CBZ and Fiero are probably better tuned to city driving conditions.

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Cult Branding Till now, Enfield has managed to command the premium that a player can demand. But now, there is the threat of players like Bajaj offering its chopper-style Eliminator at prices much lower than those of Enfield products. And, these firms can subsidies their new launches. Enfield though is talking tough, because "We are trying to match practicality with aspirational value," says Purang M.D Royal Enfield .The one major difference between Enfield products and all other Indian bikes. The gears on all Enfield bikes have to be engaged with the right leg and the brakes with the left leg -- the direct opposite of all other Indian motorcycles. Besides the growth in volumes, efficient cost management in production as well as marketing, price discounts were withdrawn are the other factors that would lead to profitability this year. Power and leisure bike major Royal Enfield, part of the Eicher group, has won the ICICI-Overdrive Hall of Pride award for its Bullet model for the year 2003. The model won the award for defining motorcycle in the Indian perspective and for retaining the iconic status in the minds of Indian bikers. WHEN Jacques A. Nasser, Ford Motor's president and CEO, was in Chennai last year, he was keen to get an on-the-road feel of the Ikon. As he was piloting the brand new josh machine around, an Enfield Bullet whizzed past. The bike caught Nasser's fancy, so much so that despite a hectic 24-hour schedule in Chennai, the Ford CEO made time to visit a Bullet showroom to get a closer look at the machine made in India by Royal Enfield Motors for over four decades

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Cult Branding

REDS – THE REDS ARE READY TO ROAR Royal Enfield launched REDS – “Royal Enfield Discoverers”. REDs is a community of Royal Enfield bike owners, the only one of of kinds in the country. It provides a platform to bring together Royal Enfield customer together, to enjoy the pleasure of riding Royal Enfield customer are very passionate and love to ride and talk with like minded. Any one owning a Royal Enfield bike with a passion for biking can become a member of REDS. A REDS will become a member of passionate Royal Enfield community who enjoys and loves weekends, long distance and adventurous rides. The member will also enjoy various facilities, like free of cost training for biking maintenance and safe riding, exclusive check up camps, tie up with hotels, resort and much more. REDS also provides an exclusive for the members created on Royal Enfield’s website which provides customized facilities like setting up a ride, putting u an event calendar, messages with others members etc

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Cult Branding

Case study Harley- Davidson

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Cult Branding

The Genesis Founded in 1903, H-D was

the

only

major

“No one can accurately predict the future. What I can predict with the utmost confidence are the things that won’t change of Harley-

American player in the

Davidson – namely, our commitment to

global

motorcycle

providing more great motorcycles; to enhancing

It served in

the unparalleled Harley lifestyle experience;

every major war of the

and to continuing to provide excellent financial

past

performance.”

market. 100

years

and

received four Navy ‘E’

Jeffrey L Bleustein, Harley-Davidson, CEO.

awards for excellence in war time production. It was the war veterans who started the H-D biker culture. They started riding H-D with strong American pride. From these bikers evolved the rough and tough breed of bikers with their leather jackets, tattoos, and long hair.

H-D built up a

distinctive brand image and dominated the US motorcycle industry for many decades. In 1969, H-D was taken over by the American Machine and Foundry (AMF). During 1970, Japanese manufacturers flooded the market with high-quality, lowpriced bikes. A reputation for shoddy products, combined with an onslaught of competition from Japan, nearly destroyed H-D. Its market share fell from 77.5 % ( 1973) to 23.3% (1983). In 1981, 13 members of the H-D management team purchased the company from AMF in a leveraged buyout. But, within the first year, the overall demand for motorcycles dropped dramatically; H-D’s share of this market dropped; and a large inventory of unsold products piled up. H-D was aware it would no longer be able to continue business at the current production level and operating cost. It cut costs drastically, asking more than 1,800 of the 4,000 employers to level. In a move to

65

Cult Branding help the floundering US motorcycle industry in 1983, the US Government, increased tariffs on Japanese motorcycles from 4.4% to 49.4%. Minutes away from bankruptcy, Richard Teerlink (who became President and CEO in 1988) convinced lenders to accept a restructuring plan. Using management principles adopted from the Japanese, new marketing strategies, and manufacturing techniques, H-D improved quality and began the long battle to regain its market share. Teerlink believed people were the only sustainable competitive advantage. He put in place an innovative system called ‘Circles of Management’ to bring both workers and dealers into the fold by involving them key decisions. H-D also changed its strategy from selling product to selling community H-D owners were a diverse bunch, from CEO to construction workers. To build emotional bounds with them, the Harley Owners Group (HOG) was created in 1983. It developed a new marketing philosophy based on the customers’ desires and positioned itself as a lifestyle product rather than a mere motorcycle. By 1986, H-D had regained US motorcycle market. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange. After one year, the company announced it no longer needed special tariffs to compete with the Japanese. From 1988 to 1995, annual shipments of H-D motorcycles more than doubled. Although the company generated more than $1.3 bn in revenues in 1995, it spent less than $2 mn in advertising. They considered ‘their customers as their real sales force, and the bikes, accessories and clothing served as calling cards. From 1995 to 2000, the company invested more than $1 bn to maintain the leadership in motorcycle design and increase production capacity. In 2001, Harley went for expansion at the Product Development Centre in Milwaukee, Tomahawk and York facilities. Their expansion plans continued to narrow the gap between demand and supply with introduction of new, innovative products and services for their customers.

Target Market

66

Cult Branding H-D started as a bike manufacturer.

The company was fully involved in

motorcycle, Racing and soon dominated the sport segment. During World War I and II , H-D had supplied War motorcycles to the US Military. By 1941, civilian production of the motorcycle was suspended as the company targeted War requirements only. In 1957, H-D introduced ‘Sportster’, the fastest H-D ever, which marked its entry into the sports segment. With this introduction, H-D embarked upon and image change from War motorcycle to sports and leisure segment. H-D targeted the free spirited people who embodied American values of freedom and liberty and were avid long distance drivers. According to the company source, the demographic profile of its target customer, during; late 1990s and early 2000s, was a married male in his mid-40s, with a household income of about $78,300, who purchased a motorcycle for recreational purposes, and who was an experienced motorcycle rider. In 2001, 41% of H-D’s buyers were its old customers, 31% of the buyers had changed loyalty form H-D’s competitors and 28% were new motor riders.

H-D targeted exclusively the

heavyweight (engine displacement of 651cc or more) motorcycle market, which was generally subdivided into four major categories: 

Standard, which emphasized simplicity and cost;



Performance, which emphasized handling and acceleration.



Touring, which emphasizes comfort and amenities for long distance travel,



And Custom, which emphasizes styling and individual owner customization. Bulk of H-D’s revenues was derived from touring and custom motorcycles. In 2001, retail registrations of H-D motorcycles increased by 14.4% in the US. The same year, H-D achieved a 28% share of worldwide heavyweight market with a record high of 234,461 units of motorcycle production, up H-D over previous year.

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Cult Branding In early 200s, H-D’s major competitors were Yamaha and Honda. Yamaha targeted the lowed end market, by providing a variety of products at affordable costs. Specific to the Power-Cruiser market, Yamaha’s core competencies were small engines, electronic control, and fibreglass reinforced plastic. Honda, which was one of the strongest H-D competitors, was responsible for one-third of all US motorcycle sales with a strong financial base and reliable products.

Honda

continued to improve the performance of its motorcycles by focusing on fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

Furthermore, Honda was increasing its

performance in the market place, by introducing information technology tools throughout its dealerships. H-D tried to attract younger riders through a number of programs. Among other things, it had started offering, under the Buell nameplate, a line of smaller easy to drive bike that were less costly and less daunting than H-D’s famous hogs.

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Cult Branding

Marketing The marketing objectives of H-D were fourfold . First, at the fundamental level, H-D wanted to expand its potential customer base to include both enthusiast and non-enthusiast affluent males in the 35-44 age group.

This was partly

accomplished by introducing the V.ROD model to the younger demographic Second, H-D wanted to enhance its market share by targeting the first-time buyers of motorcycles. Third, it wanted to set the appropriate pricing strategy, which would appeal to the target customers through market research, voice of the customer, and competitive intelligence. Lasting, H-D wanted to meet the market demand in order to optimize the revenue potential , by setting the correct production schedules and picking strategic partner. When H-D was formed it only offered one colour of motor cycle, grey & three basic models. Later the Company began to offer a variety of models, including Sportsters, Super Glides, Low Riders, Softails, Sport Glides, Tour Glides and Electra Glides in numerous, vivid colours many of these models and changes were developed , when H-D realised that customer were customising the bikes but these additional revenues were not coming to the company. To address the issue, H-D introduced the Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) program in 1999. The CVO program offered a limited quantity of H-D motorcycles, which had been uniquely customized at the factory with H-D accessories. The limited edition motorcycles were produced at the York, Pennsylvania facility on a separate, low volume assembly line that was formerly used for military contract production. About 2,700 vehicles representing three different motorcycles were sold through this program during 1999, A fourth custom cycle was introduced in 2000. In 2002, the company offered 24 models of H-D touring and custom heavyweight motorcycles, with retail prices ranging from roughly $5,595 to $18,980. It also sold several models of Buell motorcycles, including a 492cc Buell Blast motorcycle. The Blast was targeted new riders; its retail price of $4,395 was about half the price of the next lowest-priced Buell motorcycle.

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H-D realized competing with the foreign manufacturers on cost would be difficult. H-D attempted to create scarcity value by keeping the production of its motorcycles well below the demands, People waited six to eighteen months for a new motorcycle. The price for a year-old H-D was 25% to 30% higher than a new one. Dealer promotions, customer events, magazine and direct mail advertising, public relations and cooperative programs drove the marketing efforts. The company started advertising in magazines targeted at the general public. Fashions and Collectibles catalogs were produced with various H-D merchandise twice a year. The company was able to promote the sale of its motorcycles by the financial services offered by Eaglemark. The dealership became a one-stop shop for bikes, accessories, clothing and financing. H-D promoted its lifestyle experience through designer store dealerships that had either been completely remodelled or built from scratch to provide a warm and inviting retail environment . Floor plans and display counters in and surround them with motorcycles. Parts and accessories were handsomely displayed in userfriendly packaging. There was a separate area for H-D’s line of Motor Clothes, completed with dressing rooms. Many stores also featured customer lounges and rider meeting rooms with H-D pinball machines, antique bikes and rally videos. In 1983, the Harley Owners Group (HOG) was established to build stronger relationships with customers, and make it easier for riders to share their H-D experiences. When a person bought a H-D motorcycle, he received a free 1-year membership to the HOG.

Customers joined local, dealer-sponsored HOG;

chapters each with unique activities and personalities to customize their HOG experiences. HOG chapters conducted national rallies, touring rallies and state rallies. These rallies encouraged people to share the excitement of riding. The

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Cult Branding people (taking demonstration rides) had the opportunity to ask question, register their bikes and buy merchandise. The Buell Riders Adventure Group (BRAG), a club for Buell owners was created in 1995 to bring Buell motorcycle enthusiasts together to share their on road experience and create new ones. In its inaugural year, BRAG, had just a handful members. In 2001, it had more than 10,000 members from 55 local clubs among its ranks. In 1999, Ford and H-D teamed up in a 5 year marketing partnership to take advantage of their brand-name recognition.

After Ford’s success in co-brand

partnering with Eddie Bauer, they were trying to repeat their success with H-D, in their limited edition H-D F-150 picup truck. The customized version was restyled, all-black, with distinctive H-D orange pinstriping and chrome accessories. Both companies also planned to sell dual-logo apparel. H-D had 1,065 dealers worldwide and 75% of them sold H-D motorcycles exclusively. In the US, there were about 620 independently owned full-service HD dealerships, which included over 220 combined H-D and Buell dealerships. All authorized dealers stocked and sold the genuine replacement parts, accessories, Motor Clothes and collectibles, and performed service for the motorcycles. They got a certain quota of bikes every year on the basis of previous year’s sales. The company had an agreement with American dealers not to sell more than 30% of the bikes overseas, if the domestic demand was not met. H-D also sold a smaller portion of its merchandise through non-traditional outlets. These were extensions of dealerships, consisted of service shops, called Secondary Retail Locations (SRL), Alternate Retail Outlets (ARO) and Seasonal Retail Outlets (SRO). Service shops were satellites of the main dealership and were being developed to meet service needs of the riding customers.

In addition, service shops were

authorized to sell new motorcycles. AROs were located primarily in high traffic

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Cult Branding area such as airports or popular vacation destinations and focused on selling Motor Clothes and collectibles and licensed products.

Brand Management H-D believed its strengths in its brand image rather than technology. It creates its brand image by expressing the emotional bonding of American youth. H-D’s exPresident and CEO , Richard Teerlink said “ The bike represents to America, the adventurous pioneer spirit, the wild west, one’s own horse, and going where one wants to go the motorcycle takes on some attributes of the iron horse”. It suggests personal freedom and independence Brand loyalty for H-D was emotional. The HD’s symbol was based on a pattern of associations that included the American flag and a eagle, reflective of the passion for freedom Americans enjoyed. H-D measured Brand loyalty by the percentage of men and women that tattooed their brand symbol on their body. By that measure, H-D had the highest loyalty of any brand in the world. The most popular tattoo in the US was the H-D as important part of their lives and identities. The experience of riding a H-D clothing, was a way for some to express individuality. H-D has a vigorous global program of trademark registration and enforcement. It attempts to create awareness of the H-D brand among the non-riding public and provide a wide range of product enthusiasts by licensing the name and numerous related trademarks. The H-D trademark has been in use since 1903, H-D licensed the production and sale of a broad range of consumer items, including T-shits, jewelry, small leather goods, toys and numerous other products. It also licensed the use of its name in connection with two Cafes located in New York and Las Vegas. These two Cafes represent another opportunity for riders and non-riders to experience H-D’s culture. These cafes are among the most visible brand building tools, and they generate licensing income for H-D as they create a unique dining experience for customers.

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H-D’s licensing program generates approximately $1 bn in retail sales annually. With 80 licensees across 18 product categories in the US and abroad, the program has grown steadily since its inception.

Licensing has helped transform the

company’s image, broaden the brand’s appeal and further elevate H-D as an American icon.

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The Years Ahead H-D’s ambitious vision is to more than double its production for the company’s 100th anniversary.

The company has decided on a 9.6% annual increase in

motorcycle production to 289,000 in 2003. H-D plans to start a new plant in York, Pennsylvania, to increase the production capacity., Bleustein expects to ensure leadership in this attractive market by increasing production capacity and introducing exciting new products combined with targeted marketing strategies that appeal to diverse and growing motorcycle enthusiast population.

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Conclusion A brand is the identity core, of a company’s existence. Building a brand is like forming an intangible asset, which remains in the mind of consumers. It is not what one does with its product but it is what one form in the minds of the consumers. Cult Brands have a niche base as well as cultural exclusivity. Cult Brands exist in all markets, but in matured markets they pop up as a niche brands.

The consumer’s communities see the product as a lifestyle, not just a product. The product thus becomes a tool for self-actualization and these cult brands become symbols for distinct social groups that are recognizably unique. Cults give people a unique ways, “to be weird together and feel weird no more" Cult brands have made such a deep emotional impact and connection with their customers that their followers don't even consider there to be a viable alternative to the cult brand's product or service. That's power!

Bibliography

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Cult Branding 1. Marketing Management – Rajan Saxena 2. Marketing Management – Philip Kotler 3. Modern Marketing Management – Ruston Davar 4. Marketing Research – Text & Cases – G.C.Beri 5. www.google.com 6. www.icfai.org 7. www.altavista.com 8. www.indiatimes.com 9. www.wikipedia.com 10. www.harleydavidson.com

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