Cult Branding: Know Logo

Contributor - Mark Di Somma

Suddenly, it's cool to be obscure. As the non-popular brand continues to climb in status, perhaps the new strategy is not to significantly publicise your brand at all. Instead, create a following ...

Put it down to any number of factors: disenchantment with globalisation; saturation of mass market brands; anti-establishment factionalism -- whatever the cause, suddenly the huge, globally omnipotent mega-brand appears to be on the slide. Impinging on its borders is a new phenomenon -- the deliberately and decidely obscure cult brand, a badge recognised and demanded by those ''in the know'', ignored by everyone else.

The idea itself is nothing new. Publicity-shy elitist brands have been around for some time -- but they have tended in the main to revolve around high-end lifestyle products, the highly technical or collectables.

In each case, a certain snobbery has been encouraged and paid for, with generous nods to the consumer's ability to recognise the quality. It was an idea pondered over at length by Peter Mayle in his fascinating book ''Expensive Habits''. Petrossian, Connaught, Charvet, Chateauneuf-du-Pape -- if you know them fine, if you don't, you can't afford them anyway. The more obscure, the better - because recognition is a symbol of your market knowledge. It separates you from the mainstream -- gently edging you into the exclusive realms of those that truly appreciate.

What's curious is how well it has worked -- for that very, very small group.

Curious because it bucks the familiar belief that in a commoditised world, it is the richly branded, mass promoted product that claims the premium over its more obscure, but probably equally functional, competitor.

Until now, mainstream branding has reached across the vast majority of the pricing strata. It has taken in the most upmarket -- Rolex, Cartier, Chanel, Ferrari -- and the most economically inspired -- Tag, The $2 Shop, The Warehouse ... and in each case, it has strengthened their cause and their market share. Branding convention holds that the most powerful marketing tool you can have is a strong brand -- so much so, that huge brands are now valued in their millions. They are powerhouse identities, whose very inclusion adds dollars, prestige and customer want.

It's not an unrealistic assertion. Coke, Nike, Adidas, Mars, Tag Heuer, Everlast, Michelin ... in every sector, there are global players that are now household names.

And yet some -- a very small number -- have cultivated elitism by shunning overt brand promotion of any kind, relying instead on word of mouth to bring people to their doors.

What's interesting about the ''cult'' phenomenon is that it is moving quickly into new sections of the population. The implications for marketers are potentially significant.

Ask your teenage kids what's ''hot'' right now. Chances are it's a list of brand names you've never heard of. From music to footwear, jeans to phones, the emerging generation are plugged into new ideas at a phenomenal rate. They don't want what everyone else has. They take huge comfort from the fact that what they know and like is unknown to you and I. They're cynical, impatient and monied. Kudos has nothing to do with presence. They select as a group ... and their loyalty is to themselves. Credibility is everything, and obscurity is attractive because it's non-mainstream, non corporate and non-middle age.

But it doesn't stop there. Business too has seen the rapid emergence of companies that cultivate an ardent following by not cultivating a mainstream following. Pick up any issue of American new economy bible Fast Company. It's full of the thoughts and impressions of people you've never heard of. What's interesting is not who they are, or where they come from, but what they believe, what they've done about it and why you and I are interested.

I'd never heard of American brand naming phenomenon A Hundred Monkeys. But I read an article (in Fast Company), visited the website, and before long, I was telling others about them over coffee. Why? Because somehow the perception that they are successful, obscure and different makes them a brand worth knowing. Also, their work is fantastic. And they have a point of view on life and branding that is very refreshing. Check out their home page and see for yourself: www.ahundredmonkeys.com.

This is branding with a twist. All the attitude of a successful brand, but without the mainstream, predictable promotion. The big idea, expressed through Chinese whispers -- and gaining strength, mystique and respect with every telling. Accessible too. Because suddenly, a cool idea, a little media attention and a domain name is just about all you need to start the cult ball rolling ...

There's another facet. Huge, global brands are now associated with huge global corporations -- and huge global corporations are the object of considerable animosity from an increasingly politically and environmentally aware youth. Nike was cool -- until Nike became associated with ''slave labour and sweat shops'' in Asia ... and suddenly, it wasn't cool anymore. And that's the risk of being a mega-brand. The higher you rise, the more exposed you are, and the easier it is to be singled out for criticism and media attention. Ask McDonalds ...

Right now, small is precious, unknown is uncorrupted, and ideas are the emerging credentials currency. It's a huge opportunity. But only if you're the right kind of company. And only if you have the street-wise understanding of your markets to leverage the potential in ways that are acceptable.

Today we work at the speed of light. An idea formed in Tokyo can be in London in a click. Follow-cookers (my name for brands that gently bring their customers to boiling point) understand that. And they've seen its potential in a range of places, including the command on your email called ''Forward''. Word of mouse has replaced word of mouth. Build a community through a common interest and let it gain its own momentum ... Don't shout, just pull.

Building a following isn't anti-branding. It's anti-mainstream branding perhaps. But it is different and it is successful precisely because it shuns traditional forms of promotion. It's not about being self important. It's about being cool important. It's about the recognition of like-attitude.

Gosh! Sounds challenging. How do you do it?

10 ideas for starters

1. Understanding is everything. A vibrant, dynamic insight of who you want, exactly how they think and precisely what they are and will be looking for. Cult branding has its roots set deep in the soil of ''gut-feel'' marketing. It's a God-given gift most of the time. If you've got it, then you have the single prerequisite you need to consider creating a following for your business. Get it right, like some of the gaming brands have done for instance -- and in your followers' eyes, you'll find you can do very little wrong.

2. Plan to appear spontaneous. If you want to build a following, you need to appear casual. Blind ambition is not cool. Rewarded individualism is. And don't get carried away with your own importance. Corporates get fixated with who they are, they believe their own hype, and the power of their brand overshadows the experience -- at least in the eye of the cult brand devotee. If you want to create a following, chill!

3. Stuck for an approach? Option 1: battle the mainstream. There's nothing like controversy, outrage and conventional disapproval to project your idea into the loving arms of those looking for the alternative. Often it's a case of the ruder, the better. Eminem made one snide remark about Brittany Spears and it was cash the cheques time!

4. Option 2: make an old idea new. Revival is a wonderful thing. If you're looking for a way to create a following, look for something that is so ''out'' it might just make it back to ''in''. That tends to mean it's quaint, ridiculous or just plain weird. It's human nature to love the idiosyncratic.

5. BYO attitude. Remember, a cult brand doesn't have to be targeted at the young, just the young at heart. It needs to have chutz and charisma. And it needs to feel true to itself and to the people it wants to do business with, whatever their age and stage. Cults feed themselves with attitude and quiet self belief, but the brand needs to feel effortless and natural. And it needs to be smart. Customers must be able to experience it and be hooked -- not just by the offering, but by the attitude that accompanies the offering. Self righteousness is a wonderful thing if that's what you're looking for as a consumer. In a cult brand, it can also be remarkably profitable.

6. Nothing to do with size, everything to do with mindset. Cult brands have a honed sense of self. They think small, even if they are big. Look at Harley-Davidson. Massively successful, positively mainstream in its appeal these days, but it still promotes itself like the ‘biker' brand it used to be. It's become a corporate, but stayed cult by sticking to its spirit religiously.

7. Limit your ambitions. Cult brands are powerful because they retain a sense of small, special and exclusive, no matter how successful they may become. If you are seen or sensed to have sold out, or if suddenly your brand doesn't ring true, it's game over. The key, and the challenge, is to remain genuine. Cult brands are created by people with passion, and that deep sense of love and commitment triggers similar emotions in everyone else. That's what makes them so attractive.

8. Get the right media play. Cult brands unashamedly leverage press coverage and viral marketing networks. Get the right coverage in the right media or by the right reporter, and it will send the email and the hotwired gossip circuit into a frenzy. Let them spread the word. Long live ''cc.''

9. Consider all the media possibilities. Today, most exclusivity followers are fluent with a range of media. Don't just give them access to more of what they want, give it to them in a plethora of formats and ALWAYS plan for a sequel. Every successful cult needs a follow up idea to the one that launched it.

10. Don't try to be popular. Cult brands don't. In fact, some are deliberately obscure. A cult brand is unassuming, unapologetic and on the hunt for like minds. If customers don't get it, don't convince them. Don't even try -- or you'll sink your credibility. If customers are off the radar, that's generally where a cult brand will leave them. It really is the ultimate in Seth Godin's permission marketing. Only do business with us, if you allow yourself to!

Building a following in lieu of a mainstream, highly profiled brand is risk-return marketing. The risks are significant, because the dependence on intuition and difference is so high. The exposure to the whims of fashion is also enormous. And it takes enormous courage and self belief to go there, stay there and adapt to the market's forces from there. Up and out have never been so close together. But get it right, and keep that going, and there's every chance that you can quietly amass credibility all the way to the bank, whilst remaining, well, largely unknown -- by the majority, anyway.

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