Book Rapper Brand Worship

8/10/2019 Book Rapper Brand Worship

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Geoff McDonald 2008 For More Info click on these links : Our Blog Other Book Rapper Offers News and Events Email the Author Other RAPs Page 1

Douglas Atkin; The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers, Portfolio, Penguin, New York, 2004.

We all crave meaning and belonging. Cult-like brands have become the new religion because they provide thesetwo basic human needs.

People queue overnight to be the first into the new Apple temples, I mean, retail stores. Cult-like brands inspireextreme religious-like customer loyalty and fanatical behaviour. Customers are no longer satisfied with mereproduct. Theyre buying into an ideology with meaning, purpose and value; an identity with personality; and acommunity of like-minded, mutually interested souls. The two most important elements of a cult-like brand arethe ideology and the interaction between your customers. Your ideology provides vision, meaning and desire. Thecontact with you and fellow customers builds a community. This provides meaning in a chaotic world and a placeof belonging.

Start a cult today. Cult your brand and build a devoted following of loyal customers. Be different, take a stand andbuild a meaning engine and a community that lets your customers be more of themselves.

RESOURCES : anything you use to generate wealth.

ACTIONS : an act of will, a deed completed.PROFITS : to gain an advantage or benefit.

The BookThe Big Idea

Your Challenge

Speed RAP

BRAND WORSHIPTURN YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO A CULT FOLLOWING
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Review : The Culting of BrandsDouglas Atkin; The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers; Portfolio, Penguin, New York; 2004.

Atkin is a heretic - and probably proudly so.In The Culting of Brands he makes someaudacious calls.

He proclaims brands as the new religion. Ooh!He prescribes brands as sources of meaning,identity and belonging. Aah! He cites brandsas nourishment for the human condition.Wow!

Is this an advertising executive drunk withwishful thinking? I think not. Hes on tosomething. Something big Hes madethe connection between brands andcommunities.

Its big because Web 2.0 is the biggest showgoing right now. And, Web 2.0 is all about

Constantly, Connected, ConversationalCommunities. (Book Rapper 9 We Blog)

The interesting thing is Web 2.0 doesnt get mentioned oncein this book. Its not that Atkin missed something. On thecontrary, he was ahead of the game.

The term Web 2.0 was coined in 2004 the same year Atkinsbook was published. Given he has written and researched thebook months and years in advance of it being published, wecan congratulate him on being on the front of the new wave.

Atkin is not the first to write about cult-likebrands, nor will he be the last.

The great thing about his book is the depth

and breadth of his conversation. Too manybranding books talk about it as a superficiallayer to an existing product and not as aneco-system for living.

Atkin presents some Herculean insights:

The shift in brand control from producer toconsumer;

The history of brands from identifyingproducts to building user congregations;

The rise of the Spiritual Economy;

The heralding of Community Marketing asthe next big thing.

Atkin has pitched a strategy that communicatesacross an entire business. Whilst not a how-to book, thedetails are there embedded within the interviews, the casestudies and the principles espoused.

Thats why Book Rapperexists, weve done the work for youand turned it into an implementable plan.

The Book Rapperbusiness is being redesigned based upon this book! Howzat for

a RAP! Its the best branding book Ive read because it covers branding at so manylevels. It includes the big picture of meaning and belonging. Also, case studies anddiverse examples ranging from the Mormons to Harley Davidson, Apple Computersand The Body Shop. Highly recommended!

Douglas Atkinis currentlythe Chief CommunityOfficer at web-basedMeetup.com.

Meetups goal is to getpeople who spend their

life talking online to meet offline and inthe flesh. Its a bit like reverse-Facebook.Theyre literally in the business of buildingcommunities! I bet he was headhunted forthat role!

When he wrote The Culting of Brands, Atkinwas a partner and the chief strategy officer atadvertising agency Merkley + Partners. Hedbeen working with big fish, like airline jetBlue.

Prior to that hed been a brand manager, atthe home of brands, Proctor and Gamble.Thats a great pathway if you wanted to learntraditional branding and then explore newways of doing it.

The writing of this book grew out of hisexperience in focus groups. As they discussedsneakers, soft drinks and other things, Atkinrealized that something out of the ordinarywas happening right in front of his nose.Some of the participants were salivating

about products with religious-like reverence.Once Atkin made the connection that brandshave this power to spark cult-like passion andbelief he decided to go to the source andstudy the real cults. Thus began a seven-yearpilgrimage that culminated in this book.

R E C O MM E N DA T I O N


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BR Context: A Soap StoryOnce upon a time in a smallvillage, a local soap makerproduced his wares and soldthem out of his own front door.

For the other locals in the town

this was a godsend. After theirweekly bath you could hearthem sing, Clean at last! Cleanat last!

As the village became a town,another soap maker arrived. Atfirst the two artisans were a littlewary of each other. There hadntbeen another soap maker intown before.

They soon realized, the town

was big enough for the both ofthem and they happily sharedthe towns customers.

A short time later, the GeneralStore received a visit froma travelling salesman. Herepresented a big soap makingcompany from an emerging cityover 100 miles away.

The quality of his generic soapwasnt quite as good as the

handmade ones the locals hadbeen used to, but it was a littlecheaper and it was yellow.

At first the locals avoided it,simply because it was differentand they didnt trust different.

Eventually cheaper won oversome locals and the new

product established a regularclientele much to thedisgust of those whostayed with the hand-made local product.

Some time later,another travellingsalesman froma different soapcompany appeared.

It didnt take long for

a rivalry to emergebetween the newsoap giants. TheGreat Northern Soap Companyversus the Great Southern SoapCompany.

There was a discount war, freesamples and special offers.They even started advertisingto attract attention, with bothcompanies yelling OUR SOAP ISBETTER!

The customers loved this. Theynot only had more choice, theyhad people craving for theirattention too.

But the local soap makers hatedit; eventually both of them wentout of business.

Not long after, a third soapappeared but it wasnt from

a third company. The Great

Southern Soap Company hadproduced a new soap.

It looked like the other soapsbut came in a bright white boxwith a beautiful girl on the front.The package was so stunningyou could imagine someonemaking art out of it one day.

And, best of all, it wasnt justsoap, it was called Luxury. And,it wasnt for getting rid of dirteither. It was to make yourselfbeautiful. Or at least, thats whatthe pack said.

Yes, it was a bit more expensivebut hey, if itll make mebeautiful Damn, those extracents, Im worth it!

Then some time later, there was

a soap explosion.

A fourth soap appeared,and then a fifth and thenanother There wasone for real men, onewith No Logo, one witha jet flying to Tahiti onthe packet and evenone for kids claimingNo more fears. Howcould soap be all that?

But all this did was toconfuse people. Which

soap is the one for me?

Soon the people of the townstarted to form little groupsaround the soap they used.

The women who drove big carsonly used Luxury.

Other women refused to talk tothose who bought No Logo.

And, ironically, the soap for realmen became a gay icon theyeven started making it in funny

shapes. They said it helped themenjoy it more.

Some time soon after, a newsoap Planet appeared.

It wasnt like any that had arrivedin town before. The packet saidit wasnt soap either but a wayto save the planet. And, theyhad the t-shirts to prove it.

They said those other soaps weremade with nasty chemicals andthat was causing hot weather,endangering animals, killingbrain cells and polluting therivers.

They didnt want you to justbuy the soap. They wanted youto come to a meeting wherepeople stood on soapboxes.

They wanted you to join themin saving the world - one barof soap at a time! They wantedyou to join them in the chargeof the soap brigade!

And that was the end of soap inthat town.

Of course, people still used soap,they simply didnt buy soap forsoap sake anymore.


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RAP1: The Culting Edge

Your Brand ArrowBrands live in the minds of the consumer. Therefore, its a two way street.Just like Web 2.0! Fancy that... Sometimes you need to drive your brand,building it, creating it, designing it and telling it like it is. And, sometimesyou need to sit back and let your customers drive it, shape it, talk aboutit, share it and tell you whats going on.

The Brand Arrow is not a bunch of separate elements. Its a co-ordinated

set of components designed to lead your brand in a consistentdirection.

Action : Apply the Brand Arrow to your organization. Go through thenine-step RAPs to create your cult-like brand.

WHAT TO CREATE

HOW TO CREATE

CAUSE

BELIEVE

BUILD

DEMONIZE

TOUCHING

MEANING

BELONGING

COMMITTING

LEADING

PROFIT: Trekkies, football fans, Mac users, Harley riders, Landmark Forum graduates, eBay traders and hybrid car

owners often present cult-like devotion to their cause. Studying successful cults is a powerful source of insight for

uncovering the timeless techniques to brand worship and extreme customer loyalty.

THE CULT PARADOX

Contrary to popular belief, people join cults notto conform but to be more of themselves. This isthe cult paradox.

An individuals journey begins by feelingalienated or different from the world aroundthem. They begin searching for alternatives, aplace to fit.

They know theyll have found it when they:

Feel safe and secure

Notice that feeling of difference from theoutside world is valued and honoured.

Finally, within this group they will be able toachieve things they couldnt elsewhere. As anindividual theyll grow within the group of like-minded others.

Think of the great teams youve played in duringyour career or watched achieve sporting success.Everyone walks taller!

MORE OF ME

I want to belong so I can become more of me.

The cult paradox is probably why belonging issuch an underestimated part of marketing.

Business celebrates being customer focussedyet misses the chance to fulfil the basic human

need of belonging to a group of like-minded

people. And, they miss an opportunity for moresales and customer loyalty.

If brands are the new religion its time forbusiness to unite product and purchaser into acommunity of users.

Its also time to direct attention to satisfyingthe universal needs of belonging, meaning andidentity.

BRAND DEVOTEES

The popular image of brand devotees is they

are flawed. Theyre typically viewed as weak andshallow. Yet, theyre just like you and me. In fact ,they are you and me!

Action : Which brands do you worship? Whilstyour immediate reaction might be not me, askyourself

Which gadgets make you feel cool?

If your car was a person, who would you be?

Which clothing/handbag/shoe brands do youmost like to strut in?

Whats your dont answer the phone my showson favourite TV program?

When did you last get dressed up to cheer foryour team? Wasnt it great to par t of the mob?

What could you not live without?


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STAND: WHATS YOUR POINT OF VIEW?

Which eggs do you buy? Free range? Cage? Organic? None Im a Vegan?Its an everyday loaded question. We buy with our points of view. Eggs

are produced in multiple ways because not all eggs are created equal.Consumers dont want it that way. And neither do you! Sameness is the

death of brands.

To create a cult-like following requires some degree of edge oralienation. Your brand must stand for something. I t must represent

a distinct alternative to the status quo.

The good news is not everyone will like you and your opinion.Thats the point of branding: the sharper your edge the better.

Superman stood for Truth, Justice and the American Way.His stand was to help people in need.

Action: Whats your stand and what are you going todo about it? Define your stand AND the actions that

would follow. What sort of eggs are you providing?

RAP2: CausePROFIT : Whats your cause? What do you want to have happen? If youre not out to cause anything then you might as well go back to bed. Your cause is

the sharp end of your branding arrow. Its at odds with the current world. It needs to be to attract a band of worshippers.

SPIRIT

STANDPURPOSE

PURPOSE: WHATS YOUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE?

The purpose of your business is not about making money. We need moneylike we need to breathe, but breathing is not the purpose of our lives. Yourpurpose hits a deeper nerve.

Whats the problem you are solving? Whats the concern you areaddressing?What are you aspiring to? If you stopped doing what youare doing right now, would anyone notice? Would you be missed?

Clue: Human beings are social animals. How are you helping peoplelive better lives?

Action: Define your purpose. Whats the real reason youre inbusiness? Why did you really get out of bed this morning?

Really, do you expect me to believe that?

SPIRIT: WHATS YOUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE?

Cars stopped being about transport long ago. Todaywe buy them for comfort, safety, showing off andbecause we can.

We live in a Spiritual Economy. Not some airy-fairy,

dressed in purple world. The spiritual are issues biggerthan daily living. Theyre not physical; theyre symbolic.Theyre not rational; theyre emotional.

The good news is demand for the spiritual is constant.We need meaning and belonging today. And, wellneed them again tomorrow.

Your point of difference doesnt live in your productfeatures and benefits. Chunk up. Its what your brandstands for. Its what it represents. We consume andproduce beliefs, meaning, worldviews, aspirations,possibilities and dreams.

Revlon started selling dreams in a jar decades ago. TheChurch has been selling salvation for centuries. BarackObama is selling us hope.

Action: Define your point of difference in spiritual,emotional and symbolic ways.


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RAP3: BelievePROFIT : Belonging and believing are bedfellows. We need to belong to survive. And, we need to have similar beliefs to create a common world so we can

survive together. Consumers are no longer buying mere products, theyre buying into a belief system. And, this means theyre buying into communities

of like-minded people with similar worldviews.

MANIFESTO: WHAT DOES MY

CHARTER SAY?

Your Manifesto is a documented accountof your beliefs and your worldview.

Perhaps the most famous is the USDeclaration of Independence that begins

with the immortal line: We hold thesetruths to be self-evident

Notably, it was created at the launchof brand USA and was a collaborationof like-minded souls.

If youre a demi-god like Steve Jobs youmight get away with writing your own,particularly if youre just starting out.

Otherwise youll need input from yourcommunity. This might take time. TheBody Shop Charter took 18 months toproduce.

Use your manifesto as the basis of yourmarketing and promotion to ensure aconsistent message - Harley Davidsondoes.

Actions: Start writing or start listening.Turn your brand plan into a manifestothat you live by.

DOCTRINE: WHAT DO I BELIEVE?

Traditional marketing has focused ondemographics and pyschographicsto target consumer groups. The newapproach is to present your brand basedupon what you believe and attractcustomers to you.

The Moonies believe God has afeminine and masculine nature.

People who drive hybrid carsbelieve it is worth paying a littlemore to pollute a little less.

Google believes dont be evil.

What do you believe?

What is true for you about your industry?

What do your members believe?

Action: Distinguish your beliefs. Whatis true for your organization? What areyou aspiring to? Then audit yourself. Areyou living true to what you say? Adjustcourse accordingly.

AGREEMENT: THE SOCIALIZATION

OF BELIEF

Building belief is a contact sport.We need others to confirm, practise,support, enhance and believe in ourworldview.

Collective agreement is the basisfor determining our sense of

the world.

Traditionally werelied on geographic

locations to provide

our community interactions.Thanks to a mobile workforceand the internet, were collaborating

and interacting in new ways with peoplefrom all over the world.

In this context, brands have emerged aslegitimate communities for people tobelong to and believe in.

Research shows that the strength andfrequency of group interaction hasthe strongest influence on belief and

commitment.Action: Meet regularly. Create waysto interact with and meet with yourcommunity as often as you can. This isthe shortest, fastest, strongest way tobuild belief within your group.


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RAP4: BuildPROFIT : Your cause and your beliefs become valuable when you make them tangible. Create physical building blocks to enhance your groups feelings of

solidarity and let them demonstrate that were in this together. These tangible elements are designed to create group identity and encourage advocacy

and sharing, about your group, by your group.

RITUALS TOOLS

WORDS

ICONS

TOOLS: WHAT TOOLS DO I USE?

Tools not only let you do your work, they define who you are. Theyreno longer just utilitarian; theyre iconic. Without the right tool, youre

simply not playing the part.

Can you imagine... A teenager without a mobile phone? An executive withouta Blackberry or an iPhone? A rapper without bling? Ikea without an allen key?

Political missionaries without slogans, t-shirts and bumper stickers?

Also, tools may not be physical. They may be an idea or a model like MalcolmGladwells Tipping Point or Einsteins Theory of Relativity.

Action: Choose your weapons and make them iconic.

RITUALS: WHAT WILL I DO REGULARLY?

Rituals are not random, theyre practices with purpose. Theyre your ideology inaction. You do them because they mean something to you and your (brands)worldview. Youre not doing them for the sake of it , theyre a physical demonstrationof your commitment. These outward displays are also an invitation to others tojoin you.

Consider: Hare Krishnas are vegetarian, shave their heads, wear saris and chant alot. Mormons dont drink coffee, tea or alcohol. Supporters watch the game onTV whereas fanatics go to every game. Real Facebookers log on as soon asthey get out of bed to see what their friends are up to. Trekkers dress astheir favourite character.

Action: Distinguish the rituals of your hard-core users.

ICONS: WHICH SYMBOLS REMIND US OF YOUR CAUSE?

Branding started as a way to distinguish your goods from another. Now they havebecome icons of belonging, connection and meaning. Think football team. Thesymbolism of your brand is a mark of distinction separating you from the rest andits real power lives in its underlying meaning.

Its part of your identity. How will we recognize you?

Consider: the Christian Cross; Coca Colas colours; Tiffanys Blue; Googles HomePage; Harley Davidsons growl; Apple Computers startup theme; Apple iPods

control wheel; Homer Simpsons Doh!; Hitlers Moustache; SydneysBridge and Opera House.

Action: Identify, design and use your icons regularly.

LANGUAGE: WHAT WORDS DO I USE?

Jargon includes those in the know and excludes everyone else.Think computer programmers, teenagers and financial statements.Saturn car owners talk about joining the family. To Harley Davidson riderscar drivers are cagers. Knowing the right words is a way to bond, conveymeaning and separate yourself from others.

Ask yourself: Whats your dialect? What metaphors and models do you use todescribe the world? Whats blasphemy? What do you NOT talk about? Politics, sex,religion, money? How do you converse: provocatively, politely, with humour or in

code? Whats your catchphrase? Whats your in-joke? Whats your bible? Is it a book,defining article, movie or a person?

Action: Create catchphrases, observe jargon, highlight key words and phrases.Write your own dictionary and your own bible.


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RAP5: DemonizePROFIT : Appealing to the masses is the opposite of how you get cult-like devotion. Stop trying to please everyone. Your goal is to create a distinct group

identity and to achieve this you need to separate yourself from other groups. The most direct way to do this is find an enemy to defeat. Who or what is

your biggest threat? This can be real or intangible.

ALLIES

STATEOF

MIND

PEOPLE

ENEMIES

US

NOT TO BETO BE

THEM

EXCLUSIVITY: WHAT IS THE

PRICE OF ENTRY?Separate yourself from the outsideworld by being exclusive.

Typically, we think of this as being afunction of social privilege. You canonly be a member of theyacht club ifyou are part of the high-brow society.We dont want the riff-raff here!

Yet there are other forms of exclusivityworth considering.

Price: Not everyone can afford a Ferrari.

Knowledge: Only the tech-savvy cancontribute to Open-Source software.

Style: Apple appeals through design.

Supply: Millions watch the Superbowlon TV but not everyone gets a ticketto be at the game.

Performance: Even fewer get to playin the Superbowl.

Action : Whats the price of entry foryour cult brand?

DEFINE US

Who are you? Thats the most powerfulquestion you can ask yourself.

What business are you in? is themost powerful question for anyorganization.

These are identity questions. Whenwe change our answers to thesequestions, everything changes.

Action : Document the qualitiesthat make you who you are. Whatis distinctive about you? Unique?Personal? Whats your Cause?Beliefs?

DEFINE THEM

In the same way sporting contests inspire loyalty for your team, they instantly position theopposition as the enemy who must be defeated. By defining who we are, we also definewho we are not. Sharpen your brand edge by heightening this us versus them divide.

Taking on an enemy is a classic strategy for a brand underdog. In that famous ad of1984, Apple portrayed IBM as Big Brother. More recently Apple took on Microsoft in theirMac Versus PC ad campaign. Virgin Atlantic publicly declared war on British Airways andAmerican Airlines, whilst in Australia, Virgin Blue took on Qantas.

Action : Who or what are you competing against? Reflect back to your purpose andyour beliefs. Whats the opposite of your purpose? Opposite to your beliefs?

WAY OF BEING: 2B OR NOT 2B

Your brand demon can be real orintangible. You can demonize a stateof mind, an action or an internalisedfeeling.

How do you want your members tofeel? Brands are emotional chargesthat inspire, motivate, soothe andchallenge us to be all that we can be.Remember those Army ads?

Nikes Just Do It is a brand of self-achievement. It demonizes apathy

and not doing it.

Harley Davidson is a rebel or outlawbrand. They provide fuel for individualswho dont quite feel at home intraditional society. They love thefreedom of the road and are avoidingbeing trapped by humdrum life.

Google famously declared Dontbe evil as an attack on unethicalbusiness and biased search results.This has become one of their guiding

principles.Action: Define who you will be.Distinguish the way of being youdespise.


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PEOPLE: INVITE THE RIGHT PEOPLE

The great myth about cults is theyre filled with losersand misfits, who cant make it in the real world. Thatssimply not true how would that attract anyone elseto join?

Research confirms that People Buy People. Thats right,they buy into who the people are in the group beforethey buy into the ideology. Socially successful peopleare part of successful cults.

This means you must have member interactions if youwant to build a community, especially as part of yourinduction process.

Get the right members when you begin: people likeme, or people Id like to be. Like attracts like.

Action : Create opportunities for your consumers toconnect with each other online and face-to-face.

BELONGING: LET ME BE MORE OF ME

We survived Mass Marketing where individuals weretreated as a single group. Then we had One-on-oneMarketing where individuals were separated fromtheir peers.

Now, we have Community Marketing with the bestof both worlds. Its a whole new way of selling wherethe brand is cultivated, served and infused into thecommunity. Like wave and particle theory in physics,individuals and groups are not separate things, justdifferent parts of the same thing.

Its not either/or; its both. We want to be moreindividual by being part of a group.

Action : Build a Community around your brand.

Look at the existing communities: How can you getthem to talk? You to them, them to you, them toeach other

RAP6: TouchingPROFIT : A big mistakes to avoid is to believe your product or logo is your brand. Your brand is the feeling people get when they talk about and interact

with your business. Its an emotional charge and to create brand worship you need to design when, where and how your flock come into contact with

your brand.

MASSMARKETING

COMMUNITY

MARKETING

ONEONONEMARKETING

GROUPS INDIVIDUALS PRODUCER

OTHER CONSUMERSCONSUMER

INTERACTION: CREATE POINTS OF CONTACT

When do you touch your customers? Literally,emotionally or metaphorically?

Like your rituals, your touchpoints are purposeful anddeliberate. Theyre designed to bring your ideologyalive.

Apple customers have been videoing themselvesopening their latest purchases and proudly displayingthis on YouTube.

This seemingly innocent moment is captured andcelebrated. Design is central to the Apple view of theworld and their clever packaging rejoices this stand.

Apply these three key steps to developing a ContactStrategy:

Design a deliberate, sequential pathway formembers to interact with each other.

Keep tabs on who participates and encourage theshy to play.

Ideally, design this to be self-run by the people forthe people.

Action : Make a list of every-when and every-howa customer touches your business. Apply your

ideology as you redesign each one of them.


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RAP7 : MeaningPROFIT : Products can easily be copied. Even service is turned into a commodity, sold and imitated. Providing a way for consumers to create meaning

in their lives is more difficult to duplicate and easier to charge a premium for. Cult brands give us the chance to act out our values and beliefs, theyre

complete meaning systems. They enable members to make sense of their world. Its part of what your community is buying into.

DISTINGUISH: ARTICULATE OR BUILD

Where are you going to get your meaning engine and belief system from? Theanswer is more obvious than you might think. Either build upon an existingworldview or articulate one that already exists and is hidden from view.

MEANING : MAKE SENSE OF THE

WORLD

In a rapidly changing world, we needsources we can turn to make senseof the world. Commercial offeringsare the new religion because theyplay this role for us.

Consider, Oprahs position as sagefor women around the world.

Her Book Club selections interpretthe chaos of the world into somekind of coherent story.

Oprahs discussion of spiritual issuesallow viewers to create goals for theirlives: careers, finance, relationships,weight-loss.

Her regulars and guests provide asense of control. For instance, Dr Ozguides you through your health issues.

How does your brand interpret theworld? Hybrid cars say we can lesson ourfootprint on the planet. Provide purposefor others? Offer a sense of control?

Action : Marry your beliefs with ways toact in the world. List your beliefs downone column, then define how you wouldact to be consistent with this view.

CREATION: USE MY THS & STORIES

The Body Shops products arent unique,theyre simply wrapped in meaning.Their budget containers and theircontents come with a story. A simpletale about the product source, be itthe Brazilian nut conditioner or theNepalese paper. Their products makeyou feel luxuriated on the outsideand satisfied on the inside becauseyouve helped save the planet.

The beautiful thing about storiesis the listener interprets them and

creates their own meaning. They alsocreate a shared experience.

Highlight the importance of peoplein your stories. The pursuit ofcelebrities demonstrates the highlevel of curiosity here.

Action : Whats the story behind yourbrand? Demonstrate your cause,your beliefs and values through youreveryday tales.

1 Build upon existing

Christianity was built upon Judaism.Mormonism was built uponChristianity. Eachadded a littlesomething to anexisting ideology- familiar enough

to be acceptable,different enough tobe new.

Ben and Jerrys ice cream is built uponan anti-corporate political agenda:high-quality product, fair profit andcommunity service. They believeda company had a responsibility totheir community and they built anice-cream business based upon thatidea.

A great opportunity today is to build aGreen business how about GreenMusic or Green Customer Service?

2 Articulate the Existing

Harley Davidson were fortunate tohave a strong culture behind their

brand. Starting withthe Hells Angelsand movies like TheWild One and EasyRider, they were

able to tame theoutlaw and allowthe rebel to flourish. The key here isto articulate it and then give it voiceso it can be shared.

Action : Whats your platform ofbelief? Is it existing or waiting to bearticulated? Define your meaningengine.

INTERPRET

THE WORLD

CREATE

GOALS

SENSE OF

CONTROL

ARTICULATEBUILD


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RAP8 : BelongingPROFIT : Feeling secure within a group of people is a key safety net for living. It allows individuals to feel strong enough to expose their inner thoughts,

feelings and true self. Business celebrates being customer focussed yet misses the chance to fulfil the basic human need of belonging to a group of

like-minded people.

INDUCTION: DESIGN YOUR WELCOME

Bootcamp for the US Marines is notsimply about getting fit.

Like any powerful induction it serves twokey roles: creating shared experience and forming abreak with the past. The aim is for it to be a watershed,a defining moment that sets up new possibilities forthe future.

Ideally, an induction works both on building upthe sense of self and the sense of belonging to thegroup. Participants draw power and safety from thegroup so they are more free to express themselves.

Celebrate the welcome experience through:

Design, like Apples packaging.

Breaking with the past or launching new futuresthrough a ceremony, like a wedding.

Destroying previous limits, try fire walking.

Separating from the outside world - retreat to anunfamiliar location.

Enabling people to talk about their experience - aworkshop or online forum

A sample of whats to come, eg. a test drive.

Action: Create your Brand Induction Program.

CARE: LOOK AFTER

EACH OTHERCaring for each other isthe social glue that holdscommunities together. TheUS Marines is built upon thesimple premise that nobody

gets left behind. This culture is created from the firstday of boot camp. This mutual responsibilityis a keyplank in any strong culture. Its an indicator of ashared sense of belonging and a willingness to worktogether.

Why would a community form around your brand?

To learn? Software users teach each other whatworks best.

To make it work?Ebays online community couldntfunction without their trust ratings. It enables agroup of unknown people to trade with each otherand honour their sales.

To create? Wikipedia attracts a communityinterested in building something they couldntcreate on their own.

Action : Define the reasons your communitycomes together.

CONNECTION: CREATE

SHARED EXPERIENCESWe belong to groups tomake meaning and we do

this through sharing our experience.

Previously we developed shared experience living inthe same time and space same neighbourhoods,similar work, local events with familiar people.

We now seek it in new ways and resonating withbrand communities has emerged as one solution.

Experience can be shared literally, I was there

when It can also be had metaphorically, whereone connects to an actor in a movie or an eventthat has happened elsewhere. Where were youwhen

Create group events so members can swap storiesand make friends with people who are dealing withthe same problems.

Design it so they share a literal experience and givethem an opportunity to speak with each other aboutit. This could be the way to link back to your cause.

Action: Design how members share what is going

on for them - to you and with each other.


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RAP9 : CommittingPROFIT : The act of committing comes with buying into the ideology. Yes, I believe that. Yes, I will act like that.

Yes, Ill be part of that. The key to commitment is to increase it in bite-size steps. You dont get married on your

first date. Increase the interactions to increase the relationships. And, break down the barriers to committing.

INVESTMENT: TRADING AND

REWARDING COMMITMENT

Commitment is a two-way street. Ifone party is doing all the taking thenyoure heading for a breakdown. Everbeen in a relationship like that? Didyou feel betrayed? Did you leave?

Would you give that loyalty to abrand?

Apple customers love their innovativeproducts. Thats why they buy them.

GROWTH: BUILDING THE STEPS OF COMMITMENT

The first step in building commitmentis to interact with your customers.People buy people. Be welcoming.

The Moonies developed a techniquecalled Love Bombing. Participantswere lead through a series ofexercises made to make them feellike they were meeting the happiestpeople on the planet. Judgementwas suspended and criticism wasbanned.

Warning : Dont over do lovebombing or youll come across as afake and scare people away.

Start with a low cost entry. A freesample works for Krispy Kreme.Then build it up slowly with smallsacrifices. This might be money,time, emotions or creativity.

Provide a path for members togradually increase their involvement,

as if you were dating someone.

Increase the interactions to buildthe relationship and break down thebarriers to committing. Use socialglue: the more time you spendtogether the stickier the bond.

Action : Your Commitment Stepsreflect your Contact Strategy.

Design a pathway for people tojoin your community. Whats thefirst point of contact? Then what?And, after that? Until finally

They make the buyer stylish becausethey have the latest, cool device.

When Apple stopped deliveringinnovative products back in the late90s, their community suffered too.They lost their cool factor also.

Steve Jobs came back on board andthe iMac relaunched Apple with astring of successes. Cool again!

Remember commitment is a trade.I promise this, if youll agree to that.

When one side dips out, we feelripped off. Beware : A brand loyalistwho turns into a brand terrorist canput a big dent in your reputation witha few online clicks and keystrokes.

Action : Get really, really clear onwhat your customers are buyingand what they expect from you.

This may not be what you think itis. Talk to them.


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RAP10 : LeadingPROFIT : Leading a community of people who choose to follow you is very different from leading a band of employees or conscripted soldiers. Your tone

of voice needs to reflect that you dont own your community and youll need to influence the group in different ways.

CONTROL: THE MILITARY COMMANDER

AND THE PRIEST

The world of marketing is drawn from themilitary commander. We have campaigns; wetarget customers, pursue market domination,launch products, attack competitors, penetratemarkets and strategize to capture marketshare.

The cult brand model has a different flavour.A high priest attracts a congregation bypreaching a spiritual path filled with meaningand purpose whilst leading the rituals toencourage regular worship.

Brand managers need to nurture and supporta community and listen to what it needs.

Action : Design communication paths so youcan listen to what is happening within yourcommunity. Start with Web2.0 tools. Watch,listen and observe.

TENSION: MANAGE SAMENESS AND

DIFFERENCE

The major attraction in your cult is your pointof difference. However, if youre too differentyoure just going to become a target of abuse.Remember the kid who got teased in theplayground? You need to manage this tensionbetween sameness and difference.

Historically, the Catholic church labelled non-believers heretics and burnt them on the stake.

More recently, Napster in its cry for free musicdemonized the recording industry. Their callto action was so powerful that millions ofsongs were traded for free. This cost the musicindustry big bucks and they countered with acourt case to erase the young upstart.

To cause change you need to have followersfor your leadership. Thats obvious. However, ifyou walk too far ahead, your followers will lose

sight of the path you tread.

Action : Feedback is everything. Designmultiple ways of receiving this from yourflock. Where appropriate, incorporate thisinto future updates. Consumers rule!

OWNERSHIP: HANG ON OR LET GO

The popular view is that charismatic leadersrun successful cults. In the world of the cultbrand, we see leaders such as Richard Bransonor Steve Jobs leading the way.

The reality is that most successful cults havedistributed power and responsibility beyond

a central individual. The last thing you want isyour fearless leader to keel over and die andyour brand get buried with them.

Remember, you dont own your community oreven your brand. Your brand lives in the heartsand minds of your members.

To keep it on track is a shared responsibilitybetween producer and consumer. If one faltersthe other suffers too.

Action : Provide the tools and resources for

your community to thrive and then leavethem to it. For instance, build an online forumand let your users run it.

DIFFERENCESAMENESS LET GOHANG ON NURTURECOMMAND


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Action : Write down one thing you could take on to create your cult-like brandin each of the nine boxes/circles. Then pick one to implement. Work your waythrough your list. Pin this plan on your wall as your reminder.

Cause

Committing

Leading

Belonging

Meaning

Build

Demonize

RAP11 : Your Brand Plan Touching

Believe


15/15


More info...ABOUT THE AUTHORHi folks! Thanks for reading Book Rapper.I think weveall got our own special genius. Mine is to take a wholebunch of information and distil it into some simple yetco-ordinated pattern. I used to be an architect. And,

for me, tracking trends and working out how they fittogether is just like designing a building.

Cheers, Geoff (McDonald)

ABOUT BOOK RAPPERDIY : This document is our DIY soluti on. We suggestthe actions you could take and you personalize themto your situation.

Custom : We also design custom solutions for yourunique situation.

Delivery : This can be deli vered in a vari ety of waysdepending upon what you need. This might be one-on-one coaching or mentoring, or group events suchas keynote presentations, facilitating strategic planningmeetings or creating projects to achieve specificoutcomes.

Home Base : Were based in Melbourne, Australia andwith the clever use of technology we can virtually beanywhere.

CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCEThis RAP is free and does not contain affiliate links.Share it with the world under the terms of CreativeCommons Attribution 3.0 License. Feel free to share itas it is, no changes, no re-selling.

WANT MORE?Share it :If you like this issue, share it with your friendsand colleagues. Discuss the issues to expand yourthinking.

Take Actio n :The bes t way to le arn more i s to put theseideas into practice.

Read the Book : If you want more detail about thisparticular issue, buy the book. We only select 12 booksa year, so a books got to be good for us to RAP it.

Get more RAPs : If you want to read more RAPs ondifferent topics/books, then visit our website.

EMAIL ME...Share your results, feedback, thoughts, questions,suggestions, etc. And, naturally, email if you want helpdesigning your personal implementation.

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