How to Build a Cult Brand
Uncover your brand values, embody your mission and inspire a community.
By Adam Charlton · 28/08/2024
Posted in Insight
Brands are vessels of meaning and equity. Brands are identifiers and also communicators. With more new companies launching than ever before, consumers are presented with more choices than ever. It is the value-driven brands that rise to the top, sustain growth and grow market share.
“People want to know you care. Companies need to be value-driven, focussed, have a set of values you passionately care about and you are clear about what those values are, and you build a track record over time.”
— Sundar Pichai, CEO Google
A company's values define its culture, internally and externally. A company's values point the company towards a wholesome direction that will build trust and foster brand equity, which both compound over time. Your values define and inspire your company's culture.
“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”
— Steve Jobs, CBS: 60 Minutes, 2008
Benefits of a value-driven company
Internal benefits
A team with commitment and loyalty, sustainable growth, high morale, and a shared mission.
Innovativeness, thanks to a strong team that appreciates management’s commitment to values
Ability to deliver high-quality products and services.
Inspires and empowers employees to take initiative
Moral compass for decision making
External benefits
Brand consistency, visually and voice
Consistent brand messaging results in a strong brand
Transparency
Customer satisfaction, customers feel heard and resonated with
Without further ado, here are three steps to build your cult brand:
Uncover your values, craft your mission
Helping your team or client reach their chosen brand values is often a difficult process, full of opinion and subjectivity. One of the tools we’ve developed that helps to align the team in the process is the core value explorer tool.
We developed our core value tool for our brand strategy client workshops. We’ve consolidated 180 core values into categories of Form, Success, Wisdom, Expertise, Connection, Virtue, Courage, Emotion, and Love.
This is the starting list, of course, there are hundreds more possible brand values, but these get us moving!
Patagonia’s core values
Build the best product (high-quality, consistency)
Cause no unnecessary harm (compassion, care, empathy)
Use business to protect nature (sustainability, nature)
Not bound by convention (unique, rebellious)
Then develop your core values into a mission that inspires a community. Create a mission that people want to be in, whether as consumers, members of a community, or employees.
Build your mission statement from your core values, to communicate your purpose. Communicate how you are changing the world, and for who. Make it concise, engaging, empowering and inspiring.
Companies communicate to the world by building a brand that communicates their values and culture. A mission statement or brand promise forms a big part of the brand.
Airbnb’s mission:
“To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.”
Coca-Cola’s mission:
“To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions, and to create value and make a difference.”
The Adidas mission:
“To be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle.”
Tesla’s mission:
“To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Embody your purpose
Apple’s mission statement is:
“To bring the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals, and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and internet offerings.“
In a conference call with investors in 2009, Tim Cook, then Chief Operating Officer, offered some further insight:
“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.”
Innovation — “We are constantly focusing on innovating.”
Simplicity — “We believe in the simple not the complex.” This is in part, a reference to Dieter Rams Principles of Good Design, from which, Apple take a lot of their timeless design references.
Critical focus — “We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.”
Communication — “We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.”
Quality — “And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change.”
Keep your values and mission to heart. Put them at the core of what you say and how you say it. 80% of communication is non-verbal. Be consistent with your message.
“Quality and consistency create an identity”
— Jony Ive, previously Chief Design Officer at Apple
Put your values into action by embodying them in corporate decision-making. Live and die by your values.
Inspire a community
A cult’s brand mission must be a statement of disruption. It must aim to do things differently, inspire a following, and inspire communities around it.
In the face of adversity, the brand must stand up for its beliefs.
Nike’s mission statement is
“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.”
Nike is consistent in its messaging. Every campaign and touchpoint is true to its mission.
Are you a Brighton-based business looking to rebrand or create a new brand? We might have something in common…
We’ve been busy building our sister agency in Hong Kong and recently relocated to Brighton! As we establish our branding agency, we’re looking to partner with local companies that want to refresh their brand. We’re running significant discounts to help build our local success stories.
If you would like more information, please get in touch with us at studio@attendtheway.com
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About the author —
Adam is the co-founder of Attend The Way, a Brighton-based branding agency. Adam helps build brands for companies at every growth stage, from startups to industry leaders. Adam has consulted and built brands for some of the world’s most recognised companies.
