Douglas AtkinThe Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers into True Believers

I found this book to be very informative and it excited me to try a more systematic approach to building my organizations community to reduce membership churn.

Really this book can be summed up as: Make products and services that actualize people and they will become followers. That's it. There is little "how to" but most entrepreneurs can figure out how to derive the how from the stories and anecdotes in the book. Highly recommended to those starting a new service or a non profit or trying to understand why their enterprise gains reactions of indifference when others have rabid customers.

Douglas Atkin is revered as a brilliant account planner for a reason - he is one of the sharpest minds in marketing. I teach this book in my branding class at NYU because I believe Douglas is onto something - in an age where most Americans have been uprooted and lack communal identity, consumers are latching onto brands as a means of self-identification. Sometimes this leads them into classic cult behavior. The nice thing about this book is that Douglas has really done his homework - he's gone inside classic cults like the Moonies as well as religions (the Mormons), the armed forces (the Marines) all the way into brand cults like Apple, Harley Davidson and JetBlue.

This book is a bit harder to read, and also just a tad bit abstract. Nonetheless, it's still a very informative read and pulls real world examples and analyses of how organizations in every sector parallel one another in regards to recruitment.I would recommend this book to anyone who's trying to build a brand and is having trouble with customer loyalty. Great asset to have in the library.

Could have been a very interesting book but the author's writing style is to impress you with how smart he is, not to entertain or inform. If you're looking for a fun read try "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage. It loosely ties the development of civilization, trade, and politics to the proliferation of the most widely consumed beverage of that era. The author isn't going to win a Nobel prize, but it's a book you'll talk about when out with friends.

This might be the most helpful book I have ever read for my business. I especially liked the ideas that the Mormons use to make new converts feel included. The other thing I will use in my business is the Mary Kay model. That organization has used different methods to make the women in the organization feel supported, celebrating their success.I liked this book so much that I sent a copy to a friend. I hope Douglas Atkins will update this book at some point.

Doug Atkin reveals what "cultism" really is (not funny Kool-aid for the mind-numbed) and why we should aspire to having our customers "cult our brand."He points out the massive changes which have taken place since the Attraction Principle replaced a lot of Spot TV, and helps us evaluate lower-cost options which get big results.The point of view is valuable and well-presented, the supporting evidence and other argumants are equally well-handled.If you have customers, and are anything from a sole propriator on up, this book is challenging and valuable.

This book is out of print. I don't even recall where I heard about it. As a whole it's an interesting look at brand loyalty. Saturn, Nike, Harley -- they have cult followings that rival few others. It was interesting to read the interviews with Marines and religious cult members to see how similar the sentiments are from faith to brand loyalty. But, I didn't get much of an education from it on building cult status for a brand. If you can find it, maybe it's worth the read. But don't go out of your way for it.

what can brands learn from cults? these question will be answered really really good. nice one!

I always thought that sect and cult were the same thing. This book reveals not only the clear difference, but also how a brand can empower its customers by creating a cult. The case studies presented includes not only Apple fans, but others more family and high level professionals oriented.

Brilliant book

Me ha resultado poco útil, con continuos y aburridos similitudes con las creencias religiosas y pocos ejemplos prácticos del mundo de las empresas. Muy muy largo para los pocos datos que ofrece. No lo recomiendo.