A cult brand is a symbol-intensive brand usually tied to a single customer segment or a specific product category. Cult brands deliver a sense of belonging between people who share the same culture and passions. Harley-Davidson is a typical example of cult brand because they effectively express open roads culture, free spirit mythology, and connotations of Hells Angels’ machismo. These ideas amass a following of the company's brand.

Other cult brands, often characterized by exclusive owners clubs and intensive social activities, are Ferrari, Ducati, Nautor Swan, Fender, Cohiba, and Breguet.^{[2] [1]}

Benign cults

Cult Brands fall into the category of benign cults which can be defined as a following where members are truly attached or intensely devoted to the product/service the brand provides. Benign Cults are not destructive and are welcoming of new members. In benign cults, human desires are fulfilled in a positive and unharmful way.^[2][3]

Defining factors

A brand can be defined as a cult brand if the following factors are present:^[3]

1. A superior level of customer loyalty is achieved
2. Brand loyalists perceive no true competitors to the brand as there are no substitutes for the "true" brand
3. Customers receive a sense of ownership with the brand
4. Loyalty is sustained over time (as opposed to fads which are unsustainable and short-lived)
5. Customers receive more than a product, they experience a lifestyle

Three stages of a cult brand

There are considered to be three stages of followers within a brand:^[4]

1. It starts with the ‘brand following’, continued by the ‘connectedness’, with the third and final stage being that of ‘consumer conformity’. Brand following can be described as consumers that share the same strong affiliation in a brand, create a bond or ‘relationship’ on the simple basis that they share a common interest. At this point, there is more emphasis on the brand itself with an underlying relationship between common consumers arising.
2. The second stage being that of connectedness, can be described as the brand users developing a further sense of togetherness while also initiating a stronger bond in the way that they display a sort of empathy towards one another. In this stage, users are now becoming more interested in other users, the culture of building a community, and the apparent bond that is forming within such a community.
3. The third and final stage of ‘consumer conformity’ suggests that there is no longer any real individual consumer, but a well formed group/population. It is said that people associate themselves with groups or other people to make sense of themselves or essentially to reach self-actualisation. Through doing so, one would feel a certain level of fulfilment that helps to energise a group, providing strength and loyalty to a brand. A good example of a strong brand community within a well-known cult brand is that of the ‘Hell’s Angels’. The Hell's Angels are so devoted to Harley Davidsons that it is said within their own wedding ceremonies they use the Harley owner's manual as a replacement for the bible.

Examples

The following emerged as cult brands because the brands sell lifestyles, whilst focusing a great deal on their customers.

References