Friday, September 17, 2004

The Cult Brand

Ryan Saghir, in his article Building the Cult Brand, discusses how Netflix can market their business using us rabid fan-bloggers:
Mass Customization is key to connecting the consumer with the brand. We're not talking about Cookie-writing techniques for "the page you built", but instead consumer outreach efforts for fan sites, community sites and blogs. These sites are tenticles of communication from the company directly to the consumer. Companies can simply wind up the people behind these sites and let them go; creating unpaid workers who put more effort behind the product than employees do (think the "unofficial guy" from Wendy's). As companies nuture these sites with information, support, and especially empowerment, they gain hoards of cultlike masses following (and purchasing) their every move.
Sound like anyone you know? He goes on to ask
Why is there no cult for Blockbuster, yet one for Netflix? Because the Blockbuster experience is plain old horrible.
If you're interested in marketing, it's a fascinating article.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Becky, thanks for the link. Much appreciated.

    It is extremely refreshing that Netflix is willing to listen to their public and adapt accordingly. They are a true example of a Cult Brand and it shows! Even if you don't like *everything* about Netflix, you still respect them for listening.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Becky, thanks for the link. Much appreciated.

    It is extremely refreshing that Netflix is willing to listen to their public and adapt accordingly. They are a true example of a Cult Brand and it shows! Even if you don't like *everything* about Netflix, you still respect them for listening.

    -Ryan

    ReplyDelete