If I'm being honest (which I usually strive to be), I would have to admit that part of my decision to go with Blockbuster was, in fact, motivated by the existence of the Netflix "brand tribe." You see, in Alex Wipperfurth's book Brand Hijack, he explores a host of marketing principles, including his research into the similarities between "brand tribes" and religous cults. Now, I don't have a problem with people being in love with a product, and I recognize that part of what makes any product successful is people who are passionate about it and communicate that passion to others.
But candidly, on occasion that brand loyalty can go a bit far (the naming of children, the tattooing of body parts, etc). Not everyone who buys into a hot brand or a identifiable commodity necessarily drinks the Kool Aid, but certainly there are the ardent faithful (the product evangelists, if you will). And there is often a dogma that gets established about the product and its competitors; a dogma that goes beyond the product's actual merits and raises its worth to almost metaphysical levels. Allegiance to the product ends up becoming demonstrative of allegiance to other principles as well.
Do you think there's a cult of Netflix?
No comments:
Post a Comment