In todays marketing and PR world, a cult following is something that some brands strive for no matter what industry they are in. This creates a loyal following of a brand meaning consistency is sales, support along with other benefits. As someone that hopes to own their own clothing brand at some point ( an industry in which a following like this is MAJOR) is something I’m highly interested in. This principle, while extremely helpful for a brands success, a cult following could also give the brand a bad image and do the exact opposite of the positive outcomes mentioned previously. Personally, I think that this sort of control over a group of consumers is more beneficial than anything for most brands but My goal for this post is to explain what I see as being some benefits and downfalls of this sort of following.
First, this sort of following means that sales will be somewhat consistent being that fans will want the products just because of who makes it. For example, clothing brands with large amounts of “hype” around them such as Supreme and other sought after streetwear brands. Brands like this will most likely have little to no concern about having too much product building up in their store(s). People often want these products just because it is from the brand.But, this doesn’t just happen overnight, these brands must find an iconic way of making what they want, make it good quality and make it at least some things somewhat limited. This creates a scarcity effect and makes people think they hold something with rarity. By doing this you not only build a strong fanbase and culture, but a strong desire for whatever you make.
On the other end, these sort of fanatic fans can create a toxic or distasteful image around your brand . Of course, those people aren’t apart of your brand, but when the support is to that level, they become a face of the brand. If these people do things your brands image can be tarnished by these behaviors. A real world example of this is with Jordan brand shoes and the unfortunate violence that became connected with their sneakers. After many instances of people being hurt or losing their life over these limited and expensive shoes, the brand was put in a negative light. In return, they did various things to display that they don’t condone this behavior. The fanatic obsession over the brand is fine but once things get out of hand and become toxic to consumers/ the brand something has to be done to stop it.