Last Member Drive of 2025!

Your year-end tax-deductible gift powers our local newsroom. Help raise $1 million in essential funding for LAist by December 31.
$881,541 of $1,000,000 goal
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
AirTalk

Brand Loyalty Or Fealty? How A Company Gains A Cult Following

NEW YORK - JUNE 24:  Customers wait in line at the flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue for the new iPhone 4, which went on sale this morning on June 24, 2010 in New York City. People waited outside of stores overnight to be first in line when doors opened at 7 a.m. in New York and at 8 a.m. local time in Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. The iPhone 4 will cost $199 for a 16-gigabyte version and $299 for a version with 32 gigabytes of storage.  (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Customers wait in line at the flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue.
(
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
)
Listen 21:21
Brand Loyalty Or Fealty? How A Company Gains A Cult Following

Some companies have built a brand for themselves that has achieved a level beyond brand loyalty.

Companies like Adidas, Apple, and SoulCycle command a huge following. Whether they release a new product, or take a few missteps, there are people who are brand loyalists through and through. Some might say they're cult brands. It’s not uncommon to see fans sporting tattoos of their logos or join community groups dedicated to these brands. They don’t just sell you a product; they sell you an identity, and a lifestyle. You see someone else with a SoulCycle bag or wearing a Harley Davidson shirt, you know, that’s my tribe.

Do you have a brand that you are borderline religiously devoted to? Is someone you know a brand loyalist? Call in and let us know at 866-893-5722.

Guest:

Americus Reed II, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business; his research focuses on the role of identity in consumer decision making