The difference between cult brands and others is more than just the loyalty of following over a sustained period of time that they command. The intensity of emotions displayed by the aficionados of cult brands borders on the, well, cultish. Responses to the denigration of their brand (or products) by heretics can range from sullen silence to vitriolic violence. Think Marmite, the durian fruit (the jackfruit is equally obnoxious, but thats a personal opinion), karela and the perennial favorite, Old Monk. But then food and beverages are intensely emotional categories. And, of course, no debate on cult brands can be complete without a reference to Harley.
Role of customer segmentation in defining who a brand will appeal to (and who it will not)
There are essentially two qualifiers for a brand to be called a cult brand. One, the emotional attachment has to be enormous. Secondly, the consumer base has to be small. If the base was large this would be called an iconic brand. Hence a critical choice by marketers of cult brands is to define consumer segments that they will not serve: the appeal is, by definition, polarized.
Differentiating between regional and cult brands
Why has India not been able to produce cult brands the way Europe or the U.S has? Dont we have several
brands that have a small but sharply loyal following? The answer is both, yes and no. We do have brands which could qualify to be called cult brands but these are usually confined to a specific region where local socio-cultural, linguistic or religious factors are the fountainhead of the appeal. Hence they end up being strong regional brands rather than cult brands. A pre-requisite for a cult brand then is a fairly broad geographic dispersion within which there is an indoctrinated segment. And this is one reason why India has not been able to produce more such brands the economics of reaching a small, widely dispersed consumer base. Unless of course the brand piggybacks its distribution on others within the stable, like Old Monk Rum. As distribution gets more organized this constraint could turn into an enabler.
The Indian love for homogeneity rather than experimentation
The second reason is more culture specific. Indians are encouraged since childhood to fit in rather than stand out. Cult brands draw their consumers with propositions that go against the mainstream. While Indians have begun to be more experimentative, its always within a socially acceptable comfort zone.
Emergence of sharply defined yet geographically dispersed consumer segments & its impact on growth of cult brands
Where then does the future lie? Two socio-economic trends have the potential of fostering the growth of cult
brands in India. One, the free movement of labour (blue and white collared) across the country. The bonds of the fit in culture get diluted as a direct consequence. A case in point is kids of defence personnel have long been known to stand out relative to the general populace. Secondly, the role of media and distribution in creating broadly convergent wants across the country. Look no further than the telecom and the airline industry to see the pan Indian nature of their appeal. Once the appeal of categories goes beyond regional to national, the emergence of sharply differentiated
Indian cult brands is a logical next step to the opportunities of growth via segmentation.
