The Quiet Power of Culting and Why It Works When Other Strategies Don't
Some brands have customers. Other brands have followers who tattoo logos on their skin, camp outside stores for a product drop, or defend the company in online arguments as if their own reputation is at stake. That difference—that strange, magnetic pull—is what people mean when they talk about Culting. It is not a dirty word, despite the name. In fact, for anyone building a business, launching a service, or trying to grow a creative project, understanding Culting can be the difference between blending in and becoming unforgettable.
The Oversimplified Version Nobody Tells You
When I first encountered the idea of Culting, I assumed it was about manipulation or hype. But real Culting is neither. It is the deliberate creation of a shared identity around a product, service, or idea. Think of it less as brainwashing and more as building a tribe. People do not join a cult brand because they are tricked. They join because something about the offering speaks to who they are—or who they want to become.
Consider the difference between buying a pair of running shoes because you need them and buying a pair of running shoes because they place you inside a community of athletes, weekend warriors, and people who believe movement is a lifestyle. The second scenario is Culting in action. The transaction stops being about the shoe and starts being about belonging.
When Culting Moves Beyond Consumer Goods
Most people point to companies like Apple, Harley-Davidson, or Supreme when they talk about Culting. And yes, those are textbook examples. But the concept works just as powerfully in less obvious spaces. I have seen small local coffee shops develop a cult following not because their beans are rare, but because the barista remembers your name, your order, and the story you told about your dog last Tuesday. That is Culting at a human scale.
In the professional services world, a leadership coach I know built a small but rabid following by creating a weekly email. Not a newsletter—an email. It felt personal. She shared her failures as often as her wins. Subscribers started forwarding it to colleagues. Then HR departments started paying for her to speak. That growth was not driven by ads. It was driven by the feeling that she was one of them. That is Culting through authenticity, not spectacle.
Even B2B SaaS companies can benefit. One project management tool I used years ago had a user community that felt more like a club. They shared workflows, memes, and inside jokes. The company did not gatekeep—they celebrated power users by giving them early access to features. Those users turned into unpaid evangelists. Culting, in that context, looked a lot like respect and inclusion.
Different Audiences, Different Paths
Culting is not a one-size-fits-all playbook. The way you build a cult following for a productivity app is different from how you do it for a skincare line or a career coaching service. But the underlying pattern remains the same: create a shared identity, a set of values, and a language that insiders understand.
For a creative freelancer, Culting might mean building a small mailing list where you share behind-the-scenes work and honest pricing breakdowns. That transparency becomes your tribe's glue. For a local restaurant owner, it could mean treating regulars like family and creating a secret menu item only they know about. For a fitness instructor, it could be the way you celebrate small wins in class—turning a workout into a ritual rather than a chore.
I once watched a yoga teacher build a cult following simply by ending every class with a different quote she wrote herself. Students started collecting them. They posted them on social media. That teacher never ran a single ad. She built the tribe by giving them something to hold onto.
Practical Examples That Show the Spectrum
- The Neighborhood Barber – No appointment system, books fill up in two hours, and customers wait weeks for a slot. Why? Because the barber curates the music, the conversation, and the vibe. It is not a haircut. It is a Thursday afternoon ritual.
- The Indie Author – A writer I follow publishes novels slowly. She does not chase trends. Instead, she writes a monthly letter to her readers about what she is reading, cooking, and struggling with. Her launch days look small compared to big publishers, but within 48 hours, her books hit small-category bestseller lists. Her readers buy multiple copies to give away.
- The Hardware Startup – A small company making leather bags for laptops started by selling only twenty units. They asked each buyer to share their honest experience. Then they redesigned the bag based on that feedback. Those first twenty customers felt heard. They told friends. Ten years later, that company still has a waitlist.
- The Personal Trainer – Instead of running generic boot camps, she trained runners who had been told they were too slow. She branded them "the last pack." That community of runners who finished last in races became her most loyal clients. They wore the gear. They recruited new members. Culting through niche identity is powerful because it makes people feel seen.
What You Actually Need to Consider Before Trying This
Here is the part that does not make it into most marketing advice. Culting takes time. It also takes a willingness to be polarizing. If you try to appeal to everyone, you will end up with a generic offering that nobody loves deeply. Culting requires you to commit to a specific set of values and accept that some people will dislike you for it.
I have watched a small brewery lean hard into sustainability. They refused to serve their beer in cans that were not fully compostable. Some customers complained about the cost. But the ones who stayed? They became obsessed. They hosted beach clean-ups under the brewery's name. They defended the brand in online forums. That kind of loyalty was not accidental. It was the result of standing for something specific, even when it cost them.
Practical considerations before diving in:
- Are you ready to listen deeply? Culting thrives on feedback loops. If you are not willing to adapt based on what your most loyal people tell you, the community will feel performative.
- Can you handle exclusivity without cruelty? Scarcity can be a tool, but if you make people feel left out deliberately, you risk breeding resentment. The best cult brands make people feel special, not excluded.
- Do you have the energy to maintain consistency? Culting is not a campaign. It is a long-term relationship. The moment you start cutting corners or becoming transactional, the tribe notices.
- What do you stand for? If your brand exists only to make money, people will sense it. Culting requires a purpose that extends beyond the transaction. It can be a small purpose—like making mornings better or helping people write better emails—but it has to be real.
The Strengths That Make Culting Worth Exploring
When Culting works, it creates a kind of organic resilience. A cult brand does not need to compete on price. It does not need to chase every trend. The community acts as a buffer against market fluctuations. During economic downturns, cult brands often survive better than their competitors because their customers are not shopping for a deal—they are supporting a group they belong to.
There is also the word-of-mouth effect. Culting generates what marketers call earned growth. Every new customer comes through a trusted recommendation, not a click on an ad. That means lower customer acquisition costs and higher lifetime value. More importantly, those customers tend to be more forgiving when mistakes happen. If you have ever loved a brand so much that you overlooked a late shipment or a slightly flawed product, you understand the power of deep loyalty.
Where It Can Falter and What That Means for You
Let me be honest. Culting is not for every business. If you sell commoditized products where price is the only differentiator, trying to build a cult around your brand can feel forced. A gas station convenience store can try, but unless you create an experience worth driving across town for, it is unlikely to stick.
Culting can also become insular. I have seen brands become so focused on their existing community that they stop innovating. They keep serving the same people the same way, and eventually, the world moves on. The trick is to stay curious about what your tribe needs next, even when they are not asking for it yet.
Another limitation is scale. Culting often works best within a manageable community size. Trying to scale a cult following into millions of people without losing the intimacy that made it special is extremely difficult. Some brands manage it, but many lose their soul along the way. If you are building a personal brand or a small business, that might not be a problem at all. You might not want millions. You might want a thousand true fans who love what you do.
One More Thing Worth Observing
Culting works best when it feels invisible. The most successful cult brands never announce, "We are building a community." They simply act in ways that make community inevitable. They share stories. They respond to feedback. They create rituals. They let the audience feel like insiders without ever having to explain the rules.
If you decide to explore Culting for your own project, start small. Pick one thing you can do differently this week—maybe sending a personal note to a customer, or creating a small ritual around how you deliver your service, or sharing a story that reveals why you do what you do. Watch how people respond. Over time, you will find that Culting is not a tactic. It is a way of treating people that makes them want to stay.
