How to Create Cult-like Customers in 36 Mins

Summary

Sweat Equity by Marketing Examined: Episode 52 - How to Create Cult-like Customers in 36 Mins

Release Date: November 5, 2024

Hosts Alex Garcia and Brian Blum dive deep into the strategies that transform ordinary customers into a passionate, loyal community. In this episode, titled "How to Create Cult-like Customers in 36 Mins," they explore the foundational elements necessary for building enduring brands that resonate with audiences on a profound level. Below is a comprehensive summary of their insightful discussion.

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1. Setting the Stage: The Goal of Cult-like Customer Bases

Alex Garcia opens the episode by highlighting a significant milestone goal: reaching 10,000 subscribers by the end of the year, emphasizing the importance of ramping up efforts to achieve this target. He introduces the primary topic by discussing the transient nature of many brands and contrasts them with those aiming for longevity.

"We're basically at 6, so we got to come with the heat. I'm talking straight about today, like how to create a cult-like customer base." [00:00]

2. Establishing Brand Values and Mission

The conversation begins with the critical role of brand values in forging strong customer connections. Alex emphasizes that having well-defined values is not superficial but foundational for creating lasting relationships with consumers.

He recounts a discussion with an eight-figure brand that measures success not just by product sales but by tangible community engagement, such as customer turnout at events.

"If tomorrow I said, hey, there's an event pop up right here this time, and 50, 100 people showed up, that's how I would know people care about this brand." [02:20]

The hosts illustrate the necessity of aligning brand stories with missions. Using examples like Seed, founded out of a passion for microbiomes, and Jocko’s supplement brand, they demonstrate how personal experiences and problem-solving drive brand missions that resonate deeply with consumers.

3. The Power of In-Person Experiences and Community Building

Alex introduces the importance of in-person events in transforming customers into a vibrant community. He differentiates between having an audience and cultivating a community, stressing that true communities require interaction and relationships among members.

Notable examples include:

• Bandit Running's 16-week in-person marathon training program, which fosters emotional connections and loyalty.

  "They created this 16-week experience where it's completely tied to Bandit and something very goal-driven." [08:44]

• Too Faced Cosmetics' pink-themed tennis tournaments that align the brand with specific lifestyles and preferences.

• HWPO at the CrossFit Games, which turned a hotel into a four-day immersive event for members, enhancing retention and community bonds.

Brian adds that such community-focused initiatives not only build loyalty but also generate authentic content as customers engage and share their experiences.

"Brands just need to be omnipresent. It's so hard. You get swept up these days by like everything." [12:22]

4. Leveraging Characters as Brand Amplifiers

The discussion shifts to the strategic use of characters in branding. Alex describes characters as "amplifiers and net extenders" that help brands reach wider audiences by embodying the brand's values and mission.

He cites Gymshark's collaboration with Sebum and Nude Project's Bruno as prime examples of characters that personify the brand's identity, creating relatable and engaging touchpoints for consumers.

"Characters are important is a movie is not a movie without a character. People feel attached to you, they latch on to you." [21:19]

Brian echoes this sentiment, highlighting how characters like Sebum and influencers enhance brand storytelling without being mere content creators.

5. The Central Role of Content in Building Brand Ecosystems

Alex underscores that consistent and strategic content creation is the backbone of building a cult-like following. Content serves as the flywheel that attracts new customers, retains existing ones, and amplifies the brand's story and mission.

He introduces the concept of brand lore, a narrative framework that Gen Z particularly values. This involves creating a rich backstory and ongoing stories that consumers can engage with and share.

"The fastest way to fast track your ability to build a cult-like customer base is to create content that is reaching net new people week over week." [22:12]

Brian adds that effective content strategies differentiate brands, allowing them to thrive even as traditional ad platforms become less effective.

6. Integrating Brand Marketing with Long-term ROI

The hosts discuss the synergy between brand marketing and return on investment (ROI). Alex points out that while brand marketing initiatives may not yield immediate financial returns, they are crucial for long-term brand loyalty and customer acquisition.

He warns against the short-sighted focus of private equity firms that may undervalue brand marketing's long-term benefits in favor of immediate cost-cutting.

"Brand marketing doesn't have a payoff for six to 12 months. But that's the kind of thing you have to do now so that 12 months down the road we're getting that impact." [29:28]

Brian emphasizes that strong brand affinity allows for more creative and authentic advertising, enhancing overall marketing effectiveness.

7. Practical Steps to Cultivate a Cult-like Following

The episode concludes with actionable advice on building a cult-like customer base:

• Define and cement your brand's values and mission.
• Create compelling brand stories that resonate with your audience's experiences and aspirations.
• Host in-person events that foster community and emotional connections.
• Develop and leverage characters that embody your brand’s identity and expand your reach.
• Invest consistently in content creation to sustain and grow your brand ecosystem.

Alex highlights the importance of infusing personality into your brand, ensuring that it feels authentic and relatable to foster deep connections.

"The brain has to have a sense of a specific personality that people latch onto and get used to. Like characters play such an important role." [33:04]

8. Final Thoughts and Reflections

In a reflective close, both hosts share personal anecdotes and underline the significance of maintaining brand authenticity and evolution. They touch upon the challenges of managing brand perception and the balance between growth and staying true to core values.

"If you haven't already built the relationship with people to expect the tone that your brand is gonna communicate in, you can't do that." [30:37]

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Key Takeaways

• Values and Mission: Establishing clear, authentic brand values and mission is foundational for building a loyal customer base.

• Community Building: In-person events and experiences are crucial for transforming an audience into a cohesive community.

• Character Utilization: Introducing characters that align with brand values can amplify reach and deepen consumer engagement.

• Content is King: Consistently creating strategic content drives brand storytelling, customer acquisition, and loyalty.

• Long-term Brand Marketing: Investing in brand marketing may not yield immediate ROI but is essential for sustained growth and customer loyalty.

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Notable Quotes

• "If tomorrow I said, hey, there's an event pop up right here this time, and 50, 100 people showed up, that's how I would know people care about this brand." — Alex Garcia [02:20]

• "Characters are important is a movie is not a movie without a character. People feel attached to you, they latch on to you." — Alex Garcia [21:19]

• "The fastest way to fast track your ability to build a cult-like customer base is to create content that is reaching net new people week over week." — Alex Garcia [22:12]

• "Brand marketing doesn't have a payoff for six to 12 months. But that's the kind of thing you have to do now so that 12 months down the road we're getting that impact." — Alex Garcia [29:28]

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Conclusion

Episode 52 of Sweat Equity by Marketing Examined offers a strategic blueprint for brands aiming to cultivate a dedicated, passionate customer base. By focusing on authentic values, community engagement, character development, and consistent content creation, businesses can build enduring relationships with their audience. Alex Garcia and Brian Blum provide actionable insights and real-world examples that empower listeners to elevate their marketing strategies and achieve lasting brand success.

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For those eager to implement these strategies, applying the discussed principles can transform your brand into a beloved, cult-like entity that resonates deeply with consumers and stands the test of time.

Transcript

[A]

All right, guys, welcome to another episode of Sweat Equity. Going into the kind of like the tail end of the year, we have a big goal. We have to get 10,000 subs. I mean, that's my goal, like to get 10,000 subs before the end of the year. We're basically at 6, so we got to come with the heat. I'm talking straight about today, like how to create a cult like customer base. The reason for that and the reason I'm even going to bring that up, talk about it is because I think it's so easy. There's so much information, information out right now about how to start all of these different brands. And some are going to have a shelf life of a year, maybe two years. And so when we talk about the brands that are going to exist for the next 5, 10, 15, you know, possibly forever brands, what are the. In today's world, in today's modern age, what are the brands doing on a day to day basis, incorporating into their strategies to be able to create that cult like customer base. So I see it as there's really four things that, that help you establish kind of this cult like customer base. So I'm gonna start kicking off. The first one is, and this is like the most obvious, but I'm gonna give examples of why is your values and then there's a few layers underneath your values. And I know it sounds like lame to be like, okay, we have to establish our values. But I actually think it's important because there, there was a brand that we were talking to last week. And so when we were talking about they're super successful, like eight figure brand, absolutely crushing it. But we were talking about like, how do we feel like, or how do we get to a point where we know we have a cult like customer base. And this is kind of where this all stems from. And it was like, okay, I would know I had a cult like customer base if tomorrow I said, hey, there's an event pop up right here this time. And you know, 50, 100 people showed up, right? That's how I would know, okay, like people care about this brand. Not just, hey, it's a good product, they use the product and it's just like solving a problem. Like I would know, okay, I got something there. And even like the way we were talking about it is like, because like their end goal is to create that. And so what we were thinking about is like, okay, the KPI, then every 90 days, every quarter, they should be thrown an event and seeing like kind of measuring how Many people are showing up at these events to understand, okay, like, we're starting to build that brand affinity, that brand loyalty with these individuals. And so your story and your mission play into that. You have to understand your values, like as a, as a brand. And so kind of workshopping it on the call we were talking about. And they haven't like laid the groundwork for what that is. And so if you have no values that, that your team is like cemented in, then there's no values for then the, the end consumer or customer to be cemented in or to be like, feel like they have any kind of relation with. And so when I look at brand stories and then how they then play into the mission to like create this overarching, this overarching values that people are connected to. I look at the story and so I, I look at like for example, Seed. So I know, I'm sure you know the company Seed.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So the reason she even started that company was because she was interested in microbiomes. And then while she was breastfeeding her son, she learned and realized how important breast milk is for an infant's microbiome. Right? That was like the genesis of this. You look at Jocko and I think I talked about this on a podcast one or two pods ago. Like, you look at Jocko, he was taking a well known supplement brand called Muscle Milk. And as he was taking it then he learned that this had all like these heavy metals and leads in it. He's like, fuck, like, I'm giving this to my kids as well, right? And that all of a sudden they created this, this, this problem. And it was like the, the genesis of, okay, I need to find a solution. Yeti is like the same thing. You look at Yeti coolers. The reason they even created Yeti, Yeti coolers was they would go fishing and they'd be in fl. I think they lived in like Florida and Texas or something like that. And like if you were on a bass boat, they would always be standing on the coolers to be able to fish. And like, it would always break down. It wasn't resistant to the heat in Texas, like all these different things. And so it was like this genesis of, okay, there's a story here that I could build off of that people will resonate with. Once somebody resonates with a story, then you have to get them. It's like your entry point to getting them to rally behind the mission. And so the mission is the next layer of, okay, we have this story. This is the thing that like we experienced and I know other people probably experience and can resonate with it. Now we have to create this mission, this thing that you. The only way that this becomes a reality and you achieve this is by having a customer base. And so again, when I was on that call with Jocko or Jocko's team and they were talking about like, here's the story, here's the mission. There's two parts to it actually. The mission was, okay, I face this problem, Jocko face this problem of no clean products. Lead, heavy metals in the, in the supplements. Therefore I need to find the solution. And now I want to. This is like irked me that to the point where I want to create a brand and get as many clean products into as many people's hands as possible. Even to the point where like when we were on a Black Friday call with their team and like we're throwing content ideas back and forth, one of the guys on their team, Carrie, was like, I want to be very admin about this, but like we are a mission driven brand. Like we don't just say or we don't care about you, like just being like 40% off or 30% off or.

[B]

You mean Jocko is mission driven?

[A]

I know, right?

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Wow. Shocker.

[B]

Groundbreaking.

[A]

No, but I think it's a good thing to say like, and to give insight in because from the outside it could be like, oh, it's just like shilling content and just like the pride. Exactly.

[B]

He might be like top five like mission, mission based dudes I've ever seen.

[A]

For sure, for sure. But oh, like he's selling a supplement. Cuz he built up this brand and it's like when we were on that call, like he like stopped the guy stopped the call and was like, I want to be very clear, like we are very mission driven because like we were starting with content ideas and like kind of just brainstorming and we're like, well, is Jocko. Does Jocko. Is Jocko down for funny ideas? Is he like, where, where's the, the pendulum here?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he was just like, I want to be very clear. Like we're very mission driven. Like we don't just say like we care about clean products and cle in in people's hands. Like that is our thing. Like we really care about that. So Black Friday now is like the amplifier for that. You know what I mean? Like, Black Friday is now a chance to discount it and get as into as many people's hands as possible. But it was just this idea of, okay, that is the mission. And like, the only way that mission is possible is to get customers. Right. And so again, when I think about the mission, your mission is how you take, like to put this into something concrete. Your mission is how you take this story and you position it in a way where it only becomes a reality if you get customers. Right. I think that's the key element of understanding how to create and position a story and then how to take your mission, position it properly, where, like every customer is another way of you amplifying this mission. We're going to the second part, so unless you want to drop anything there.

[B]

No, I think another example of why they might be interesting for people is because, you know, Jocko obviously has this mentality of fitness and personal responsibility and stuff like that. And so his mission being different then that is interesting. This being something that's directly tied to health and ingredients and fixing that side of things versus, you know, pursuing some sort of, like, fitness goal. Yeah. I think is not necessarily what you would expect out of him. And so it's a good separation of creator and brand too, because a lot of people just kind of spill their creator brand into their physical brand and that doesn't always have to be the case.

[A]

So 100% the next layer, and this is something that I think is becoming even more prominent, like something that we're seeing even more and more of amongst brands is just in person experiences and events. So really community. I'm gonna give two examples that I really like or three examples that I really liked. But the whole goal of in person experiences and events is to turn customers into a community. You don't just have a community. Day one. People confuse audience with community. And they're so different audiences. I, I put something out and it reaches people. That's an audience audience. But if those people don't communicate with each other, they don't have any relationship with each other. You don't have a community. Right. I think that was a really good image that one of the guys from the Hustle, Ethan Brooks, made where it showed like that just the difference between an audience, a community. Community. Most people don't have it. They think they have it just because they built an audience. Even for us, like, we don't have a community around sweat equity. You look at somebody like my first million. They do because they have, I'm sure you've seen it.

[B]

But like, they have all these events.

[A]

Exactly. We start layering, layering that in. Like that's how we're going to then create the community. So Just to give people that frame framing. One that I really liked was Bandit Running. So they actually are doing something right now where I don't know if it's currently going on or if it just finished up for the New York Marathon because I think they're in Soho or somewhere in New York. But anyways, they did.

[B]

Yeah, they're in the West Village.

[A]

Yeah, they did 16 week training for marathon in person. And so it was this thing like you had to apply to it. They were only going to accept, I don't know if it was 50 to 100 people. And with that then you were gonna, they were gonna meet up twice a week, they were gonna go through nutrition, the workout programs, meet up, train together and like all of a sudden they, they created this 16 week experience where it's completely tied to Bandit and then it's also tied around something that's very like goal driven, right. A marathon. If for some people, like this is their first marathon, there's an emotion attached to this where I complete my first marathon and now I go like, thank you to Bandit Running, right. Like I'm attaching something very emo, like I'm attaching a brand to something very emotional or like something very goal oriented in my life, which I love. And so, and the reason for this is you want, and we talked about this, I think with the Honeydew, where it's like you want people to associate memories and one of one experiences with a brand because that's how you feel like you always have like this lasting relationship with a brand. Yeah, there's another cosmetic company called Too Faced Cosmetic. I don't know if you've heard, heard of them, but they held like their, their brain that's like kind of Barbie ish, right? Like all pink. Their feed's all pink. And so like the, you know, when you think about that, it's. You think about like the very girly girls that wear all pink, all that kind of stuff, right. They held an all pink tennis tournament where like the court was pink, the balls were pink, the bags are like everything given to the individual that came was pink. Right. And so when we think about like what your brain is standing for and what it puts out into that world, and then you're able to take that and put into some like real life experience for your, your top customers. That's how you start like turning these customers into like this community driven where all of a sudden all these people are interacting with each other. They get to find the other people that are like them and become friends with them and get to know them and follow them. And all of a sudden it's like you just have like this entire kind of gang. Right, right. Of individuals that, that were, that you're building. I, I thought this was interesting when I was at the CrossFit Games. So there's, there's HWPO, which is like the programming I follow. Right. And HWPO at the CrossFit Games they rented out an entire hotel and they turned it into like the HWPO compound or hotel or something like that. And the reason for it was they turned it into a four day event for, for everybody that was an HWPO member. And so like I'm an HWPO member. There's like HW PO Pro and then just like regular hwpo and they turned the hotel right into like this four day thing where from morning till, till sunset there was events going on that you can partake in with other members the entire time and the, the entire goal. Right. And that must have cost a lot of money is that's retention based. Like, yeah, there's probably some events that were open to the public, but in reality it's like a retention tool where you're getting all these people together that are members and that all have this common goal and now they all get to hang and train and kick it together. Right. And so I love this idea of like hosting, doing things offline to acquire customers, doing in person things in real life to retain customers. Anything there. No, I know, I know. You and I have already talked about like a lot of community stuff. I was even thinking about this to like brainstorming a little bit as I was going through this document. I think it would be cool to like to do a community event in here where we bring brands in and it's just like ideation, like you come with a problem and everybody in the room or like you and I or me or whatever, like we ideate like how to solve that problem.

[B]

Yeah. I mean a lot of brands are having the same issues. You know, it seems like most people just don't understand like what to create. Everyone knows they need content, but they don't know what to make. And then you know, to that point, sometimes you have to create events to even have content around. Yeah, that's part of the investment is a lot of these community focused things that you're talking about are a great opportunity to put customers in front of the camera and have them speak authentically about your stuff while you know, they're in a great state of mind. With the products. You know, everyone that's at these Bandit things is going to be singing Branded's praises because they've got stuff to do because of Bandit and they're feeling heard, seen all, all sorts of stuff like that. So it just plays into, you know, brands just need to be omnipresent. It's so hard. You get swept up these days by like everything. And so, you know, community stuff is definitely a big part of that.

[A]

And I think it's like figure out how you can tackle it in the sense of is it. Are you doing one event a month? Right. What is the low lift, smallest thing that you can do where you're getting people together?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, is it as small as a run club? Like I know that's we, we talk about run the extent of run clubs or how often they are. But like we work with a brand human who has a phenomenal run club to the point where like we've. There was a cut 30 member, two or three cut 30 members that I was talking to just like in our office hours kind of thing that we do that I mentioned Human. They were like, yeah, we go to their run clubs all the time, you know.

[B]

Is the run club in Dubai? Yeah, it's hot. Yeah, it's hot out there.

[A]

Yeah. And so hydrate out there.

[B]

I guess that's the whole point.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Big brain move by Human.

[A]

Big brain move.

[B]

Number one hydration station. It's got to be in the Arab desert.

[A]

And so like they've, they've been able to build their cult like following with or not cult like following, but like their cult like customer base because of their, their run club outside of a good product. Like you have to have a phenomenal product. But the other part is they get to get. I think it's like 2, 300 people at once running around Dubai like together and yeah, it's hard to beat something like that.

[B]

I wonder how many people live in Dubai. What's your guess?

[A]

I have no idea.

[B]

You got, you gotta, you gotta put out a guess though.

[A]

I.

[B]

It's kind of big.

[A]

Like more than million.

[B]

Yeah. Significantly it's bigger than you think for sure.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

This number blew me away. Low key.

[A]

Okay. 8.2 million.

[B]

All right, well now you're out of pocket. 8.2. You just got to 8x your guest. Meet me in the middle. 3.79 million people live in Dubai.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

90% of them selling courses, stuff that you don't see on Google.

[A]

Yeah, that's so funny. Data source. Brian Blue.

[B]

Yeah. Stop the cap 20, 24. Keep going.

[A]

Yeah. The third layer characters or a character. The way I think about it is characters are amplifiers and net extenders. What I mean by that is you bring on a character who has a similar audience or somebody or a subset of your audience, and they're somebody that expands your net.

[B]

You, you're.

[A]

They. They are able to cast a net and reach a customer base or reach individuals a lot easier and faster because they've already built the trust, the awareness, all of that that you have, you can't do. The wrong way to leverage a character is to have them create like, X amount of deliverables. Like, hey, I just. Here's a content brief. I need you to do this or I need you to create four pieces of content instead. You want to look at them as, hey, I'm bringing you on because you, you're. You're special in many ways. Like, we're bringing you on as a character because you are special in the. And you align heavily with our brand. Therefore, we are going to create a strategy around you as an individual that aligns with our brand, right? We're going to. Everything that we stand for as a brand, you stand for as an individual. And therefore, we're going to put resources around you to be able to amplify you. Because there's. When we amplify you, we build a bridge back to ourselves. So when we. The way I like to just see it is like that care. Your marketing strategy. They're not their own thing. Like, that is the same way you see, you see, you look at Facebook as a acquisition tool. You look at them as an acquisition tool, a retention tool, an awareness tool, all of those things. So you have to create that strategy around them. And so I'll give differences because some brands will have characters that they essentially bring on, right? One of the most recent ones is Gymshark with Sebum. Sebum has his own nutrition company, right? Or nutrition nutrition supplements company, Raw Nutrition. They have their own clothes. But like Gymshark aligns heavily with Sebum, Sebum aligns heavily with them. And Gymshark just needed a resurgence.

[B]

Like, I know, I know why you're bringing this up.

[A]

Why?

[B]

Because you just want to. You just want to call C Bomb Daddy on the podcast. No, no, I guarantee.

[A]

That's crazy. That's crazy. Look, not doing.

[B]

You just needed an excuse to do it in the same space within a segment.

[A]

They bring him on. He's a character in many ways, like quote unquote, like, of that brand where He's a big. He's like front facing. He's a big individual.

[B]

You know the piece of content I'm talking about, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where it's like daddy's home.

[B]

Yeah. That was like, how he announced the partnership was. He said daddy's home, which was electric, but.

[A]

And then aloe yoga, same thing. They. They brought on. This was a Korean, like, pop star. Jiso.

[B]

Jiso somebody. That's not my. Not my corner in the Internet, bro.

[A]

But she's again, like, they brought her in. She. She.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Fits the whole. The whole theme. One of my favorites, though, currently is Nude Project in Bruno. I think that's. That's my new wave is like, I'm buying way too much Nude project.

[B]

I was before you.

[A]

I don't. I think you bought it before me. I don't know if you were on.

[B]

Them, like, to the point where I actually think you. I should say publicly right now that I put you on to new project. I. I went to the store in Barcelona and told you about him in May, so.

[A]

Okay, that's. That's fair.

[B]

Just before we get on to your new project. No, because you're gonna go on an arc here. I could see it.

[A]

Oh, I'm already on it. I'm already on it because I like. I like their shit also.

[B]

They're probably there. I mean, they're killing it as a brand. I honestly don't think anyone else is even on their level right now. It's like.

[A]

No, I don't think anybody is.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I'll tell you when I found out about them.

[B]

Straight next session for Bruno.

[A]

Yeah. And he's like 23, 24. Okay. So I. I'm not gonna lie. I found him them a year ago through George, though. George did a pod with the guys, Bruno and the other guy. I don't know the other guy, but they did a. A podcast together. And I watched it because it was like, how to create a streetwear brand step by step. Thought it was super interesting. But I never bought anything until, I don't know, a few months ago, so. But I started buying a lot of shit from there. There shit goes crazy. But, I mean, even if you look at Bruno like he's a character for Nude Project, he started his own YouTube channel.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? His own YouTube channel about the BTS of Nude project. There's also multiple characters within their. Even within his YouTube. Like, I forget her name, but the girl that edits all the vlogs, like, there's all these different Right. Characters within Bruno. Sorry, not Bruno. Project. Nude Project.

[B]

I think what's cool about them too. I was watching a interview with the Airbnb CMO and he said, the Airbnb cmo. The Airbnb cmo. Yeah. And he was talking about how they get Airbnb to all. Like they have all these different teams, all these different stakeholders, they have creative, product, design, all of these people and how do you get them all to march in one direction? And he said, by far our biggest strength there is having a CEO who's both left and right brain. And that was in reference to Chesky, the CEO saying like without him understanding that creativity needs space and all that sort of thing, they wouldn't be able to do what they do and think. Nude Project is a great example of on the apparel side, when you have a founder who is down to be a creator, who is making blogs, who is making content on his own without ever, there's no demonstrable roi. You know, there's no one day attribution to any of the content he's making for Nude. But he loves doing it. That amplifies the brand in so many different ways and helps them tell their story. And that's probably the number one thing we get, or I don't know, at least that I've seen is a lot of people are like, well, how do I set my apparel brand apart? And it's like, dude, in 2024, if you're not telling founder stories about your apparel brand, like, I don't think it's going to be really, really hard. Yeah, you got to be innovating on design in a way that is next level.

[A]

And I still don't even think that's enough. Right. Like that's what I talked about at the beginning of, of the pod, where the product isn't enough at this point.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like not to have, it's not. Not to have somebody that is a forever customer. When we're thinking about like the cult, like the people that are going to wear Nude Project, they're going to go to all the events, they're going to be obsessed with the brand. Like there has to be that story, that element, those characters that are people fall in love with and they're, they rally behind. It's like the way I think about is and why characters are important is a movie is not a movie without a character. Right. And like we go watch it, then Halloween comes and you dress up as these characters that you love and all of these things and it's like characters play Such an important role of you, you seen yourself or something that you aspire to be in that character. And therefore people feel attached to you, they latch on to you. And that is like a way to just be able to build up this momentum and build up this, this cult like following or customer base. I keep screwing that up, might as.

[B]

Well get the double attribution, double SEO.

[A]

The last bit, and this is the most obvious, is at this point, say you got your values, your story mission cemented, you get your dog doing the community events, you have your characters, you need content. Right. That comes back to the entire like the, the, the main thing because this is again going back to being an amplifier and a net extender. Like the fastest way to fast track your ability to build, build a cult like customer base is to create content, is to put content out there that is reaching net new people week over week and getting them into your ecosystem. You have to be able to get people, net new people into your ecosystem. That's not just referrals, that's not just word of mouth. But you have to be able to because your word of mouth is going to scale. If you're getting net new people in the door every time, then at your community events and then they're talking to somebody else. And so content is like that, that core of all of this, where it's a thing that's going to make it all work. It's the flywheel. It's the thing that's going to get more people to the community. It's the thing that's going to get more people behind the characters. And it's the thing that's going to only amplify your story and your mission if you're consistently putting it in your content.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's the, it's the most important. You know, if you've been listening to the pod, I think you understand we're, we're pretty bullish on content. But that's because it's so simple to look at brands that are differentiated today than not. Like, the ones that are led by content are the ones that are actually going to keep succeeding, which I think.

[A]

This falls perfectly into. You're talking about brand lore.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, brand lore, it's lore is this concept that is blowing up with Gen Z right now where kids are saying, do it for the lore, or just you need to build your own lore. And it's this concept that you need to be taking action to build stories to tell later down the road. It's kind of like you're mentioning the importance of characters. Not only are characters important, but character building narratives are also very important. Like, there has to be a story behind the character, why they arrived at this point, why they are behaving the way they are, Stuff like that.

[A]

Like, Brian feels like he's skinny in the sauna. Brian hates to lift, therefore Brian starts lifting. Ninety days down the road, I've been posturing.

[B]

I've been working with Kate on the back end to work on my angles from the camera. Yeah, I know y'all are going to see it on YouTube.

[A]

Is this a real thing?

[B]

It's not, but brand lore is like this concept of, you know, Nude Project is the brand that I've been studying the most on this because they crush it. They have lore in the sense that they did a Playboy collab. And so as a result of them doing this Playboy collection, which had a bunch of stuff featuring the Playboy bunny, they actually rented out a mansion and brought all of their team and some influencers to that mansion. And during the course of that, they shot content every single day, whether that was photo shoots for the products, whether that was they did a Love island skit. Like, they did all sorts of different stuff. And you're watching this thinking, what, am I watching a YouTuber or am I watching a brand? There's no real distinction.

[A]

There's no disconnect really between the two.

[B]

What's interesting is so Full Send and the Nelk boys did this a long time ago. They kind of pioneered this because they started with merch before they did Happy Dad. They actually used to just sell full send merch, and they would always plug the merch drop in their YouTube videos. And now what you're seeing is a brand like Nude Project, who was E. Commerce first, right. The creator stuff came second. They're able to seamlessly inject all of their different collections into their content. So that was the Playboy collection. So when you look at their most recent collection, which is the first class in fried chicken, they're leading up to this with all sorts of 420 Snoop Dogg skits.

[A]

With a fake Snoop Dogg?

[B]

Yeah, with a fake Snoop Dogg. And they have this entire content series where Bruno is smoking a joint, watching, and in a brainstorming session with his creative director, talking about his idea for this, and the guy's like, this is the dumbest thing ever. And then they lead into what we're doing anyway. And, you know, to your point about the in person stuff, like, they just opened up a new store in La Roca in Spain.

[A]

So they got mad. Yeah, they have mad stores.

[B]

Well, they're huge. I think they're even like, they're big in the US but I think they're even bigger in Europe.

[A]

They're huge.

[B]

And.

[A]

But they're only doing not only, but 30, 40 mil. Yeah, I mean, like, stores are big, big investments. I've been learning a lot about that, like just from tier CEO and like, it is a lot of money to have a store 100 retail front. I mean, like, the payback period's crazy.

[B]

Yeah, but. But how do you. How do you get your store to actually have, you know, good foot traffic? It's injecting a lot of your brand into it. And so what they did is they opened up this store in. Inside of what used to be a library. And so now it's like this combination of a vinyl shop and a library. But also it's, you know, a place where they're merchandising all of their stuff. And so that is like by creating a destination as your store, that's an extension of your brand in reality, and that's a way you can actually build. Brand lore is like, oh, and that like, that's. Think about it on a timeline of your brand, right? Like every single thing that you're doing should be a little event that happens on the timeline of your growth. So for nude, it's like we opened up the LaRocca store, which. Which was the first reformed library, fashion house and whatever. So it's just about kind of doing stuff out of the ordinary for the plot. That's what brand lore is about. Don't just run Facebook ads and hope it works. And especially, I mean, a lot of people spin up a drop shipping thing or whether you're in the supplements industry, electronics, it doesn't matter. It's like, find that story and find those events that will continue to build towards that story to make it more interesting 100%. And you know, it'll pay off in the long run.

[A]

They just have the whole flywheel down packed right from.

[B]

But it starts with having that left brain, right brain CEO for sure. Like, he is someone who understands the value of this stuff and so it gives it the space to breathe. Whether I couldn't agree because otherwise another CEO would be like, why do we have a YouTube channel? Yeah, like, what are we doing with this? And brand that did this really well back in the day was. Was Chubbies. So they got bought, obviously. And so in the process of getting bought, what does a private equity firm do to a brand? Is they start stripping everything. They try and strip every cost and make sure every dollar has incremental value. And so that inevitably destroys brand marketing because brand marketing doesn't have a payoff for six to 12 months. You're not lowering your customer acquisition costs through brand marketing initiatives in three months. Like, it's something that you saw a podcast with the new project guys a year ago. You didn't buy from them until this year. Well, now that you saw that a year ago, it makes your current affinity towards them even more powerful. And so that's a brand marketing initiative. It wasn't like running a Facebook ad to you 100%. And connecting those brand marketing initiatives to the P and L I think is going to be a huge wave over the next couple of years because these ad platforms are getting worse and worse. Like, and just generally that's people's preferences too is like they don't want to be advertised as much.

[A]

And I think the other thing to consider there is when you have the brand marketing dialed, you don't mind getting hit with an ad from a brand that you love. I get hit with nude project and represent ads and in kith and whatnot. And like I'm fine with them. They don't they because they feel native to my feed because I'm already within their ecosystem.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so when I look at it through that lens of okay, how, how is this going to impact return on ad spend down the road or in your attribution, all these things, it is that six to 12 month thing, if not longer, where these are the things that I have to do now so that 12 months down the road we're getting that impact on, on the ad side. Because during this 6, 912 months, we were doing nothing but trying to build that brand affinity. We were trying to do nothing more than get people within our ecosystem and getting them to love us and trust us and, and, and feel like they're behind our mission and our values and all of that, which is a hard, it's a hard game to play and it's, it's one that does take cash. But when we're talking about a brand that's not, that could turn off paid ads. Right. And still win like that is, that is what we're looking at.

[B]

And so you know what happens when you create this brand? Laura gives you more creative freedom with your ads because they're still running paid ads to drive sales for this collection. And what's really interesting when you start to dig into their meta ads library is these aren't your typical direct response, you know, Collection out now. Limited stock available. Go get it. This specific ad that we're gonna put up is he just goes, fuck. They didn't have green loafers and it's just all the green items from their collection. You could not do that. If you haven't already built the relationship with people to expect the tone that your brand is gonna communicate in. But because they've done that, they can cuss in an ad. And someone like you or me sees that and it's kind of like, that's funny, you know, it's just the way it comes off. Like they've built that trust, they've built that credibility. And to your point about pattern interruption and standing out, you have to be able to stand out. Well, how do you do that? It's by earning trust with an audience and then being able to communicate in a way that's different so that they don't feel turned off that that's an ad. It's like, oh, this is kind of funny. It's like almost like a meme. Right?

[A]

So let me show you how you.

[C]

Can grow your brand like Erewhon.

[A]

So let's be real.

[C]

A six year old brand integrating influencer marketing to their strategy. It's pretty interesting. So the idea is what's stopping your brand from doing the same thing?

[A]

I get it.

[C]

Sourcing and sealing deals with influencers is a nightmare. Using spreadsheets, we know that's not easy. And tracking deliverables is insanely tedious. And most of the time influencers just drop the ball. But here's the thing, it's 2024 and we have way better solutions than what we did even a year ago and definitely in comparison to what we had 10 years ago. And that's where Soral comes in. Because with Soral you can build a list of influencers. So think of like a CRM, but for influencer marketing, you can send out automated outreach sequences and you could create and track relationships at different stages of funnel. Working with a top of funnel influencer versus a bottom funnel influencer is a different thing and they have different requirements and different content needs. But here's the craziest part for brands like yours, and that's that brands that are working with Soral are averaging a 5x ROAS, which is nearly double what most brands are seeing on Facebook right now. So here's the thing, if you want to take it for a spin, we got you a free trial via swe and all you got to do is click the link that I put in my bio. You'll also see the link right here.

[A]

And trust me when I say it's.

[C]

The only tool you really need to build out a good and robust influencer marketing program. So check it out, let me know how you like it and try it for free.

[A]

One thing I. I didn't touch on in my doc or, like, as I was prepping for this episode was. And. And I regret, like, not doing this, but something that I do think is imperative for creating that again, like that cult, like, customer is having a sense, like, a personality. The brain has to have a sense of a specific personality that people latch onto and people get used to. Similar to what you just said or what I was talking about with Jocko. Like, Jocko has in. The brain has a specific personality. Very serious, very disciplined. Just does what they have to do. Something goes bad, they're just like, good, you know? Whereas Bruno and Nude project is very much. How would you describe their personality? Like, they're having fun with life.

[B]

Yeah, it's chaotic.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's like, fun, fun, chaotic energy.

[A]

They're being 23 and, like, unapologetically themselves. Damn, I hate saying that. What a. What a sling of buzzwords in Austin, Texas.

[B]

Unapologetic.

[A]

Unapologetically themselves.

[B]

You know what? Everyone in Austin's unapologetic. And I think people need to start apologizing.

[A]

Please.

[B]

Yeah, this is out of control.

[A]

I saw something funny from. I think, you know, Tiger is he moved out, but, like, he lived in Austin anyways. Video guy, he posted something about, like, Austin and kind of the people that live in Austin.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then Tommy posted, like, responded to the. To the comment about thinking about moving something. Something. But it was like, something about, like, everybody being a health coach or a life coach or something. But then they kept just dropping, like, examples where it was like, hey, bro, want to catch up? It's like, yeah. Send you, like, a calendar invite with a $400 invoice.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? For, like, coach.

[B]

Here's. Here's the party full. To our.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Our cold plunge and chill.

[A]

Yeah. It was like, you want to meet up at Zilker and sense, like, a party full.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[A]

It's like, geez.

[B]

I mean, look, every location has. No matter where you go, there's always going to be people that are very easy to make fun of. Like, everyone has this romanticized image of New York. Like, let me tell you, those finance guys, like, that's. That's a whole nother world. Like, if you don't want to be around people that irritate you. You know, don't go to New York.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because there's going to be more hardos per capita than you've ever encountered your life.

[A]

I do understand how, like, you can live it, because I've lived in Austin for 10 years, so I've been here before. Nearly everybody is like, all these new people have been here, right?

[B]

Like, yeah.

[A]

Like, coming here when I'm 20, like, that's different. Right. Not an adult like this. I matured with the city, and I get why people that have lived in a city for a long time see a city evolve or, like, the people change and, like, they. They start to, like, they still. They never leave the city, but they consistently complain about the people in the city.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm kind of getting to, like, there's a line.

[B]

You're getting to be a get off my lawn Austin guy.

[A]

Not to get off my lawn Austin guy.

[B]

See, I think this is. Again, you're a dad now, so.

[A]

But I'm not that. I'm not a get off my lawn Austin guy, but I'm a. Like, I. I hate the journaling. I hate the. The life coaches. Business coaches.

[B]

So you. You're publicly saying you're anti mental health?

[A]

Yeah. Just want to clarify. All right. I feel like that's it. That's a wrap on the episode.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Episode 52.

[B]

Episode 52. Please like and subscribe. Share it with a friend. And we'll be back. Be back next week.