Cult Wars: The Making of a Cult Brand

As I struggled with these thoughts early on, I wanted to explore what it would mean for brands and subcultures to merge more fully, to offer a much deeper and richer meaning. This set me on a quest to learn about cults. I read about organizations which were abusive and manipulative, but which still managed to create meaningful practices that weren’... See more

Much has been written about how brands like SoulCycle built cult-like followings by tapping into the collective desire to connect to something larger than themselves. Today, this practice has gone mainstream, so the question becomes, How can brands go beyond selling and engage with people’s spiritual lives?

I have occasionally been asked why I’m obsessed with brands. The answer is that brands are things made out of belief. They are amorphous *meanings* that structure our relationships; they are already the same sort of thing that a religion or a culture is. With the cultural production service economy, and now with cryptocurrencies, all of the ingredi... See more