The Next Great Consumer Companies Won’t Be Exclusive Clubs. They Will Be Inclusive Cults.

This is nothing new in the physical social world, but it is revolutionary in the digital social world, where groups and shared messenger threads have historically always been communal spaces.

Cult leaders are their own moderators

Cult leaders need mechanisms for elevating and blessing followers, as well as mutually reinforcing power

Cults need appoint... See more

In the 2020s, consumers will embrace brands that turn themselves into Public Goods: sharing their methods, processes, values – and even their patents – and empowering everyone to play a role in their evolution.

The goal is to make people feel like they’re a part of something — and like you’re part of their identity. And the payoff — if all goes well — is in the form of fierce loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, organic curiosity and attention, higher lifetime customer value and share of spend, lower acquisition costs, etc.