These three are religious symbols

I was reading this Martin Lindstrom article in Ad Age. He questions whether “brands manage to create their own religion by coincidently or deliberately, adopting triggers and tactics from the world of religion”.

Partnering with a neuroscientist and using an MRI, he discovered that the same regions of the brain were activated in Christians and powerful brand (Apple, Harley, Guinness) fans. Other less powerful brands did not produced the same effect.

To find out what sets these brands apart, he interviewed 14 religious leaders from all over the world to determine what are the components behind these brands success.

Here they are:

• A clear vision
• A sense of belonging
• An enemy
• Sensory appeal
• Storytelling
• Grandeur
• Evangelism
• Symbols
• Rituals

My two cents:

No doubt all of these are important branding components (I would also add “authenticity”), but it’s not enough. What I feel is missing and makes the difference in generating a “religious” following is the originality (creativity) of each of these components and their outstanding execution.

The full story was published in Advertising Age December 8, 2008 and online: http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=132996&search_phrase=lindstrom

All the best.

JR