How Brands BUILD CULTS
How Moleskine Became a CULT BRAND
Ever seen a ruled notebook being kept locked up, well that’s what Moleskines have achieved…
Six things that Moleskine did right
1. It told a colourful story (not entirely true but captivating as hell)
This is not just any ordinary notebook. It is the exact reproduction of an authentic moleskine, the legendary notebook used by Louis Férdinand Céline, Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. Some serious street cred.
2. They built a ritual
The owner of a Moleskine always writes his name and address so that if it were ever lost, it can be returned. It’s more precious than your passport. You can always get a new passport, but if you lose your Moleskine, you would lose your thoughts and ideas forever.
See how they have shifted the price from that of a notebook to the value of your ideas and thoughts.
3. They aligned their distribution with the brand
Moleskines were not just available everywhere, they would be placed at art shops, book stores, cultural institutions, travel shops and places where such an audience would likely be found.
It wanted to be associated with those who were free thinkers, the artists, the travellers, the story tellers.
4. It got its user persona down to a niche
You would today see a Moleskine with someone who also uses Apple products, it helps showcase passion and creativity.
5. It smartly owned the Analog-digital continuum
By keeping the design simple and minimalistic, it presented itself as being complementary to the high tech gadgets of today and for the aesthetically minded.
In doing so, it offered the crowd a new approach to craft their own story and stand out.
6. Finally, it let the product do the talking
Right from the quality of paper that does not let ink bleed through, to the color of pages being slightly off white, everything was by design.
What Moleskine really did was make the user pay to keep the story alive.
This is what cult brands do, they produce a sense of ownership and vested interest in the brand’s popularity.