How to Build a Cult Brand in 2025

If you’re building a brand in 2025, you don’t just want followers – you want die-hard fans.

The kind of fans who wear your merch, evangelize your product, and defend you in the comments.

The brands that win today? They don’t just sell products – they create movements.

And the secret sauce? Narrative-driven content that makes people feel like they’re part of something bigger.

Here’s how you do it.

1. Build a Narrative Bigger Than Your Product

You’re not just selling a product – you’re selling a worldview.

Nike isn’t just selling sneakers. They’re selling the belief that anyone can be an athlete.
Mid-Day Squares isn’t just selling chocolate. They’re selling a rebellion against Big Food.

Ask yourself:

What do you stand for? (Describe it in three words.)
What feeling should your audience walk away with after consuming your content?

Every viral brand today has an overarching narrative that keeps people hooked. Yours should too.

2. Give People a Mission to Align With

A brand without a mission is forgettable.

A great mission isn’t just about what you want to achieve – it’s about what your audience can get behind.

Example: Nike’s mission is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete.” It’s outward-facing. It speaks to the customer.

Compare that to Puma’s mission: “to become the fastest sports brand in the world.” That’s about them. Not the consumer.

Make your mission about your audience, not just your company.

3. Pick an Enemy (Yes, Really)

Nothing unites people like a common enemy.

Apple made Windows users look outdated.
4ocean is fighting against plastic pollution.
Mid-Day Squares is calling out Big Chocolate for using garbage ingredients.

Your enemy could be:

A bad habit (e.g., laziness, inaction, unhealthy eating)
A common product or industry (e.g., plastic, fast fashion, processed food)
A mindset (e.g., hustle culture, diet culture, corporate jargon)

Picking an enemy doesn’t mean being negative—it means rallying people around a cause.

4. Turn People Into Characters

Brands feel human when they have faces and personalities attached to them.

Think about:

Founders as the face of the brand (e.g., Elon Musk with Tesla, Nick Bare with BPN)
Employees becoming content creators (e.g., Mid-Day Squares’ behind-the-scenes culture)
Customers as the heroes of your story (e.g., Buildspace highlighting their community)
Ambassadors/influencers representing your brand (e.g., Gymshark with Chris Bumstead)

Make your audience see real people behind the brand—not just a faceless corporation.

5. Build Content Pillars That Actually Serve a Purpose

A brand’s content shouldn’t be random. It should be engineered to drive a clear result.

Here’s how you should think about it:

Awareness & Growth: Viral-style playbooks, breakdowns, trending topics.
Lead Generation & Authority: Case studies, deep dives, expert opinions.
Affinity & Trust: Behind-the-scenes, founder vlogs, transparency posts.

Everything should map back to a goal. Because content without a strategy? It’s just noise.

6. Scale With Social Series

Winning brands don’t just post random content—they create repeatable content formats that feel like a show.

Why? Because consistency builds expectation. And expectation builds habit.

Here’s how to structure your own social series:

Choose a content pillar (education, storytelling, entertainment, transparency, etc.).
Attach a goal (growth, trust, sales, retention, etc.).
Assign a character (founder, employee, ambassador, customer, etc.).
Make sure it’s easy to repeat and scale.

This is how you get people coming back for more – just like a TV show.

Final Thought: You’re Building a Movement, Not Just a Brand

If you want to build a cult-like audience in 2025, it’s not enough to sell a product. You need to sell an idea, a belief, a way of life.

The brands that will dominate? They’ll have:
✅ A clear narrative that gets people emotionally invested.
✅ A mission that makes people feel like they’re part of something bigger.
✅ An enemy that unites the community.
✅ Characters that make the brand feel human.
✅ Content pillars that serve a purpose.
✅ A repeatable social series that keeps people engaged.

The brands that get this right won’t just build an audience. They’ll build a CULT. 🚀