Buyology - Martin Lindstrom [47]
If companies can make money off holy dirt, why not holy water? According to Newsweek, every bottle of “Holy Drinking Water, produced by a California-based company called Wayne Enterprises, is blessed in the warehouse by an Anglican or Roman Catholic priest. Like a crucifix or a rosary, a bottle of Holy Drinking Water is a daily reminder to be kind to others,” says Brian Germann, Wayne’s CEO. Not to be outdone, a Florida company has just rolled out a product called Spiritual Water, which is basically purified municipal water, adorned with nearly a dozen different Christian labels. The Virgin Mary bottle, for example, has the Hail Mary prayer printed on the back in English and Spanish. According to founder Elicko Taieb, Spiritual Water helps people to “stay focused, believe in yourself and believe in God.”2
If people are willing to pay sums large and small for things—like dirt and water—that they believe have religious or spiritual significance, then clearly spirituality and branding are inextricably linked. So I set out to prove it. But before I could attempt to identify the link between the two, I had to find out exactly what qualities characterize a religion in the first place. So in preparation for what would turn out to be one of the most provocative pieces of research I’ve conducted yet, I interviewed fourteen prominent leaders from various religions around the world—including Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, and Islam—to find out what characteristics and qualities each of their faiths shared. What I discovered was that despite their differences, almost every leading religion has ten common pillars underlying its foundation: a sense of belonging, a clear vision, power over enemies, sensory appeal, storytelling, grandeur, evangelism, symbols, mystery, and rituals.
And just as I suspected, these pillars happen to have a great deal in common with our most beloved brands and products. Let’s look at how.
Have you ever smiled knowingly at the person on the treadmill next to you when you notice he or she is wearing the same brand of running sneakers? Or honked and waved at the guy in the next lane because he’s driving a Toyota Scion and so are you? My point is, whether you’re in love with Nike, Neutrogena, Absolut, or Harley-Davidson, chances are you feel a sense of belonging among other users of that brand—it’s like being a member of a not-so-exclusive club.
This sense of belonging is a profound influence on our behavior. Think about such seemingly unrelated groups as Weight Watchers at a meeting, the fans at the Super Bowl, and the audience at a Rolling Stones concert. These events bring together a group of people who share a similar mission, whether it’s to conquer fat, win a trophy, or share in the collective joy of a musical extravaganza. In fact, Whittier College professor Joseph Price, who studies parallels between the worlds of sports and religion, has likened the Super Bowl to a religious pilgrimage. “A religious pilgrimage is more than just a journey to a place,” he says. “It involves interior exploration, quests for a transcendent goal, overcoming barriers and physical or spiritual healing.”3
Go Steelers.
Most religions also have a clear vision. By that I mean that they are unambiguous in their mission, whether it’s to reach a certain state of grace or achieve a spiritual goal. And of course, most companies have unambiguous missions as well. Steve Jobs’s vision for Apple dates back to the mid-1980s when he said, “Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them.” Twenty years and a few million iPods later, the company still pursues this vision, and will doubtlessly continue to do so twenty years from now. Or think about high-end audio and video product maker Bang & Olufsen’s mission statement, “Courage to constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences,” or IBM