Reyes: “Cult retail takes it to the next level and let’s the customer interact directly with the brand. It creates an emotional connection with a person.”

HOUSTON—Cult retail.  It’s not a concept just for startups or highly specialized, arcane online stores, as Chris Reyes, VP of retail tenant advisory for Transwestern, explains. In this piece, Reyes expands on comments made in a recent discussion at RECon 2017 (video available at the end of this piece) and delves into those retailers who get it and are capitalizing on it.

GlobeSt.com: Define cult retail and especially why it’s not just a game startups can play.

Chris Reyes: To me, cult retail or cult branding is a product or service that creates a loyal customer base through an experience that leads people to a sense of belonging.  Cult brands tend to sell a lifestyle rather than just a particular product or service.

GlobeSt.com: So we’re not just talking about online retailers here. A brick-and-mortar retailer can engage in cult branding?

Reyes: Absolutely. They both create an experience, but the difference between cult retail and traditional brick-and-mortar is that, although brick-and-mortar does sell an experience, cult retail takes it to the next level by letting the customer interact directly with the brand and creating an emotional connection with a person. A lot of that has been because of the rise of social media. It’s a lot easier for brands to reach out to customers and customers to reach back out to the brand, to feel as though they’re a part of that brand.

GlobeSt.com: Any examples?

Reyes: There are so many, but I have two young daughters who like ivivva, which is one of the lululemon brands. With ivivva, you get a picture taken and it appears on Instagram. The same experience happens at Popbar, another of our clients, which has physical stores around the country. You go in and you can Instagram yourself eating a Popbar and it goes right up to the website, so your experience is shared with everyone.

GlobeSt.com: Can cult retail exist without social media today?

Reyes: Absolutely.  Although cult retail as a terminology is kind of new, it’s really just an elevated alternative to traditional marketing and branding. Coca -Cola, Ritz-Carlton, Ben and Jerry’s and even Dos Equis are all examples of early cult retailing. So was Apple, and we see it still with all the buzz that’s created when they’re about to launch a new product.  You see people get involved on Facebook or Twitter. Cult branding today, thanks to social media, isn’t one way.  There’s interactivity. One of the greatest examples of an early cult brand was Harley-Davidson.  If you had a Harley, you were feeling that.  You were part of that experience.

GlobeSt.com: So, by that definition, isn’t every successful retailer a cult retailer? And if not, what’s the difference?

Reyes: Branding and cult branding are similar, but as I said, cult branding brings it to the next level.  If there is a distinguishing difference, it’s that anybody can create an online presence. Anyone can build a website and put product up. But social media engages with customers, sometimes in a one-on-one interaction. Yelp, for instance, has changed the restaurant world. Customers are actually able to share their experience at a particular restaurant, what the atmosphere was like and the experience.

GlobeSt.com: In your client service, does it matter if the client is a cult retailer? Are their needs–and your response to them–any different? If so how?

Reyes: Our response isn’t different.  We try to give everyone unparallelled service.  But at the end of the day, we do represent some cult brands that are very guarded about what they put out and how they publicize a new store opening.

And, on the flip side, a lot of times there are cult brands who love us to promote their activities. So, if I’m going to dine at a MOD Pizza, I always Facebook that I am. It gets them out there on my social media and my friends see it and like it. Like any other client, it’s all about what they’re comfortable with.

GlobeSt.com: Retail metrics are changing for brick-and-mortar. How do retailers measure the success of cult branding?

Reyes: There are some really tangible ways. It could be how many Tweets were followed or Instagram feeds were shared or how many Facebook likes they got.  And the biggest physical measurement is how long their lines are.  Some of the brands we represent on the restaurant side measure their success that way. When the Halal Guys first opened in Houston they had a three-hour-long line. They started with a street cart in New York and averaged about 3,000 people a day.  So the idea was to create that same buzz in their brick-and-mortar stores. You see that every day with lines around the restaurant.

At the end of the day it’s about how many people can share and are involved in that experience. That’s their true measurement. It’s something tangible rather than sales.

GlobeSt.com: Any advice for retailers looking to create or shore up that kind of following?

Reyes: Most of the people who succeed at creating a true lifestyle brand and a good social media presence have a really big focus not just on sales but more on the customer experience.  And a lot of them take it further with good PR firms. So it’s worth the extra money to hire someone to do it.  But you also see retailers who are good at grassroots marketing and getting their names out through internal means. Anybody can be on Facebook or Instagram. If you can take a picture, write some words then click and share, you have a chance of creating something big.

And of course, the Golden Rule is to have a really good product and a really good service.