Table of Contents

Objective....................................................................................................................2 Introduction...................................................................................................................2 What is a Cult?............................................................................................................2 Negative cults.............................................................................................................2 Positive cults...............................................................................................................2 What is a Brand?.............................................................................................................3 Cult Brands...................................................................................................................4 An Environment for Cult Branding...................................................................................5 Abraham Maslow: The Father of Cult Branding......................................................................5 What Makes A Great Cult Brand?........................................................................................6 The Golden Rule of Social Groups....................................................................................6 The Golden Rule of Courage...........................................................................................8 The Golden Rule of Fun.................................................................................................8 The Golden Rule of Human Needs....................................................................................8 The Golden Rule of Contribution.....................................................................................9 The Golden Rule of Openness.........................................................................................9 The Golden Rule of Freedom........................................................................................10 Indian cult brands..........................................................................................................10 KINGFISHER...........................................................................................................10 Bajaj pulsar..............................................................................................................12 THE HINDU............................................................................................................13 Amul......................................................................................................................15 Khadi: The pride of India.............................................................................................16 Conclusion..................................................................................................................17 Bibliography................................................................................................................18 Bibliography

Objective
To study how normal brands differ from cult brands and environment of cult branding and some of our Indian cult brands

Introduction
In this paper, we have discussed about brands that have a very loyal customer base. These brands do not just treat their customers as customers but forge a very special relationship with them to win them over for a lifetime and make them very active evangelists for the brand. These brands do not just sell products. They sell an all engrossing lifestyle and offer solution for what a customer wants to achieve. These brands are called Cult Brands. We have also tried to identify certain brands in India that have a potential of becoming a cult brand and the steps that these brands have taken and should take in order to develop a very loyal customer base. We begin the study by examining what a cult is.

What is a Cult?
Cult refers to a cohesive social group and their devotional beliefs or practices, which the surrounding population considers to be outside of mainstream cultures. The surrounding population may be as small as a neighborhood, or as large as the community of nations. They gratify curiosity about, take action against, or ignore a group, depending on their activities, perception of people about them and other factors like reputed similarity to cults previously reported by media. Cults can be divided into two types based on their activities and perceptions that the outside population forms about them:

Negative cults
These are the cults that harm, hurt, manipulate, and often brainwash their members. The leader of a destructive cult doesn't really care about the well being of the members. Some of the examples of such cults may be Ku Klux Klan, Nazism etc.

Positive cults
These are the cults that help fill the emotional needs and wants of their followers in a positive way. They and their followers enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship, with both receiving a real sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, belonging and enlightenment from the relationship.
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Some of the examples of such cults may be Red Cross, PETA etc.Now that we have discussed what a cult actually means, let us also find out what the word brand stands for.

What is a Brand?
A brand is all the emotions and ideas associated with a product or service that create a distinct customer experience. It includes all things real or perceived, rational or emotional, physical or sensory, thought or felt, whether in form or function, planned or unplanned. Simply put, it means a brand is what it does. Therefore, a brand refers to all the instances when a product or a service interfaces with a customer and all the good and bad or worst still, neutral perceptions that exist in the consumers mind regarding it. Successful brands are credible, meaningful, unique, holistic, sustainable, clear, and consistent. They add value to the customer experience across all touch points, and are trusted because they consistently deliver their promise. Today brands have become such an important factor in peoples lives that brand affiliations seem to decide who you are. Brands, rather than just becoming a tool for differentiating one product from the other have become the extensions of a persons personality. Brands are being used by people to convey to the world what they stand for and what they want to achieve. Therefore, the scope for brands is becoming narrower every day and they need to be sharp enough to understand their target audiences lifestyle and habits and adapt to them flawlessly. Brands need to realize that the days of one size fits all are over and if they want to exist in the new world, they need to be much more focused and dig in deep to find out their target customers real needs and desires that are beyond the obvious reasons for their purchasing a particular brand. In such a changing atmosphere, what every brand strives for is customer loyalty. The reason is pretty obvious. It takes five times more efforts to make a new customer than to sell to an existing customer. Therefore in the rapidly changing world of ours, if a brand is able to develop loyal customers or as brand lovers, the job of the brand become five X as many times easier. Imagine selling to a customer base that you know very well and that very well knows what you stand for. But wait, the best is yet to come- they love what you are giving them! We hope you have got the message. Now, let us find out what cult branding is and how it can help in developing loyal customers that are enthusiastic about the brand.

Cult Brands
Cult has the dictionary meaning as admiration, craze, creed, devotion, faith and idolization. The ideal objective of all brand managers will be to make their brands to attain cult status. The cult brands are not necessarily the biggest and most well known brands, but cult brands should have the most fanatical and most loyal customers followings. Cult brand will consistently connect with their customers at the very highest levels of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and form deep and lasting emotional brands with their followers. . Cult Brands understand that their brands belong to the customers, only the customers voice counts. A successful Cult Brand embraces its customers by anticipating their basic human and spiritual needs. As a consequence, Cult Brands achieve a level of customer loyalty unprecedented in traditional business. Cult Brands therefore focus and embrace their existing customers and deliver such an exhilarating experience to them that they become evangelists of the brand. However, doing this is not easy, as on every touch point where the brand interacts with the customer, the distinct experience has to be preserved and delivered. Now, we will try to differentiate among different businesses that are there in the market from the customers point of view and put those with similar characteristics into same segments so as to get a broader idea of what kind of brands exist in the market.

1. Companies with no brand

This is perhaps the most crowded category out of all the categories we are about to define. These are companies that are undifferentiated and do same type of work like thousands of others. They may have no proper idea of what they stand for and what their objectives are and even if they have it, they do not communicate it. These companies are very vulnerable as their consumer recognition is very low and in case of tough competition, they may be completely eroded from the market.

2. Companies that just have a name

These are companies who may have a brand name, logo or a tagline but do not know what they mean to their customers. So many kirana and medicine stores in the vicinity of our homes come in this category. Most of these companies are similar in nature and similar in their product offerings and therefore are dispensable for their customers. These companies do not practice the idea of differentiation.
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3. OK brands
These are the companies that are not specific in their message to the target audience and therefore confuse them. They advertise themselves but due to inability to focus on what the target customer expects, the brand dilution occurs. For e.g. Vimal, Liberty etc.

4. Good brands
These are the brands that we all love. They are a part of our culture and enjoy great brand recognition. They are the top of the mind brands and constantly monitor their target customers expectations and perceptions and monitor their image. They are generally the market leaders in their categories. Some of the e.g. of these brands are McDonalds, Pepsi, Microsoft, Britannia etc.

5. Great brands or Cult brands

These are the brands that make us feel special whenever we buy their products. They do not just sell us a product. In fact, they sell us something that enables us to achieve our goals and fulfill our ambitions. These brands go to great extents to give us an exhilarating experience and find out ways to make us feel special. Some of these brands are Apple, Southwest Airlines and Harley Davidson etc. These brands are profitable even in the most adverse market conditions because of the powerful relationships they have forged with their customers.

An Environment for Cult Branding

Today's society is the perfect environment for cult branders and cult brands. It is full of fragmentation, with increases in divorce rates, broken homes, and violence. As this fragmentation continues, the basic human need for feelings of security, belonging and social interaction does not go away. It can't be replaced. We all need to belong to a group.Cult brands aren't just companies with products or services to sell. To many of their followers, they are a surrogate family filled with like minded individuals. They just happen to sell products and services.

Abraham Maslow: The Father of Cult Branding

Maslow postulated that humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchical pyramid to prioritize them. Higher level needs influence future behavior much more than lower level needs. Cult branders enjoy incredible loyalty because they work hard to connect
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with their customers at the very highest level of Maslow's Hierarchy. They don't just offer great products and services, but they needs for social interaction, esteem, and self-actualization. They make customers believe that your brand has no equal.

What Makes A Great Cult Brand?

Time spent researching cult brands in print and through field work revealed that although each of the nine brands investigated was clearly different, their individual formulas for cultbranding success shared many of the same core ingredients

These formulas can be broken down into

The

Golden Rules of Cult Branding

The Golden Rule of Social Groups

Consumers want to be a part of a group that is different This rule has come from the Maslows hierarchy theory of needs and is the third basic need of human beings after physiological and safety needs. Why is it that social networking websites like Orkut and Facebook get so much traffic? Why is it that a simple question like What are you doing can spring up a multimillion dollar Internet portal called Twitter? The answer to all these questions is simple. The answer is that we human beings have an inherent social need to talk to
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each other and form social groups. We need social groups to enjoy ourselves, share our fortunes and misfortunes, showoff and what not. But in todays changing circumstances, the traditional social groups like family and neighborhood are not that strong. We are witnessing a continuous increase in divorce cases and home violence. People do not even know the names of their neighbors in many metropolitans. But the need for social interaction and social groups is still there. In fact, in such circumstances people look for other sources of social groups and communities. The task for managers is to create involving and creative brand communities for their target customers. The communities can be real or virtual. The idea is to make the consumers feel that they are a part of a team or a special mission. Some of the points to be kept in mind while forming communities should be: It should have a shared consciousness that connects members to the brand and one another. For e.g. Mac users value aesthetics and creative lifestyle that differentiates them from others. It may be a good idea to uphold rituals and traditions that involve public greetings to recognize and acknowledge fellow brand lovers It should preserve a sense of moral responsibility among the members. For e.g. Mac User Groups is a rewarding way for you to share your expertise. Someone may have helped you learn about technology; now you can repay the favor while meeting new people and making new contacts. We should also remember that brand communities exist in the minds of the customers and therefore a sense of belonging can transcend both physical as well as virtual spaces. This is important for global brands as it shows that if Internet is used effectively as a medium, an engrossing brand community can be created for the target audience across the globe. To sum up we can say that brand communities are both social and psychological. The communities may be created by the brand or by the users but in any case, the brand should promote them. Some of the steps that brands need to take before forming brand communities are: Determine how your customers are emotionally connected to your brand. For e.g. High design understand that their customers handbags are an extension of self, keeping lifes necessities within reach. Determine what your brand symbolizes in the minds of your best customers. For e.g. the Harley icon showcases a flying eaglea dynamic symbol of power, choice, and freedom. Support the community so that it reinforces the psychological attraction customers have towards your brand. Whenever possible, create a space where your customers can meet and interact with one anothereither in person or online.
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 Sponsor social events that reflect your brands mission. For e.g. Pulsar Stunt mania. Set up conditions for a fun, playful environment where friendships can be made. The stronger the bond members have to one another, the stronger the bond members will have with your brand. Dont control the community. Instead, participate as a co-creator.

The Golden Rule of Courage

Cult Brand inventors show daring and determination Cult Brand inventors are courageous people. They are high-risk takers and high reward seekers. They believe in their ideas even in the face of stiff opposition or neglect. They are willing to work hard and stare in the face of convention. It is their courage and ability to challenge and defeat the system that inspires so many people and makes them their followers. They believe in the product or services they provide and their courage makes their products stand out in the marketplace. Consumers are tired of being bombarded with products and services that all look the same, feel the same, and act the same. They want surprises. Cult Brands stay with us. Bland brands fade from memory.

The Golden Rule of Fun

Cult Brands sell lifestyles To become a cult brand, rather than selling the product, the companies should focus on selling a lifestyle to people. Cult brands focus on peoples high level need for self-actualization in order to fulfill the dreams of their customers. The aim is to make a customer think better about himself. They inspire people to chase their dreams and provide them ways to make the journey easier. They assert a certain lifestyle. According to Wikipedia, a lifestyle brand embodies the values and aspirations of a group or culture. A successful lifestyle brand speaks to the core identity of its customers. Individuals each have their own sense of self, based on their background (e.g. ethnicity, social class, subculture, nationality, etc.). A lifestyle brand provides a powerful supplement to this core identity, by allowing the individuals to publicly associate themselves with the brand.

The Golden Rule of Human Needs

Listen to the choir and create cult brand evangelists
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Cult Brands focus on serving the wants and needs of the customers they have. They dont get sucked into the trap of building products and services to attract new customersthey serve the congregation of customers their brands already have. Respect your choir. Value their opinions. Reward them. Listen to them. Never ignore an enthusiastic follower of your brand. Remember that core followers all want to believe, but first they need to see miracles in the form of unexpected gifts and surprises. Do extraordinary things for your choir, and theyll become incredible brand evangelists.

The Golden Rule of Contribution

Cult Brands always create customer communities Cult Brands always give back, they are adamant about continually finding new ways to show love and appreciation for the passion and devotion of their customers. Unlike faceless corporations, Cult Brands are humble and personable. They never take their customers for granted. Cult Brands build strong, ongoing relationships with their customers by developing and supporting customer communities. Cult Brands arent afraid to use todays profits to create customer communities for generating powerful long-term goodwill for their business and their brands. These brands always try to do something extra that goes beyond the expectations of the customers that generates customer satisfaction and ensures a long-term relationship of the customer with the brand. These brands are extremely customer centric and make products as per the requirements of its customers. They are open to any changes that should be made in the product. These brands interact with the customer directly and on- line through customer communities. The example is Sunsilk which created a community for its customers where Sunsilk users interact among themselves and share their problems and solutions. We do not want to say that Sunsilk is a cult brand. An individual after physiological and safety needs always looks for belongingness and love as per Maslows need hierarchy. People exhibit these needs by become a part of a community, a member of a gang, or joining a club. This is the level where the support systems of modern society begin to break down and fragmentation increases.

The Golden Rule of Openness

Cult Brands are inclusive Cult Brands are incredibly open and inclusive. They dont build imaginary profiles of ideal customers. They dont discriminate. They openly embrace anyone who is interested in their companies. In fact, exclusivity isnt even in the vocabulary of the Cult Brander. Instead, Cult Brands welcome with open arms customers of all ages, races, creeds, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This openness gives these brands a point of differentiation from other brands.
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There is an aura of friendliness in such brands. Cult Brands prove to their customers that they are indeed open and inclusive by helping to fulfill the deep human needs that we all share, including belongingness and self- esteem. Cult brands become giant support groups for likeminded individuals.

The Golden Rule of Freedom

Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies The need for freedom is a product of self-actualization: we all cherish our freedom. Cult Brands promote underlying themes of freedom and nonconformity with memorable sensory experiences (like holding Apples sleek, cool products and packaging; or watching the Oprah show) for their customers. Additionally, they stay fresh in the diary of the mind with brand consistency and nostalgia marketing. Cult Brands draw strength and unify their brand lovers by identifying and targeting an archenemyan opposing brand, person, or groupthat conflicts with the Cult Brands values or goals.

Indian cult brands

Indian companies are mature enough to cultivate popular brands, but to make them achieve cult status; they need to take popularity to a different level through inventive and revolutionary tactics. Indian brands have the potential, but management and marketers behind that brand do not have a risk-taking mentality and understanding of the potential pay-off. Since the first and foremost rule cult branding is dare to be different, companies need to shake things up when everyone at the organization is feeling most cozy. Creating a cult brand requires balancing head and heart in decision-making, tilting more towards the heart. we are a very diverse nation and we tend to disagree more than we agree. Indians are very individualistic and prefer our own approach to everything. Cult following typically happens when a country has a large proportion of people following a common lifestyle or group behavior.

KINGFISHER

Kingfisher beer is an Indian Beer brewed by United Breweries Group. With a market share of 29%, it is India's largest selling beer and is currently available in 52 countries outside India.
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Rule 1: Consumers want to be part of a group thats different Kingfisher Beer has
portrayed itself as a young, vibrant and stylish brand over the years. Its consumers believe that the brand provides them with the same feeling and make them different from users of other brands of beer.

Rule 2: Cult brand inventors show daring and determination

Vijay Mallya, the inventor of the Kingfisher brand embodies the spirit that the brand stands for. He comes up as a smart and stylish individual who believes in getting the best things in life. He bets on horses, buys Formula one and ICL teams and therefore portrays a lifestyle that includes Passion, thrill and courage as necessary traits for success.

Rule 3: Cult brand sell lifestyles

Kingfisher Beer has created a particular lifestyle for its consumers. Its consumers are generally visualized as the fun loving, young and vibrant.

Rule 4: Cult brand will make the customers as brand evangelists

The brand serves its existing customers by providing quality products at affordable prices.

Rule 5: Cult brand always create customer communities

The brand had created a community in its consumer base, as they prefer KF Beer to several other brands. The company organizes several events that help in attracting and creating new communities.

Rule 6: Cult brands are inclusive

In this aspect Kingfisher beer scores less as it has a well defined target group and it reflects the energy, youthfulness and freedom that are characteristic of the brand's target consumer and reiterates its contemporary positioning. So it is more exclusive as a brand.

Rule 7: Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies
Kingfisher promotes personal freedom as a part of the lifestyle it associates itself to. It talks to people who are young and vibrant and who want to enjoy their freedom. However, Kingfisher has failed to draw power from its enemies as they have failed to recognize what stands against their culture. Defining an enemy will give the brand more edge in the market place.

Bajaj pulsar

The Bajaj Pulsar is a package for young brigade and is a powerhouse with sensational top speed. The bike performs well at all speeds and cornering is something commendable. The bike is using Digital Twin Technology Ignition (DTSi), Ignition with Digital CDI, Twin Spark Plugs and a third-generation Throttle Responsive Ignition Control System.

Rule 1: Consumers want to be part of a group thats different

Pulsars are designed for guys that love high-speed action on road. These are the group of bikers who distinguish themselves as style, look and speed conscious people. The Bajaj Pulsar provides this group with these features and makes them more associated not only with the brand but also the group.

Rule 2: Cult brand inventors show daring and determination

The Pulsar portrays itself as a brand that is daring and has determination. It comes out with newer models with improved technology and better looks which appeals the target consumers. The man behind Pulsar, i.e. Rajiv Bajaj is a very courageous person. For somebody who rose up the ranks to become joint managing director, Rajiv's frequent clashes with his father are well known. With the company's research & development (R&D) department being his favorite hangout, he was against the company hiring management consultants McKinsey & Co. And when McKinsey advised Bajaj senior to scrap Rajiv's project --the Pulsar -- he is said to have threatened to quit. Today, with the Pulsar's fantastic run, Rajiv stands vindicated.

Rule 3: Cult brand sell lifestyles

The target consumers of this brand consider that Pulsar has not only created a lifestyle of its own but also has influenced the users to change their lifestyles. The consumers actually enjoy and
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relish their new lifestyle by owning the Pulsar. Pulsar stands for speed, thrill and enjoyment in the minds of an Indian consumer. Pulsar is not just pulsar, it is a way of speeding up and being ahead of the competition for Indian consumers.

Rule 4: Cult brand will make the customers as brand evangelists

Pulsar focuses on serving the customers they already have. They don't try to attract hypothetical new customers. They look to the congregation, value their opinions, and reward them. Do extraordinary things for them like providing improvised technology, looks and style, and make them incredible evangelists. This group of users influences their friends not only in the purchase but also in creating the desire in owning a Pulsar.

Rule 5: Cult brand always create customer communities

Pulsar customers have created several Bikers Clubs in several parts of India, where the bikers meet and share their common interests. Bajaj Pulsar conducts various events like Stuntmania etc. that give a chance to all the brand enthusiasts to come together and celebrate the spirit of speed and freedom. This deepens the affection that these enthusiasts have in their mind for Pulsar and they start loving the brand even more.

Rule 6: Cult brands are inclusive

Since Bajaj Pulsar does not discriminate its ideal customers, therefore it can be referred to as an inclusive brand rather than an exclusive brand.

Rule 7: Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies
Pulsar is a brand that stands for freedom. It not only gives its customers an ability to move from one place to other but also provides them a way of escaping the troubles of life and attaining freedom by carefree biking.

THE HINDU

The Hindu is a leading English-language Indian daily newspaper. With a circulation of 1.27 million, The Hindu is the second-largest English daily in India after Times of India, and slightly ahead of the Economic Times. It has its largest base of circulation in South India, especially Tamil Nadu. Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called Madras), The Hindu was published weekly when it was launched in 1878, and started publishing daily in 1889.
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Rule 1: Consumers want to be part of a group thats different

Throughout nearly a century of its publication The Hindu has exerted wide influence not only in Madras but also throughout India. Conservative in both tone and appearance, it has wide appeal to the English-speaking segment of the population and wide readership among government officials and business leaders. These customers would like to discuss about the issues published in The Hindu regularly.

Rule 2: Cult brand inventors show daring and determination

The Hindu can be proud of having the image of daring & determined Newspaper. The Hindu has been through many evolutionary changes in layout and design, for instance, moving news to the front page that used to be an ad kingdom; adopting modular layout and make-up; using large photographs; introducing color; transforming the format of the editorial page to make it a purely 'views' page; avoiding carry-over of news stories from one page to another; and introducing boxes, panels, highlights, and briefs.

3: Rule Cult brand sell lifestyles

The customers of The Hindu believe that it has greatly influenced and changed the lifestyle of its readers.

Rule 4: Cult brand will make the customers as brand evangelists

The customers of Hindu consider the brand as one among member of their family. They dont even consider other newspaper to read. They also influence their friends to read it.

Rule 5: Cult brand always create customer communities

In this aspect, though there is a huge customer base but there are hardly any customer communities where the readers meet and discuss their readings. Hindu needs to improve in this regard. They can create communities on the net as slowly we are moving towards an age where we read most of the news from the net.

Rule 6: Cult brands are inclusive

The Hindu gives News for all ages and across various income and occupation categories. Most of the customers believe that it is universal and inclusive. They do not identify with the particular group.

Rule 7: Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies

The Hindu is considered a daring newspaper that is willing to talk tough. This ability gives their readers a power to exert influence and at least talk about events that affect their life thereby promoting personal freedom.

Amul
Amul is the acronym of Anand Milk Union Limited which means "priceless" in Sanskrit. It was formed in 1946, is a dairy cooperative in India. It is a brand name managed by an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by some 2.8 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. Amul is the largest food brand in India and world's Largest Pouch Milk Brand with an annual turnover of US $1050 million Amul is a great brand. It has not only been a great dairy products brand but it has also been a source of income and livelihood to many people in the state of Gujrat in India... this is something which other brands fail to do. They build their own brands with all strategies and plans but fail to do much for the community. One of the many reasons why Amul is a great brand. Amul has been around for many decades, symbolised by its cute mascot - the "utterly butterly" Amul girl with her witty comments on current affairs across the globe.

GCMMF (AMUL) has the largest distribution network for any FMCG company. It has nearly 50 sales offices spread all over the country, more than 3,000 wholesale dealers and more than 5,00,000 retailers. AMUL is also the largest exporter of dairy products in the country. AMUL is available today in over 40 countries of the world. AMUL is exporting a wide variety of products which
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include Whole and Skimmed Milk Powder, Cottage Cheese (Paneer), UHT Milk, Clarified Butter (Ghee) and Indigenous Sweets. The major markets are USA, West Indies, and countries in Africa, the Gulf Region, and SAARC neighbors, Singapore, The Philippines, Thailand, Japan and China. In September 2007, Amul emerged as Indian brand according to a survey by Synovate to find out Asia's top 1000 Brands. The establishment of Amul is also known as White Revolution. The White Revolution of India inspired the notable Indian film-maker Shyam Benegal to base his film Manthan (1976) on it. The film starred Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri. The film itself was financed by over five lakh rural farmers in Gujarat who contributed Rs 2 each to the films budget. Upon its release, these same farmers went in truckloads to watch 'their' film, making it a commercial success. The film was chosen for the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The Amul success story is taken up as a case study in marketing in many premier management institutes across the world. The White Revolution ushered an era of plenty from a measly amount of milk production and distribution. Aside from the great measurable success that this project was, it also demonstrated the power of "collective might". A small set of poor farmers of Kheda district in Gujarat had the vision and foresight to act in a way that was good for the society and not for the self alone.

Khadi: The pride of India

The Khadi fabric sets an example of exclusivity, class, uniqueness and luxury of India, produced by a 'Charkha', going against the tide that count of high production technology and simpler, easier and faster ways of production. These are hand (spun, woven and knitted) fabrics. They are generally produced in rural areas by rural ladies. The main specialty is the manner in

which it is woven. The interweaving of threads provides easy passage for flow of air. It has a cool and porous texture and can be easily carried when out in scorching heat. IN 1921-22 Mahatma Gandhi and his followers were on a mission for peace and patriotism. Their approach was simple, as was their choice of attire. They embraced the rough textures of the spun cotton material known as khadi.Khadi is the symbol of integrity as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi 'The Father of the Nation', it still do carries an excellent export value. It is anyway the most expensive and beautiful textile fabric of India. Cotton khadi fabric is handwoven which have a smooth finish. Khadi fabrics are soft, durable and comfy and extensively used to manufacture variety of garments. Khadi fabrics are the royal fabric which is highly in demand as per today's fashion, and woolen khadi fabrics made of pure khadi material. This Indian fabric is used in making various types of clothing which are demanded seasonally. They are used in production of Blankets, Shawls, Jackets, Tweed, Coat, Gown, Firan, Loies / Throwover. Khadi bed sheets reflect the artwork of fine craftsmanship and a superb range of hand woven khadi shawls are valued in different parts of the country for its durability and simple designs. These are available in various sizes colors and finish that suits the different requirements. In the words of Gandhi, khadi is a fabric for human values and ethics. It delivers the people from the bond of the rich and creates a spiritual bond between the classes and the masses. The creation of khadi follows a certain rhythm for which even an old woman who cannot see can sit and spin out the thread with utmost skill. A weaver can use that thread to churn out 8-12 yards of material. Khadi's acceptance among the new generation is increasing. It is used not only for clothing materials but also as part of home furnishing in the form of curtains, bed sheets etc. Khadi is an old tradition and it only goes to show that old is indeed gold.

Conclusion
At the end we would like to say that Cult brands are brands that become a religion for the individual. We saw all the seven parameters to test if the brand is a cult brand. We discussed foreign brands that are cult brands and why are they so. There are no cult brands in India right now though there are brands which have the potential to become one. Weve taken examples of Bajaj Pulsar, The Hindu, Fast track and Kingfisher beer. We tested them on all parameters and saw how they are trying to get closer to their customers and have the potential to become cult brands. The parameters in which these brands are failing can be achieved and these brands can emerge as cult brands in future. These parameters are more easily said than executed because it requires every individual to feel the same way about the brand and every customer should feel that the brand they are using is the correct representative of their personality and it fulfils all the needs discussed above. So to make a brand a cult brand, make it a customers brand.
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Bibliography

www.cultbranding.com. www.brandbuilding.com. www.brandpiligrim.com. www.scribd.com. www.oppapers.com.