Community in Business #2: Lululemon – Cultivating Community or Cultivating Cult?

by Regan Kohlhardt

Fellow Emeritus at Re-Vision Labs

Wow. I thought I was being original when I first came up with this topic for a blog post. Turns out there’s a lot of debate floating around on the world wide web about whether or not Vancouver’s famed yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, Lululemon, is a corporate cult. Check out these two interesting articles on Lululemon’s cultish traits: “Lululemon’s Cult of Selling” by Fast Company and Lust for Lulu by New York Magazine.

Lululemon fans as pictured in New York Magazine's article "Lust for Lulu"

Defining our Terminology

Let’s start with a look at definitions.

Cult (as per Google)

followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
fad: an interest followed with exaggerated zeal
followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader
a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false

Community (also per Google)

a group of people living in a particular local area
common ownership
a group of nations having common interests
agreement as to goals
residential district: a district where people live; occupied primarily by private residences
(ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other

Based on these two definitions, it would appear the main difference between ‘community’ and ‘cult’ is the intensity of fervour possessed by the members and whether or not these members consider themselves as existing fully outside of society as we know it.

‘Community’ is made up of people with similar interests; ‘Cults’ are made up of people with similar beliefs, or zealously-held convictions rather.

Lululemon Cult?

As I said before, whether or not Lululemon Athletica is cult-like is a controversial issue.

Lululemon certainly seems to employ features of a cult. The company was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson, newly ‘awakened’ yoga practitioner and avid subscriber to self-help books like The Secret and institutionalized inspiration such as that provisioned by the Landmark Forum.

Employees at Lululemon are required to subscribe to Wilson’s recipe-for-success-literature-and-educational-institutions. I’ve heard rumors to this end which almost makes working for Lululemon seem like something of a creepy employment option. Employees are required to listen to self-actualization tapes, told to post posters outlining their personal, health, and professional goals for all to see (and assist where needed), asked to indulge in literature like The Secret and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and after one year of employment, sent off to participate in a three-day Landmark forum.

According to the aforementioned New York Magazine article on Lululemon’s cult-like operations, the Landmark Forum has been accused of being a cult for quite some time…since the 70s actually. It’s a program “specifically designed to bring about positive and permanent shifts in the quality of your life – in just three days.” Hmmm, could that be three days of brainwashing? Most attendees become what you could call full converts who believe quite passionately and fervently in the gospel of the forum. In other words, they become members of the Landmark cult. Chip Wilson could be one such member, and his corporation’s push to bring employees into the family of the Landmark forum could be interpreted as corporate cult cultivating.

The Lululemon Community

In light of the above, while I suppose what Lululemon does is a bit cult-like, the company also fully cultivates community. I suppose this is logical considering cult is really an intensification of community.

"Friends are more important than money?" Perhaps it should say, "More friends equals more money."

One of Lulu’s foundational philosophies is that “a company can only be truly great when it has a close relationship to the community it serves” (see Lululemon website). In order to get closer to its spandex-wearing, flexible “yogini” community, Lululemon has sacked the traditional retail ‘salesperson’ and replaced them with Lululemon-termed ‘Educators’ who exist to communicate the company’s core values and product information to customers….errr….’Guests’ I mean.

Both Guests and Educators both have access to free yoga classes, usually on store premises. They’re also encouraged to share their goals with the ‘community’ and work towards personal growth through what resources Lululemon graciously provides including its online forums and social media. In this manner, Lululemon is not only representing itself as a clothing company to consumers but rather as a means for personal development.

Lulu has also sacked the traditional methods of advertising in favour of 100% word-of-mouth marketing. Instead of TV commercials and ads, the company as recruited ‘Ambassadors,’ or athletically fit and inspiring individuals (usually yoga instructors though also triathletes and runners) who spread the good Lululemon word to newcomers.

With a simple change of terminology, some free sessions of downward dog and toe-touching, and innovative marketing ,Lululemon has managed to change itself from a retailer into a community hub. And not just that, but it’s managed to “grow from a single storefront on the surfside of Vancouver, British Columbia, to a public company with more than 100 outlets and $340 million in annual revenue” (Fastcompany.com). Lululemon makes $1,200 more per square foot than J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch using “virtually zero advertising” (Fast Company).

Cult Brands

Cult? Community? Who cares? Whatever Lululemon is doing, it seems to be working for the company in terms of sales.

Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, would argue that Lululemon is successfully forming its brand into a cult. Atkin would add that, if you’re wanting to sell a product, ‘cult’ is not a bad thing.

According to Atkin, our society has progressed to such a state of consumerism that branding is no longer used, as it was traditionally, to validate the quality and authenticity of a product. Instead, brands are used to differential products. As Atkin says, “Nowadays, producers of brands realize that the consumer needs to say: ‘No, this is my product, I identify with it. The Apple computer is my computer because it stands for creativity and nonconformism, just like I do’” (“Interview with Douglas Atkin.” PBS) . Basically, there’s too much stuff out there, and a lot of that stuff really isn’t that much different from other stuff except that it might be branded differently. When a brand can get a consumer to identify with it, to see it as a representation of who they are, that’s when the brand starts selling the stuff.

The best way to get a consumer to identify and claim a brand as their own is via word of mouth. People trust their acquaintances far more than they trust advertisements or commercials. According to Atkin, advertising as it was done traditionally is on its way out entirely as more and more companies embrace word-of-mouth marketing strategies. Creating a Cult Brand is the best way to fully take advantage of word-of-mouth-marketing.

I should point out that cults aren’t necessarily bad. They have a negative connotation to them, but that’s probably more likely due to the fact that you tend to hear about satanic cults or suicidal cults more than you hear about the harmless cults. Atkin says, “We need cults, and the people who join them are very, very normal [...] And the reasons they join cults — and cult brands, as I learned from my research — are universal reasons to do with the human condition. They join because they want to belong to something, and they want to make meaning. They want to have a reason for being. Those are two very, very simple reasons that all of us in the human race need to express” (Interview with Douglas Atkin.” PBS).

The empty clothes racks and increased profits indicate that Lululemon is meeting with success in its efforts to create meaning and sense of belonging for its ‘Guests.’ Yes, the company does step over the line between community and cult in the way it tries to imbue its employees with Landmark Forum and self-help-book scripture, but the way it engages its community is highly effective in upping sales and bringing in the cash. Zero advertising, ambassadors armed with the word-of-mouth, and an interest (even if it is just a perceived interest) in connecting its clients to a healthier lifestyle through free yoga classes and other such resources are all brilliant innovations for a business model of a new century.

To quote Atkin again, consumer loyalty “…comes from a sense of community, a sense of belonging, and a sense of buying into something – a worldview in which [the consumer] believes. ”More than community, more than cult, Lululemon is cultivating consumer loyalty, and it’s that loyalty that is proving to be the key to the company’s success.

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