????人類充滿了好奇心。他們喜歡探索，喜歡購物。在任何一個周六或周日，美國都會有多達2500萬消費者光顧商場。有時他們會帶著一張準備好的購物清單，有時他們只是隨意逛逛，有時只是想觸摸、感受、體驗一下他們準備在網上購買的商品。

????如果你有一個品牌，你就擁有了脫穎而出的機會。零售商告訴我們，強大的品牌不需要促銷就能大賣。消費者來到店里，要求購買明星產品。而不知名的品牌只能待在貨架上，等著大減價時被喜歡買便宜貨的顧客收走。

????根據我們的經驗，偉大的品牌可以萬古長青——如果你努力經營的話。品牌讓消費者的生活更加輕松，消費者也熱衷于為品牌付出真情。

????這就是我們所說的信徒式品牌。想想蘋果、亞馬遜或是星巴克。不過復制它們的成功是一項真正的挑戰。信徒式品牌很罕見。只有極少數公司擁有那些能在全球各地都受到尊敬的明星產品或服務品牌。全球共有1萬家市值數百萬美元的消費品公司，不過只有其中100家能理直氣壯地說自己擁有信徒式品牌。它們提供魔法和光。它們提供娛樂、食品、幻想和徹底的快樂。它們獲得了持久的信任、忠誠、熱愛和幾乎信徒式的推薦和擁護。對于粉絲、追隨者和信賴者而言，這些品牌就是他們的宗教信仰。

????你該怎樣把消費者變成信徒？你該如何打造信徒式品牌？在我們的著作《火箭：保證無限增長的八堂課》（Rocket: Eight Lessons To Secure Infinite Growth）一書中，我們把自己的發現總結成了8條品牌推廣的金科玉律。

????法則1：不要問你的消費者想要什么（因為在你把產品展現出來之前，他們自己也不知道答案）

????幾年前，有一家全球通信業巨頭考慮進軍移動電話市場。在討論會上，他們邀請銷售員來看直板手機，并問他們：“你會在什么時候用它？”銷售員表示他們更愿意花25美分去打公用電話，而不是花500美元或1000美元來買這種笨重的玩意。于是，公司把移動電話的想法擱置一旁。這是一個昂貴的錯誤。該公司最后花了數十億美元來重新進入這個曾經被他們拋棄掉的行業。消費者沒法設想出一種更好的打電話的方式，當然也就想不到去掏錢購買它。成功需要好奇心、勇氣、直覺，以及對時代脈搏的敏感性。它要求你透過簡單的回答和消費者直覺般的拒絕，看到背后的本質。

????法則2：討好你的死忠粉（他們絕對值得你這這么做）

????很少有公司會去計算其最好的消費者帶來的價值，以及這些消費者的口碑推薦所產生的價值。我們的研究證實了“2-20-80-150法則”。有2%的消費者是所謂的“信徒”，他們自身就能帶來20%的整體銷量。他們的支持會影響朋友和熟人，最終占據公司80%的整體銷量。通過朋友和自己的購買，這些消費者能給公司帶來150%的利潤。公司需要努力推銷剩下20%的產品給“陌生人”，而這一過程有可能帶來虧損。

????法則3：時刻歡迎消費者的吐槽（你會變得更強，然后卷土重來）

????豐田公司表示：投訴是一種禮物。該公司會跟進并處理每位消費者的投訴。這種成體系的運作方式撲滅了回頭客的不滿。投訴一次，請給我機會改正。投訴兩次，是我的恥辱。投訴三次，我應當離職。豐田的處理方式使得回頭客帶來的銷售價值和購買率都有所提升，顧客也變得更加忠誠。

????法則4：外觀很重要（消費者真的會根據書的封面來評判一本書）

????消費者在做出購買決定時都會用眼睛觀察。他們要尋找美感。他們幻想著讓自己和至愛親朋的世界變得更加美麗。在營造夢境方面，做得最好的公司是迪士尼。來到迪士尼世界的小女孩就像進入了魔法王國。她們會看到灰姑娘和白雪公主。這些形象進入了她們的潛意識里。她們當中許多人在決定結婚時還會回想起這些情節。通過實現幻想，迪士尼開創了一項盈利頗豐的業務。營造視覺盛宴的成本不菲，但其價值也是無窮盡的。

????法則5：把你的員工變成熱情的門徒（因為熱愛具有真正的感染力）

????如果你帶著一個關于儲存的模糊想法，走進Container Store并尋求幫助。片刻之后，就會有顧問來聽你傾訴關于儲存和家居的全部問題，然后他很快會為你提供一套解決方案。他們把這稱為幫助“沙漠旅人”的銷售方式——傾聽、幫助、參與、建議。Container Store常年位列最佳雇主榜單。這家公司的員工得到了充分尊重，薪水也是業內同行的兩倍，離職率只是平均水平的零頭。

????法則6：加強在線業務（因為你的消費者都在這么做）

????這個世界每周7天，每天24小時都在運轉。擁有最多可支配收入的消費者只有最少的時間。不過他們在家中和工作時都有高速的因特網。他們只要有需求，就會買他們想買的東西。

????法則7：大步跳躍（膽小保守是贏不了的）

????有些人提倡不斷改進、循序漸進、穩扎穩打。不過沒有哪家公司是用這種方式改變世界的。沒有人真正用這種方式建立了信徒式品牌。為了做到這些，你必須展現出遠見、無畏和剛毅。有大夢想才能有大成功。巴西公司Natura Cosmeticos最早只是一家小店鋪和實驗室，但它迅速意識到亞馬遜雨林作為美容產品健康原料產地的巨大潛能。如今該公司已經成為全球盈利最豐厚的化妝品公司之一，并改變了拉丁美洲數百萬女性的生活，提高了160萬名女性銷售顧問的生活水平。它實現這一切只用了極短的時間。

????法則8：搞清楚競爭性分化的涵義（因為它有助于維護客戶關系）

????品牌十分脆弱。他們服從競爭性分化的規律。這個術語來自于人類學，意思是人際關系并不穩定。打造品牌也服從這一規律。品牌總是在不斷變化的——總有景氣和不景氣的時候。

????現在，是時候書寫你的故事了。讓你的公司在所有人心里變得鮮活，然后開創永不停歇的增長吧。

????邁克爾?西爾弗斯坦是波士頓咨詢公司的高級合伙人，也是Trading Up、Treasure Hunt、Women Want More、The $10 Trillion Dollar Prize等書的合著者之一。他目前在芝加哥工作。本文作者狄倫?博爾登、魯恩?雅各布森和羅翰?薩德加也都是波士頓咨詢公司的高級合伙人。（財富中文網）

????譯者：嚴匡正

????審校：任文科

????Human beings are curious. They love to explore. And they love to shop. Many consumers—up to 25 million Americans—visit a mall on any given Saturday or Sunday. Sometimes they arrive with a list of priority items that they’re ready to purchase. Sometimes they just wander and browse. Sometimes they are looking to touch, feel, and experience products that they will later buy online.

????If you have a brand, this is your chance to stand out from the crowd. Retailers tell us that strong brands sell without promotion. Consumers come into the store and ask for signature products. Weak brands sit on shelves, waiting to be scooped up at a steep markdown by bargain hunters.

????In our experience, great brands can last forever—if you work them. Brands make consumers’ lives easier. Consumers love to love brands.

????That’s what we call apostle brands. Think Apple AAPL -2.48% , Amazon AMZN -1.61% or Starbucks SBUX -1.81% . But replicating their success is a real challenge. Apostle brands are rare. Few companies have brands whose signature products and services are widely revered everywhere. There are 10,000 multi-million-dollar consumer companies around the world, but only 100 of them can properly claim to have apostle brands. They offer magic and light. They provide entertainment, nourishment, imagination, and utter joy. They inspire enduring trust, loyalty, love, and almost evangelical endorsements and advocacy. To their fans, followers, and believers, they are like religions.

????How do you convert customers into apostles? How do you build an apostle brand? In our book, Rocket: Eight Lessons To Secure Infinite Growth, we have synthesized our findings to create a set of eight branding rules.

????Rule No. 1: Don’t ask your customers what they want (because they don’t know until you show them)

????A few years ago, a global communications giant was considering the cell phone business. In focus groups, salesmen were invited to look at the box phone and were then asked, “When will you use it?” The salesmen said that they would BE MORE LIKELY put a quarter into a pay phone than pay $500 or $1,000 for an unwieldy box. As a result, the company put the cell phone idea on a back burner. This was an expensive error. It cost the company billions of dollars to buy its way back into the business after it had taken off. The consumer could not imagine a better way to make a phone call and certainly could not imagine paying for it. Success requires curiosity and courage, instinct, and a taste for the jugular. It requires you to look beyond simple answers and impulsive consumer rejection.

????Rule No. 2: Woo your biggest fans (because they’re absolutely worth it)

????Few companies count the value of their best customers’ purchases and the value of the purchases that those customers promote through word-of-mouth advocacy. Our research supports the “rule of 2-20-80-150″4+.” The 2% of consumers that we call apostles personally responsible for a full 20% of the sales. To their friends and acquaintances they advocate up to 80% of a company’s sales. This combination of friends and self purchases deliver up to 150% of a company’s profits. Companies fight to sell the remaining 20% of their sales to “strangers” and generate losses chasing this business.

????Rule No. 3: Always welcome your customer’s scorn (because you’ll come back stronger)

????Toyota TM -3.23% says that a complaint is a gift. The company tracks and processes every customer complaint. This operates as a system to stamp out repeated customer dissatisfaction. Complain once, let me fix it. Complain twice, shame on me. Complain three times, and I should be replaced. Toyota’s approach translates into higher resale value, a higher repurchase rate, and deeper loyalty.

????Rule No. 4: Looks do count (because people really do judge a book by its cover)

????Consumers use their eyes in every purchase. They look for beauty. They dream about a better world for themselves and their loved ones. The best dreamscape company in the world is Disney DIS -1.63% . Little girls visiting Disney World go to the Magic Kingdom. They see Cinderella and Snow White. They carry the image in their subconscious. For many, it draws them back when they decide to marry. Disney has created a rich business by fulfilling fantasy. Visual brilliance costs a lot, but its value is priceless.

????Rule No. 5: Transform your employees into passionate disciples (because love is truly infectious)

????Walk into the Container Store TCS 2.46% with a vague idea about a storage problem and ask for help. Within moments, a counselor will have you telling him all your storage and living problems, and soon he will be offering solutions. They call this “man in the desert” selling—listening, helping, engaging, suggesting. It is a perennial favorite company to work for. The Container Store associates are treated with respect, are paid twice the wage of competitors’ employees, and turn over at a fraction of the average rate.

????Rule No. 6: Better ramp up your virtual relationships (because that’s what your customers are doing)

????The world has moved to 24/7. The consumers with the most disposable income have the least amount of time. But they have high-speed Internet lines at home and at work. And they want to buy what they want to buy when they want it.

????Rule No. 7: Take giant leaps (because you’re not going to win with timid steps)

????There are those who advocate continuous improvement, incremental advances, and consolidation. But no one ever changed the world that way. No one ever really built an apostle brand that way. To do these things, you must show foresight, fearlessness, and fortitude. Big wins require big dreams. Natura Cosmeticos, a Brazilian company, started as a small shop and laboratory and quickly realized the enormous potential of the Amazon rain forest as a source of health-giving ingredients for beauty products. It now ranks as one of the world’s most profitable cosmetics companies, transforming the lives of millions of women in Latin America and driving up the standard of living for its 1.6 million female sales consultants. It got there by leaps and bounds.

????Rule No. 8: Find out what schismogenesis Means (because it will save your relationships)

????Brands are fragile. They are subject to the laws of schismogenesis. This is a term from anthropology. It means that relationships are not stable. Brands work according to the same law. Brands are always moving—up, up, up or down, down, down.

????Now is the time to write your story, make it come alive for all, and create infinite growth.

????Michael Silverstein is a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group and co-author of Trading Up, Treasure Hunt, Women Want More and the $10 Trillion Dollar Prize. He is based in Chicago. Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sadjah are also senior partners at BCG.