{"id":1241,"date":"2023-06-06T16:27:45","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T20:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/?p=1241"},"modified":"2023-06-07T12:23:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T16:23:10","slug":"a-new-cult-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/?p=1241","title":{"rendered":"A NEW CULT BRAND!!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>KEN BANKS\u2019BLOG JUNE 2023<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iw_VcH-NPxk\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>PRESS PLAY&gt;&gt;TO VIEW THIS MONTH\u2019S WELCOME VIDEO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A NEW CULT BRAND!!<\/p>\n<p>One of the most important books that I\u2019ve read on branding was co-authored by my good friend, B.J. Bueno in 2002\u2014<em>THE POWER OF CULT BRANDING<\/em>.\u00a0 In the book, B.J. describes how the most successful brands not only achieve significant market share but also create a cult following by its loyal customer base.\u00a0 In defining this type of branding, he says that the brand\u2019s \u201ccustomers not only use their products, but they evangelize to the world about them.\u201d\u00a0 Brands like Starbucks, Chick-fil-A,\u00a0 Lexus, Harley Davidson, and Nordstroms (to name a few) are famous for not only having a strong brand identity but also their customers consistently rave about them to their families, friends and neighbors.\u00a0 That\u2019s how I found out about one of today\u2019s strongest cult brands\u2014Buc-ee\u2019s.\u00a0 Friends of ours who travel regularly on our interstates frequently told us that \u201cyou have got to visit a Buc-ee\u2019s on you next road trip. So, on our way to Kentucky last week we took a look and did some research.<\/p>\n<p>Buc-ee\u2019s was founded in 1982 in Clute, Texas, as a convenience store and gas station by Arch Aplin, whose nickname growing up was \u201cBeaver\u201d.\u00a0 The name not only describes the company\u2019s giant logo with a smiling beaver, but also led to it\u2019s name after the early mascot for Ipana toothpaste in the 1950\u2019s, Bucky Beaver. It took about 20 years before Aplin decided to expand this typical store\/station into a mega-travel stop nearly 100 gas pumps and over 50,000 square feet of retail space.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot bigger than a truck stop and in fact, does not allow trucks on the property in order to appeal to its rv and auto traveling customers.\u00a0 The company is known for it\u2019s signature brisket sandwiches, take-away foods, about 50 soft drink and slushee fountains, carmel pecans and assorted nuts and snack, and miscellaneous and unique travel items.\u00a0 It also boasts the cleanest, most spacious restrooms on the road which were personally designed by Aplin.\u00a0 These consistently are recognized the cleanest in the country.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sight to walk into the expanse and note the amount of customers even at 10am on a Tuesday morning.\u00a0 Customer service is one of the reasons for the cult following.\u00a0 Despite the size and traffic, Buc-ee\u2019s associates are efficient and friendly and greet customer with a Texas-style \u201cWelcome to Buc-ee\u2019s\u201d while whisking customers through their checkouts without long lines.\u00a0 Same holds true for the gas pumps which (despite the lowest price on this trip) move cars in and out as fast as the indoor checkouts.<\/p>\n<p>The proof of its success is reflected in the company\u2019s expansion to over 50 stores mostly in Texas and the Southeast and since it\u2019s privately held, the volume numbers aren\u2019t public but if you picture a Wal-Mart or Costco on the day after Thanksgiving, you\u2019ll have a good picture of a typical day at Buc-ee\u2019s.\u00a0 Yes, there are big, noticeable billboard for several miles before the next exit, but the enthusiasm of their customers in recommending a stop makes it one of the newest, most successful cult brands in the US.<\/p>\n<p>Ken<\/p>\n<p>Watch this video for more info about Buc-ee\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XbV4XWpfMyE\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/XbV4XWpfMyE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KEN BANKS\u2019BLOG JUNE 2023 PRESS PLAY&gt;&gt;TO VIEW THIS MONTH\u2019S WELCOME VIDEO &nbsp; A NEW CULT BRAND!! One of the most important books that I\u2019ve read on branding was co-authored by my good friend, B.J. Bueno in 2002\u2014THE POWER OF CULT BRANDING.\u00a0 In the book, B.J. describes how the most successful brands not only achieve significant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1241"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1243,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions\/1243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}