My son, Kade, just turned 8 and takes karate. Prior to watching his lessons, everything I knew about karate was from Mr. Miyagi. But recently, Kade showed me how he can break a board with his hands. The secret to success isn’t hitting the board as hard as you can.

It’s hitting through the board.

If you just focus on hitting the board, you’ll likely cause more damage to your hand than the piece of wood. But if you focus a few inches beyond the board, your momentum carries your hand through and it breaks.

Too many marketers are just hitting their marketplaces as hard as they can. They’re punching with increased media and advertising collateral trying to gain customers. They think their goal is win the weekend or to generate more leads or comp last year’s sales.  But there is nothing sustainable or rewarding about creating short-term, transactional-based customers.

What if we tried to get consumers to join us and become raving fans of our brand purpose?

Lululemon did that with well-being. Red Bull with extreme accomplishments. Tim Horton’s with hockey. UFC with entertainment.

Those brands punch through their boards by focusing on something bigger. Their tactics are non-traditional, and they foster a culture that attracts a different type of employee. Their brands make a difference by doing things differently, and that gets me excited.

There is nothing sustainable or rewarding about creating short-term, transactional-based customers.

That’s why we created Cult. To remind marketers what marketing can really accomplish.