The world's oldest content marketing campaigns
And why the basics remain the same, whichever era you are a marketer in
I started my career in content marketing, and as the years rolled by, I keep getting surprised by how old a tactic it is.
How old can it be, you ask?
How about 1900?
Because that’s when a tyre company produced what is arguably the most famous content marketing campaign of all time, without consumers even knowing that it is one.
In the 1890s the Michelin brothers, André and Édouard, founders of the Michelin tyre company, faced a conundrum. How could they convince people to embrace this new mode of transportation called the automobile? Because if they were able to, their tire company would do really, really well.
As they thought of ideas, they realised that for the automobile to truly take off, people needed more than just reliable tires; they needed enticing destinations. They needed somewhere to go to. And what do the French want to travel beyond their own towns for? Food, of course.
And so, they created a guide that would not only give directions to motorists but also inspire them to explore the culinary treasures of France.
So it was in 1900 that the Michelin Guide was published. It was a modest little thing, filled with practical information such as maps, tire-changing instructions, and listings of hotels and gas stations. But hidden within its pages lay genius—a handful of restaurants that were carefully selected and quietly awarded with stars.
Suddenly, all of France had somewhere to go.
Over time, the Michelin Guide grew beyond France's borders, expanding its reach across the globe. It became the ultimate arbiter of taste, an unwavering authority that could make or break a restaurant's reputation. And it carried the Michelin name far and wide, selling a lot more than tires, the ultimate content marketing success.
But is the Michelin Guide really the oldest content marketing campaign of all time?
Actually, no.
There is one campaign that is even older, and it too is still running.
And it started in 1895, five years before the Michelin Guide arrived.
In the 19th century, the John Deere brand made quality tools for farmers in the American midwest. The company supposedly pioneered the steel plow. And they had slowly grown into a well known, successful enterprise which would eventually make tractors, and sophisticated farming machinery.
But it was Charles Deere, one of the founder’s sons, who realised that there was a gap in the market to actually help farmers. And so, in 1895, he made the company produce its own farming magazine, The Furrow. As the name suggests, it was a publication that was designed for farmers, with information, advertisements, and advise.
It had stories of real farmers and their experiences, narratives that they wanted to read. And it had lots of useful stuff for them. The Furrow became a trusted friend for farmers, a way for them to connect with each other. It was, and remains, a runaway success. It is still functional, and in an age of print armageddon, maintains a loyal and lucrative reader base.
And along the way, it continues to give free mindshare, and valuable ad real estate, to John Deere.
Why are these two stories important?
One of the reasons I write this newsletter is to attempt to fight the notion that marketing has to be complicated, that you aren’t doing marketing if you don’t have complicated spreadsheets and complex lead scoring software. These two stories are important because they help me underline that: Both these stories are examples of great positioning (they knew who they were making this content for), actual utility (the content is actually useful for its audience), and finally consistency (it takes time for great content marketing to really succeed).
So if you are doing content marketing in 2023, let’s get the basics right. Because we’ve been doing this a long time.