Think and act like a media company, not an ordinary business
What a tire company in the 19th century teaches us about marketing today.
In an era where every second of our life is being bidded for by advertisers trying to sell from toilet paper and the latest smartwatch to mansions or yachts, marketers and brands often forget that their most important mission is bringing more value to their customers and that in the long term, that’s what will fuel their growth.
This is not some new marketing 101 handbook that popped up to show you how to do advertising and attract more clients. This is around for at least a century.
Not even my idea to tell you about this, isn’t new. There have been lots of people and publications (Gary Vaynerchuk, Forbes, Jennifer Pepper) before me that explained how having a media company mentality will benefit you. And it will, no matter if you’re a big online retailer or the barber shop in the neighbourhood.
But the past can also teach us a lot of things, and that’s what we’re going to focus on here. There wasn’t any Facebook or Insta Stories 120 years ago, but there were brands that understood the need for quality content. And it worked, big time!
Publishing the first Michelin Guide in 1900
Édouard and André Michelin published their first guide 118 years ago.
No, they weren’t looking to change the industry they did business in, they were just trying to increase their tire sales.
But how many tires can you sell, in the early 20th century France, where there were only about 3.000 cars roaming around?
Not to many that’ for sure. Instead, give them alternatives: restaurants, hotels, gas stations and tire-shops around Europe and make people want to drive more to discover all of them.
Still skeptic and tired of these arguments? Ok, let’s take another example, one that you bumped into multiple times in the last 10 years.
Red Bull and its adrenaline filled videos
Go to the fridge and grab a Red Bull. Yes, the energy drink that makes you think of taking that parachute dive you’ve always wanted to do or getting your car out for a drift race in the mall parking lot.
Take a step back and look at what Red Bull is doing right now that catches your attention:
- stunt airplanes
- space jumps
- drift videos
- parachuting and paragliding videos
Why are they doing this? Because they want to show you what their energy drink might help you achieve. You know that’s not nearly close enough, but still, you will associate drinking a Red Bull with the stories in each of their crazy, adrenaline filled videos.
“The idea central to content marketing is that a brand must give something valuable to get something valuable in return. Instead of the commercial, be the show. Instead of the banner ad, be the feature story. The value returned is often that people associate good things with — and return to engage with — the brand.
Red Bull is a publishing empire that also happens to sell a beverage.”
James O’Brien
The Guinness Book of World Records was published after a hunting trip
Most of you might suspect, but few actually know that the book was created in 1951 by the same people who were running the Guinness Brewery.
Sir Hugh Beaver, Guinness director at that time was taking a hunting trip in Ireland and after missing a shot at a golden plover, started arguing with his hunting mates over which bird was the fastest in Europe.
There were absolutely no reference books at that time to prove any of the facts and at that time, Beaver was almost certain that a lot of arguments take place in Irish pubs on a daily basis on different subjects.
His great idea turned into the most important world records book at this time, but it started only as a reference book to settle friendly arguments and pub bets.
Content marketing takes many forms, but in the case of the Guinness Book of World Records it succeeded as a complementary activity for people drinking their pints in local pubs around the world.
KraftRecipes.com has over 35,000 recipes on its platform
Kraft foods, one of the biggest collections of food brands in the world went for the media company mentality as well. They own and manage KraftRecipes.com. Not the most up-to-date website design, but man, it’s full of content.
Julie Fleischer, Kraft Foods’ Senior Director of Data and Content says that the platform has a team of over 20 culinary professionals who cook using Kraft products every day. (Joe Pullizi — Content Inc.)
Just to have an idea of how big they went with their content platform, they have over 35,000 recipes there. Besides the obvious advantage that Kraft has by attracting its visitors to the products they are selling, they also win from the advertising opportunities they offer on the website.
Acura, Seinfeld and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”
Jerry Seinfeld’s idea for Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee goes back as far as 2002 and is the perfect mix of conversations, to-go coffee and cars.
Although companies like Facebook or Yahoo, where he pitched his idea for the first time, were very skeptical about this kind of show and thought that there was not a chance he could keep viewers entertained and interested for more than a few minutes, he reached it’s 9th season and confirmed future ones as well.
At that point in time, Acura saw the opportunity and stepped in to provide full sponsorship of the entire show.
This was a good move in the direction of content publishing and making people associate the brand with more than just cars.
These examples are just few of the hundreds of companies and people out there that have embraced a media company mentality and continue to give customers value before asking for anything in return.
Creating content can be hard. Keep in mind, this will work for you as well, you just have to be consistent in sharing your stories and start building an audience around your brand.
Do you have any questions or want to get in touch? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below or let’s connect on Twitter.
