From John Deere's "The Furrow" magazine to G.I. Joe becoming "A Real American Hero" to Seth Godin making eBooks mainstream, content marketing has been gaining traction for over a century. We thought we'd take you on a walk down content marketing memory lane, and check out some major moments in content history. And who better to guide us than the one and only Emmett "Doc" Brown? That's said, let's go back to the future — content marketing style!

1. A VISUAL HISTORY OF CONTENT MARKETINGA VISUAL HISTORY OF CONTENT MARKETING
GUIDEMICHELIN
EDITION1900
Offert
gracieusement
aux chauffeurs
A REALLY LONG
TIME AGO, B.C.
YEAR
1835
YEAR
1895
YEAR
The earliest evidence of cave paintings — and communication through
content — are said to be in Malaga, Spain, where seal-like images left by
Neanderthals were discovered.
The New York Sun became the largest newspaper in
circulation at the time after running a series of articles
about the “scientific discovery” of life on the moon.
Though this was revealed as a hoax soon after, their
readership continued to grow — proving the timeless
power of unique content!
John Deere’s consumer magazine is often referred
to as the unofficial birth of brand publishing. It
started as a quarterly magazine with ads, articles,
and agriculture tips, and its success has made it a
content marketing legend.
CAVE PAINTINGS
THE GREAT
MOON HOAX
JOHN DEER’S
THE FURROW
1900
YEAR
Michelin (yes, the tire company) published its first
guidebook for French motorists in 1900, which expanded
into a series for different countries. It’s now one of the
premier restaurant reviewers, with chefs across the
globe striving to land as many of those 3 coveted
Michelin Stars as they can.
THE MICHELIN
GUIDES
1904
YEAR
A recipe book may not seem groundbreaking now, but it
was in 1904 when Jell-O started delivering their gelatin-
and pudding-inspired dessert recipes door-to-door. It’s no
surprise that they’ve since taken their recipe book online
and continue to build relationships with their customers
through (delicious) content marketing.
JELL-O’S
RECIPE BOOK
1924
YEAR
In order to target the lucrative farming market, Sears created
the Sears-Roebuck Agricultural Foundation and bought
radio time under the callsign, the “World’s Largest Store.”
While their main focus was farming, they also opened up
the station to music and comedy programs as well.
SEARS’
“WORLD’S LARGEST
STORE” RADIO SHOW
1982
YEAR
In 1982, Marvel and Hasbro teamed up to create the
“Real American Hero” comic book and TV series
based on the G.I. Joe action figure. This innovative
cross-channel promotion turned G.I. Joe into a
household name who remains one of the most be-
loved action heros to this day.
G.I. JOE A REAL
AMERICAN HERO
1994
YEAR
It’s hard to imagine a time before the Internet, but it was only 1994
that it became mainstream! In 1993, O’Reilly & Associates launched
the first commercial website with a section dedicated to “The
Online Whole Internet Catalog” with 529 entries and a year later,
Netscape Communications was born.
ONLINE CONTENT AND
THE BIRTH OF INTERNET
2000
YEAR
Leave it to marketing master Seth Godin to create one of the most
popular eBooks of all time. In 2000, he offered his “Unleashing the
Ideavirus” eBook for free, a revolutionary idea at the time. It has since
been downloaded over 1 million times and been credited as the inspi-
ration for a new content format.
SETH GODIN INTRODUCES
THE FREE EBOOK
Well Marty, you’ve saved yourself from never being
born, thwarted Biff’s attempts to drive your parents
apart, and rescued me from being trapped in 1885.
But we’ve still got work to do. Many people think
content marketing is a new idea, when in fact it’s
been around for quite some time! We’re going on a
journey through the history of content marketing to
check out some important milestones.
Hop in the DeLorean and away we go!
2006
YEAR
How do you make blenders interesting? With fun content! In 2006,
Blendtec upload their first “Will It Blend?” video to YouTube, putting
marbles into their super-powered blender. They’ve since blended a
Rubik’s Cube, silly putty, and even an iPhone, and now have over
700,000 subscribers.
BLENDTEC’S
“WILL IT BLEND?” VIDEOS
YEAR
Marcus Sheridan’s pool business was on the brink of failure until
he channeled the power of content and started blogging answers
to common customer questions. River Pools and Spas is now the
most-visited pool website in the world and Marcus has gone on to
become a marketing and sales expert.
MARCUS SHERIDAN
SAVES RIVER POOLS
AND SPAS
2009
2013
YEAR
Uberflip debuted Hubs in 2013 and since then, the
centralization of content has taken off as a means of
driving engagement and generating leads. What will
2014 and beyond bring us in the wild world of content
marketing? We can’t wait to find out!
1/ contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/02/history-content-marketing-infographic
www.newscientist.com/article/dn21458-first-neanderthal-cave-paintings-discovered-in-spain.html#.VBBYEfldXi8
2/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show
3, 4, 5, 7/ hub.uberflip.com/h/i/11305110-a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-its-not-as-new-as-you-think
6/ contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/02/history-content-marketing-infographic/)
www.wlshistory.com/WLS20
8/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show
9/ www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/5513/a-brief-history-of-content-marketing-slide-show
10/ www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec
11/ www.thesaleslion.com/york-times-praises-marcus-sheridans-content-marketing-approach/
12/ www.uberflip.com
CONTENT HUBS
CREATED BY
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