A BRIEF HISTORY OF

CONTENT MARKETINGFor years brands have been telling stories to

attract & retain customers. Here are a few examples...

1732Benjamin Franklin begins publishing

his annual Poor Richard’s Almanackto promote his printing business.

1801Paris bookstore Librairie Galignani starts to employ some very creative content strategiesto grow its business, including opening a readingroom, creating original books, and publishingits own newspaper featuring articles frominfluential authors.

1861Samuel Wagner launches theAmerican Bee Journal – a magazinethat is still published today.

1887Charles Scribner’s Sons createsScribner’s Magazine, providing alook inside the lives of the publishingcompany’s most famous authors.It competes with Harper’s Monthlyand Atlantic Monthly, but its maingoal is to generate sales of its books.

1895John Deere launches itscustomer magazine, The Furrow.Still published today, it now has acirculation of 1.5 million, and isdistributed in 40 countries and12 different languages.

1904The Jell-O companydistributes free copies of itsfirst Jell-O Recipe Book,contributing to the company’ssales of over $1 million by 1906.

1900Michelin develops The MichelinGuide. The 400-page guide(still published today with itsiconic red cover) helps driversmaintain their cars and finddecent lodging when traveling.

1867Hartford Steam Boiler Inspectionand Insurance Company debutsThe Locomotive, which is now saidto be the country’s longest-runningcompany magazine to be continuouslypublished under the same name. 1882

The Edison Electric LightingCompany Bulletin is first

published to spread the wordabout the benefits of

electric lighting.

1930sProcter & Gamble begins its

foray into producing radio content,in partnership with brands

such as Duz & Oxydol – hence,the “soap opera” is born.

1987LEGO launches its

Brick Kicks magazine(Now LEGO Club magazine).

2001J&J buys BabyCenter

from eToys.

2004Sherwin-Williams launches

STIR magazine, targetingcommercial interior designers

and architects.

2008P&G launches

BeingGirl.com — a content site for teen

girls, which wasfound by Forrester to be

four times more effective

2010Content Marketing

Institute makesits debut.

2012Joe Chernov is thefirst recipient of theContent Marketer ofthe Year award.

2012Kraft begins focusing its entire marketingdepartment around content – a movethat eventually leads to a fourfold increasein marketing ROI over what the companyachieved with targeted advertising.

2013Red Bull MediaHouse continues majorexpansion, launching20 mini-movies in 2013.

Intel debuts Intel IQ,a digital magazine

focused on tech culture.

2011CMI launches Chief ContentOfficer magazine and theContent Marketing Worldannual conference, whichgoes on to become theworld’s largest contentmarketing- focused event.

2014Marriott International launchesan internal creative andcontent marketing studio, which partners with key influencers and createsoriginal videos.

2014The LEGO Movie debuts, arguably the first example of a feature-length, major-studio film that doubles as a branded content marketing effort.

2015The first documentary filmabout content marketing,The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing, debuts.

2016Arrow Electronics purchases UBM'selectronics media portfolio, makingit one of the first major examples of aFortune 500 company acquiring multiplemedia companies (they also purchasedmedia in 2015).

2011L’Oreal buys

Makeup.comand relaunches it as a

content platform.

2008Get Content Get

Customers, the handbook for

content marketing,is released.

Magnum Opus Awards debut,celebrating exceptional content

marketing. (Today, these areknown as the Content

Marketing Awards.)

2001Penton Custom Media (founded in Cleveland, Ohio) begins using the term “Content Marketing.”

1888Johnson & Johnson launchesa publication called Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment, aimed at theinformational needs of the doctorsto whom it sells bandages. Thecompany also launches twoadditional publications to sharehelpful articles with the largermedical community.

1924Sears launches its World’s LargestStore radio program. With contentsupplied by Sears’ RoebuckAgricultural Foundation, the stationhelps keep farmers informed duringthe deflation crisis.

1968Weight Watchers Magazineis founded, becoming one ofthe first consumer magazinesto be distributed via newsstands and atsupermarkets.

2006Blendtec uploads its firstWill It Blend? series videoon YouTube. It has receivedover 235 million viewsand 910,000 subscribers.

2007American Express launchesOPEN Forum. Now a keyresource for small business.

than similarly priced traditional media campaigns.

SOURCES & RESOURCES:http://www.aprixsolutions.com/download/Brief%20History%20Content%20Marketing%20-%20ebook.pdf

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_CK0029http://news.pg.com/blog/entertainment/pgs-soap-opera-era-ends-our-innovation-entertainment-continues

http://www.magforum.com/custom_publishers.htmhttp://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/785643/Top–100–Magazines/?DCMP=ILC–SEARCH

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/09/b2b–content–marketing/http://adage.com/article/american-demographics/custom-publishing-grows/43958/

http://www.rexblog.com/2011/05/19/23189https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_A_Real_American_Hero (Marvel Comics)

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/785643/Top–100–Magazines/?DCMP=ILC–SEARCHhttp://willitblend.com

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/cmo-survey-spending-podcast/http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/12/brand-journalism-content-marketing-spending-rise/

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2008/02/pg-does-it-agai/http://getcontentgetcustomers.com

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/the-story-of-content-rise-of-the-new-marketing/http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marriott-launches-global-creative-and-content-marketing-studio-160443

http://www.contentmarketingworld.com/julie-fleischer-the-roi-on-content-how-kraft-learned-the-true-value-of-their-content-and-rebuilt-cmworld-recap/ http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/02/red-bull-lego-branded-entertainment/

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2016/06/arrow-electronics-buying-ubms-ee-times-other-tech.htmlhttp://www.investor.jnj.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=63836

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_It_Blend%3Fhttp://www.fastcompany.com/1669407/what-american-expresss-open-can-teach-us-about-social-media

www.contentmarketingworld.com