Burning rubber for a good steak

Thanks to OZ’s Tim Bradley for sharing the backstory of the Michelin Guide and its star ratings for restaurants.  Michelin put some insightful marketing thinking behind this innovation 100+ years ago.

Around 1900, there weren’t many cars in France. So Michelin, which sold tires, needed more drivers and/or they needed people to drive longer so they had to replace their tires more often.

Michelin’s creation of the star system was all about getting people to drive longer distances. If a restaurant had a star, which was hard to earn, it created a sense of scarcity. Consumers would drive further for that rare, premium dining experience.

So, instead of marketing their product, Michelin essentially marketed one of the experiences (high-quality dining) that their tires made possible. As the guy who made the post above put it, “Don’t sell the product, sell the ecosystem.”

In more recent times, the global detergent brand Persil/OMO has done something similar, with its global “Dirt is Good” campaign.  It emphasizes the importance of outdoor play for children.  More kids playing outside = more kids getting dirty = more people buying Persil to clean their kids’ clothes. Brilliant.

Can you think of other brands that could reap the rewards of such a counterintuitive approach of “marketing the ecosystem”?