Content Marketing Today

Herman Miller: Great Chairs, Great Company, Great Content Marketing

A Company That Gets It on so Many Levels Minimizes Traditional Marketing Expenditures.

I was surprised, but not too surprised, to learn from a friend and colleague, David Drickhamer, that the famous maker of ergonomic chairs spent almost no money on traditional advertising.

Herman Miller tends to be well ahead of the curve on almost every business front.  After all, this is a company that was into sustainability before it was cool–and before Al Gore was invented global warming (or was that the Internet?). Back in 1984, they stopped using Rosewood when they determined it was an endangered hardwood.

When they introduced their new, high end and incredibly comfortable chair, the Embody, they relied heavily on the blogosphere to spread the word.  Although the traditional press would have been essential to the success of a new product a decade ago, it’s the blogosphere that is overwhelmingly influential today. 

Thus, you cannot find a reference to this new chair in the New York Times online, but you can find more than 80,000 Google citations in a simple search.  Virtually all of the articles about the new chair come from blog writers.  For example, the influential tech blog, Gizmodo, called the new Embody, "the best chair we’ve ever sat on."  Included in the blog post were a zillion pictures illustrating what made this new chair so special.  And, the Post received 72 comments from Herman Miller chair enthusiasts.  Multiply this coverage several hundred times and you get an idea of the influence of the blogosphere on marketing.

Although it is easy to be cynical about the many companies who talk the sustainability talk and blather on about work life balance, it’s pretty clear that Herman Miller walks the walk. They have a very cool content marketing example that makes the case.  It’s an online publication called, Jugglezine, which is subtitled, "an unassuming e-zine about balancing work and life."

Jugglezine offers a fascinating blend of articles that cover topics ranging from design to lifestyle to time management to working at home.  They make it easy to browse by topic using a visual box metaphor to show off the articles.  In genuine content marketing fashion, they write nothing about their products.  They write only about the topics they know are of genuine concern to their customers. Amazingly, Herman Miller has been publishing Jugglezine since 1997.

You almost certainly don’t have Herman Miller’s budget.  But you can emulate their approach to marketing by:

• being authentic in all things marketing
• taking more and more of your marketing messaging online
• creating content with a focus on the information needs of your best customers.  Encapsulate that content in visitor friendly publication format that is designed to attract the attention of those very important customers.
• targeting the relevant blogosphere with your news and information.  Go after those bloggers who care about your part of the business and product universe.

Happily, there is more good news.  Herman Miller also sells chairs that are both comfortable and affordable at Costco, too.