John Deere’s The Furrow magazine, now in its 123rd year, is still an example of best practices in content marketing.

For years, I have used the example of The Furrow magazine as part of the genesis of content marketing and branded content.

A magazine by farmers, for farmers.

An editorial team of 6 people operating independently, most of whom have graduated in agriculture or other related sector.

550,000 readers, the majority of whom are John Deere customers. 40% of them read each issue from cover to cover!

And the strength of The Furrow, according to David Jones, publications manager at John Deere, is the total independence between the editorial team and the brand’s messaging.

And as proof:

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If you took the issues of the last 50 years, you would have trouble finding the words “John Deere”, they appear only about half a dozen times!

When we say at Toast that humility is at the heart of a good content strategy, you have an excellent example here.

I invite you to read Minda Smiley’s article (The Drum) which summarizes David Jones’ talk at C2 Montreal this year.