This, my friend, is one of the greatest examples of content marketing of all time.

I bet when you hear “content marketing” you think about blogs, Twitter, Facebook and viral Youtube videos.

But it’s been around far longer than the Internet.

Why?

Because content marketing is all about storytelling – and humans have told stories for as long as they can speak.

Our attention will always go to those who tell great stories. That’s the reason why in 2015 blogs like the one by Tim Ferriss and movies like Jurassic World do so well – and why Kevin Spacey is a keynote speaker at a marketing conference.

When Hasbro and Marvel cooperated to launch their comic book series “G.I. Joe – A Real American Hero!”, in 1982, all they wanted was to create what Kenner Star Wars action figures already had – a rich back story for their action toys.

Within 2 months of releasing the first comic book, which contained 2 short stories, about 20% of boys between the age of 5 and 12 had 2 or more G.I. Joe toys.

7 years later the series was one of Marvel’s strongest titles and 2 out of 3 boys in the same age category owned at least one G.I. Joe action figure.