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Links 🔗
- A Tyre Company Gives Out The Most Prestigious Food Award – Here’s Why:
Michelin is one of the world’s most prominent tyre makers. How did they become synonymous with the hallmark of food ratings?
Here’s the story:
- It’s the 1900s, automobiles were still new to people.
- The Michelin brothers produced rubber tyres for cars.
- To increase tyre sales, instinctively, there should be more cars and more driving.
- Hence, Michelin published handbooks to drivers, the ‘Michelin Guide’.
- The guide has tyre replacement instructions, roadmaps, petrol station listings, hotels and yup, restaurants.
- This was to increase the popularity of driving and advertise the lifestyle of road travel (instead of railway).
- The Michelin Guide was well-received, and the ‘Restaurant Section’ became popular.
Michelin Stars:
- Michelin expanded the Restaurant Section, hiring anonymous inspectors and introduced the infamous ‘Star rating’.
- With only a handful of stars given out each year and the strict inspection standards, there’s a sense of exclusivity and prestige to receiving stars.
- Some restaurants work their hardest to earn a star for the recognition and status elevation.
- However, not all restaurants like this. The star comes with the stress of keeping it, higher expectations from patrons and coping with flocks of new visitors.
I think Michelin understands the power of adding valuable consumer content to their marketing strategy as they have continued publishing the Michelin Guide even though it’s not profitable. Instead of yelling “Buy our tyres!” they went “here’s some good food you can drive to, and we sell tyres too 😉”
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