Bertha Benz: Automotive Marketing Pioneer
Behind every great man… is an even greater woman! Karl Benz is best known as the German engineer who invented the world’s first patented automobile – Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 – to use a one-cylinder internal combustion engine and a single forward gear. But the world probably wouldn’t have known about his revolutionary machine without the help of his wife, Bertha Benz, who helped usher in the modern marketing industry.
If there was ever one story about a woman making things happen for a man, it would be this one. While Karl Benz was a genius when it came to car making, he was really bad at money management and making sound business decisions. After a number of failed business ventures and with the support of his wife’s family wealth, Benz was able to form the industrial machinery company Benz & Cie in 1883. When the company became a success, Benz was able to focus his energy on building the horseless carriage.
However, it soon became apparent that Benz was also bad at marketing. The first few public demonstrations of his automobile went badly, with one demonstration ending with the car crashing into a wall, and the crash terrified onlookers.
Benz also didn’t get much support from higher authorities either. German Kaiser Wilhelm I felt that replacing cars were stupid and unpatriotic. Even many church leaders at the time felt that cars were the work of the devil! Benz also faced competition from another German innovator Gottlieb Daimler, who was working on his own version of the automobile.
Enter Bertha Benz. She didn’t feel that her husband was properly marketing his invention, as she saw great potential in his work. In August 1888, Benz took the car out for a drive with her two sons without her husband’s permission and travelled to her mother’s home 60 miles away. This seemingly simple drive was pretty radical at the time, as she became the first person to drive an automobile long distance and bring worldwide attention to it.
Along the route as Benz drove, many eyewitnesses were surprised by how safe the automobile seemed to be. While many onlookers were shocked to see such a machine roll down the road, much less one driven by a woman (OMG!); nonetheless, Patent-Motowagen received the attention and press Benz hoped she would see.
Along the journey, Benz was also the mechanic. During the trip Benz had to stop at a pharmacy to refuel with petroleum ether, and that pharmacy became the world’s first gas station. With the help of a blacksmith, Benz fixed a chain and the brakes in the automobile and cleaned the fuel pipe with a hairpin. Benz is widely credited for inventing brake pads.
A few days later, Benz travelled home a different route so more people could see the invention. Upon getting home, Benz discovered that the automobile couldn’t travel uphill, as she and her sons had to push it up steep routes. This forced her husband to create the world’s first gear system.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Sales for the patent went straight through the roof almost immediately due to the publicity and Benz & Cie became the world’s largest and most profitable automobile company within 10 years.
The lesson here: creating a innovative, strategic marketing campaign around demonstrating how a product is used is the best form of marketing.
So the next time someone says that women can’t drive or fix their cars, tell them about Bertha Benz!