John Deere has been around for 188 of America’s 250 years. The challenge now is making sure the next generation of consumers actually cares.
John Deere is the oldest consumer brand among the official sponsors of the nonpartisan America250 commission, having been established in 1837 just 61 years after the country’s founding. Its yellow and green sit alongside Coca-Cola red and Levi’s blue as some of the most recognisable brand colours in American life. But with iconic heritage comes a specific pressure: staying relevant as the country, and its consumers, continue to change.
“We have so many brand fans, and even families, who have lived, breathed, died and built their farms around John Deere equipment,” said Jen Hartmann, Global Director of Corporate Reputation and Brand Marketing at John Deere. “We know that our brand has a really emotional connection to a lot of people, and we want to be sure that as the world evolves in this technology space, we remind people our heritage has always been about innovation.”
Hartmann has been at John Deere for nearly two decades and has led public relations, social media, and brand marketing for the past six years. Her tenure has overlapped with the pandemic and post-pandemic era, as well as the company’s push into technological innovation, including the fully autonomous tractors it introduced at CES in 2022. The marketing challenge has been clear: recognise how farm work is evolving — and who is doing it.
“We know that younger generations are moving away from the farm,” Hartmann said. “Younger generations are not as brand loyal, and for us, we know it’s important to remind people that our history is something that differentiates us from our competitors. It’s as much about celebrating our history as it is about strengthening trust people have in the brand.”
Also Read: Are We Using AI to Help Customers or Avoid Them?
Baseball, TikTok, and a Very American Pivot
To market its heritage and strengthen that trust, John Deere is taking its brand to the places and platforms where consumers actually spend their time. In March, the company announced a multi-year deal with Major League Baseball, timed to this summer’s semiquincentennial celebrations.
“Baseball, John Deere, America’s 250th — all we needed was an apple pie partnership. It just felt so iconically American,” Hartmann said.
As the official tractor of MLB, John Deere will highlight the work that goes into maintaining ballfields and backyards across digital and linear media. The partnership includes corporate social responsibility extensions, a launch video voiced by Kevin Costner of Field of Dreams and Bull Durham, and experiential activations during the 2026 MLB Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, and MLB All-Star Week in Philadelphia.
“Our archivist is helping us with the All-Star display, harking back to all the ways Deere has been involved, in some way, shape or form, with baseball,” Hartmann said. “Almost everything you see at a ball field is created by one of our customers or someone in the industry.”
On TikTok, John Deere took a notably different approach from the wave of brands that have used comedic C-suite stunts as brief PR plays. The company had been one of the top brands mentioned on the platform for years before it even had an official page. When it finally launched its profile in 2024, it did so by searching for a Chief Tractor Officer — a real role with real ownership of the brand’s presence, not a campaign gimmick.
“We absolutely hit the lottery with Rex Curtiss and the work he’s done,” Hartmann said. “He’s genuinely curious about the industries that we serve. He has an incredible way of talking to farmers and contractors that allows them to talk about the work they do in a way anyone can understand.”
Alongside Curtiss, John Deere has enlisted 10-year-old Jackson Laux as its Chief Tractor Kid and worked with micro-influencers in the agricultural space to bring farmers’ authentic voices into the mix.
Also Read: E-commerce Doesn’t Have a Data Problem. It Has a Speed One.
Celebrating America Without Touching the Politics
John Deere is also using the 250th anniversary to showcase its all-American credentials more broadly. The brand’s annual John Deere Classic golf tournament runs July 1–5 and features a military family tribute alongside other celebratory programming. John Deere is also a partner with Freedom 250, the organisation behind the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, where the brand will display a Model D heritage tractor alongside an ethanol-powered prototype.
Navigating the anniversary has required some care. John Deere has previously drawn criticism from President Trump, and the political climate around America250 has not been straightforward for any large corporation. The brand’s approach has been deliberate: keep the story centred on the people, not the company.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to keep the story customer-centric,” Hartmann said. “If we are at an event for America’s 250th, it is not about celebrating Deere. We are doing everything we can to make sure this is really about how the builders, farmers, maintenance workers, manufacturing facilities and factory workers are actually the ones helping build America. That’s how we’ve differentiated ourselves, and maybe prevented some of the political fray that can come with these activations.”
