How can you take a product used by Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh and make it relevant to the internet age?

That’s the challenge Moleskine notebooks faced when they incorporated as a brand in 1997. Moleskine’s notebooks may seem ill-suited to internet technology, but their recent marketing efforts  prove that they’re just as adaptable as the creative folks who use them.

If you’re racking your brain to remember a Moleskine commercial or print ad, don’t. Chances are good you haven’t even heard of Moleskine unless you’re already a fan (or just someone who uses a lot of notebooks.)

For these fans, however, Moleskine has created a unique online community full of stories, sightings and special resources. There, users can upload pictures, videos and even Moleskine “hacks” – ways to change or improve the notebook’s functionality.

Moleskine also provides its own suggestions for incorporating digital media into its products. Check out this video tutorial for the MSK – a printer-friendly Moleskine notebook:

As shown by the video’s YouTube comments, not everyone loves the idea of pasting printouts into notebooks. Some people enjoy Moleskines because they’re not computer-friendly – they’re a throwback to a simpler time.

And that’s the beauty of Moleskine’s marketing. It doesn’t try to censor comments or be everything to everybody. It simply provides a wealth of options, and lets the people in its community decide for themselves.

So far, that community has almost 33K registered users – an impressive number of passionate product evangelists. And as Moleskine prepares to expand its product line to bags, glasses, pens and pencils, it will be interesting to see how this community grows and evolves.

For more Moleskine marketing goodness, read “Unify, Simplify, Amplify: How Moleskin Gets Branding Right.”