Blended Success...

I admit; I never would have thought that a video about a blender would grab my attention and prompt me to ask “Will it Blend?” But, the marketing campaign that went viral for BlendTec’s Total Blend blender surely did. I could be found coming up with a wide range of ojects including my car keys and my bed.

With a need to promote a blender, build brand awareness and separate itself from the competition, BlendTec took a novel and unique approach featuring its founder, Tom Dickson, in a laboratory taking requests from online and attempting to blend anything he could find (Urlesque.com, 2009). Since the launch of this campaign three years ago, he has blended numerous items: hockey pucks, golf balls, marbles and even an iPhone. Most recently an iPad was subject to the blender.  In fact, the blending of the iPad has already garnered more than 6.8 million views since it was posted two months ago.

So...did it blend?



In all, he has blended more than 85 different items (Urlesque.com, 2009). That’s amazing to me! The video campaign's main purpose is to answer the question, “Will it blend?” This savvy marketing team has intrigued people by asking a simple question and having viewers become engaged by seeing if an object will blend. I know when I have watched it I almost wanted to see certain objects not blend.

So why was this video a success? First, it is critical to look at the components of a successful viral video. These include: creative and fun content (definitely in this campaign), building of a strong fan base (millions of people have viewed it) and search engine optimization (the campaign is branded on a dedicated YouTube channel and appropriately categorized) (Angwin, 2009). Also critical success is ensuring the video has a purpose. Whether it is to increase brand awareness, sell product or simply make people laugh, a video on YouTube needs to have a purpose in order for it to spread like wild fire. The BlendTec videos did have a pupose: show the blender's capabilities and increase awareness.

Essentially a viral video has to have a life of its own, and the “Will it Blend?” campaign definitely does. It is fresh, fun, entertaining and captured an audience. Too, audiences of all ages were interested in this video – children, parents and grandchildren all wanted to see the capabilities of this blender. Picking a wide range of objects to blend was a smart and strategic decision. The objects subject to the blender appealed to a mass audience. These items could be used by any number of age groups.  The success of this campaign though is in the numbers. In fact, over the past three years, the Will It Blend videos have seen upwards of 250 million views. One of their most recent videos hit 100,000 views in less than two days (McRoberts, 2010).

Yet, BlendTec even takes the marketing campaign a step further. After successfully blending an Apple iPad, the company launched another video campaign via YouTube having asking viewers sign up via a dedicated Website for a chance to win a new BlendTec blender and their choice of either a new iPad or the remains of a blended one. Clever, fun and driving sales; in my opinion that spells viral marketing success.



I love this video, and it is a great example of viral marketing. It incorporated all of the elements of strong marketing and helped to elevate a virtually unknown brand to an entirely unexpected level. I know if it wasn’t for this video campaign, I would have never of heard of this blender or even considered buying one (For the record, I do not own one; I still use and hand-me down blender from my parents).

And some say mockery is the best form of flattery. Well, this is the case with this viral campaign. Due to its popularity numerous copycat videos and parodies have appeared. One of the most creative is the "Will It Explode?" campaign. I'm not sure if I want to be anywhere near that test kitchen, but it does demonstrate that the "Will It Blend?" campaign has had an impact.

This video wasn’t an accident. It was carefully planned and had a specific purpose in mind. The only accident may have been not knowing how popular it was going to become.  This campaign definitely blended up a recipe for viral marketing success.

References

Urlesque.com Staff (2009). The 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos. Urlesque.com. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from http://www.urlesque.com/2009/04/08/the-100-most-iconic-internet-videos-70-66/

Angwin, J. (Feb. 18, 2009). Recipe for a Success Viral Video Campaign. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123481783053894227.html

McRoberts, S. (2010). 3 Keys to Successful Viral Video Marketing. Orange Soda Blog. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from http://www.orangesoda.com/blog/3-keys-to-successful-viral-video-marketing/