Blendtec – Viral Marketing at its Finest

Rayban’s latest viral marketing campaign, “Never Hide”, features two casually smug California dudes with a knack for catching sunglasses with their faces while making Bill and Ted-like expressions in celebration.

The video has racked up over 2-and-a-half million views on YouTube in the past two months, but in the viral marketing game, Rayban ain’t got nothing on Blendtec. This producer of high-end blenders could take a half-dozen pairs of Aviators, spend 30 seconds with them on liquefy, and suck the remains up with a straw.

Hosted by Blendtec Chief Executive Tom Dickson, Will it Blend? was first conceived last November as a marketing tool to show off the strength and durability of the company’s line of commercial and home blenders. The one to two-minute videos feature Dickinson in a white, EepyBird-inspired lab coat and safety goggles, shoving everything from tiki torches

Within a week of posting the first episode, the 70’s game-show themed Will it Blend? racked up over six million views, and became an instant internet meme.

Unlike Dove’s “Evolution” ad, Blendtec’s campaign definitely won’t take home any awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less successful. “How do you know when an online word-of-mouth campaign is successful?” asks The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Lorber, “When the campaign itself becomes a revenue generator.”

According to Lorber, not only did sales of Blendtec’s home blenders rise 43% in 2006, but the company has generated $18,000 so far by Revver ads alone.  Other companies are also paying $5,000 to have Blendec film promotions using their blenders.  Have a tangible product that doesn’t live in cyberspace and need a good way to reach several thousand eyeballs? Let Dickson puree your way to notoriety.

For more on Will it Blend? read Lorber’s interview with Blendtec’s Director of Marketing, George Wright, and catch the videos at www.willitblend.com.