Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.
The Ultimate Blend(tec) Making the Perfect Viral Ad Campaign
lifeisoverpriced.com — Of all the online ad campaigns I ’ve seen, and considering that I spend most of my day watching YouTube, I’ve seen them all, “Will It Blend?” by Blendtec is the best by far. The company has well over 30 million views on YouTube alone. Here is how they did it.
arlok789- 628 diggs
- digg it
- dleesgeetar, on 05/22/2008, -1/+33theres only one way you can inhale an ipod :)
- cynic573, on 05/22/2008, -3/+7...buy an iPod Shuffle?
- Charlotte_Web, on 05/22/2008, -1/+1But will it blend a dog?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdbJnilJ8Yk&feature ... - Jeffler, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2BUT YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BREATHE THIS! D:
- davidmesaaz, on 05/22/2008, -1/+12Its one of those things you know that you are getting sold on something but you don't care its just to dang funny...
- Charlotte_Web, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2It's an absolutely brilliant marketing campaign... pure genius.
That $400 iPhone has generated 4.5 million views so far. Unbelievably cheap. You can't get an ad agency to create an ad for that price, much less put it in front of 4.5 million people.
I'm guessing that most of us had never even heard of Blendtec before this series of videos, and now they're riding the wide of internet culture.- tacojohn48, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3The only problem is that the people who enjoy these videos can't afford the blender.
- Charlotte_Web, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Rich people watch YouTube, too, ya know...
- tacojohn48, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3The only problem is that the people who enjoy these videos can't afford the blender.
- Fordi, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Damn right.
I don't need a blender... but when I do, I know which one I'm going to buy.
Hooray for indestructable appliances!
- Charlotte_Web, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2It's an absolutely brilliant marketing campaign... pure genius.
- Omek, on 05/22/2008, -4/+6hmmmm... ya I've always wanted to take a hit of iPhone before. Perhaps they can start selling it dime bags. It can be the new crack of our generation...hahahahahha. ;-)
- BigW, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2If I recall they did actually sell the Blended iPhone and a Blendtec blender on ebay for a combined price of more than a functional iPod plus a Blendtec blender.
Super slo-mo on the iPod blend was awesome!!
- BigW, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2If I recall they did actually sell the Blended iPhone and a Blendtec blender on ebay for a combined price of more than a functional iPod plus a Blendtec blender.
- ColonelTribune, on 05/22/2008, -1/+6It's always interesting to see what takes off virally. Good Digg, arlok!
- Qong, on 05/22/2008, -1/+8Those guys really are clever. I saw them on one of the late night shows, Conan maybe? And they were talking about how they came up with their "Will it blend?" idea; the story that they told was that they came up with the idea after the other guy (don't recall his name) saw the guy in the video blending a piece of wood, or something completely random, in one of the blenders to test it.
Something like that, it was funny while they were telling it. I could just imagine this guy putting random stuff in their blenders to make sure that they're able to hold up to whatever a customer could possibly need to use them for, and then the other seeing this and then -- *lightbulb* -- and they decide to make videos of it for the internet.- arlok789, on 05/22/2008, -1/+2The part that kills me is the keywords. Literally they can pull traffic from ANY demographic by destroying things. The blenders are also really pricey.
- Qong, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4Yeah haha, the price is insane for one of those. I looked it up after seeing them on that show, I don't recall the exact price offhand, but I was out of there after seeing it. I don't need the best blender available, I barely use the one that I have right now, even though it works great for anything that I've ever used it for.
- krakelohm, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2Yea thats just because you have not used it to blend an iPhone yet.
- Qong, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4Yeah haha, the price is insane for one of those. I looked it up after seeing them on that show, I don't recall the exact price offhand, but I was out of there after seeing it. I don't need the best blender available, I barely use the one that I have right now, even though it works great for anything that I've ever used it for.
- arlok789, on 05/22/2008, -1/+2The part that kills me is the keywords. Literally they can pull traffic from ANY demographic by destroying things. The blenders are also really pricey.
- richardhammond, on 05/22/2008, -16/+2This is an interesting read. ***** IPHONE SUCKS
- GeekyGerge, on 05/22/2008, -0/+6***** IT WE'LL BLEND IT LIVE
- kavitak, on 05/22/2008, -6/+3Interesting article.
- louiebaur, on 05/22/2008, -4/+2Great Article
- borez, on 05/22/2008, -1/+18Watching that iPhone blend made me feel really good inside.
And no...I'm not an Apple hater. - spazoidspam, on 05/22/2008, -2/+1I wonder if the writer of this article read ctrlaltdel-online.com yesterday.
- IlliterateJedi, on 05/22/2008, -1/+10But just how many people have gone out and bought a Blend-Tec blender afterwards?
- inigomntoya, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1I think that would be the best indicator of how successful a marketing campaign is - not YouTube views. What is name recognition without an increase in sales?
- rkzda, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1They were on Donny Deutsch and I believe it was said that they made over 40 million dollars so far.
- Chalks777, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1If I wanted a quality blender, Blend-Tec is the first place I'd look... because I know the name and because I know it will blend pretty much anything edible that I can throw at it.
- DanThe1Man, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1I want one.
- Shadowfox99, on 05/22/2008, -1/+51I want him to blend a Blend-Tec blender...will that open a worm-hole?
- jstone, on 05/22/2008, -1/+3No, it creates a space-time singularity from which neither matter nor energy can escape.
- SpookyPig, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7YOU FOOL! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!
- underdog138, on 05/22/2008, -0/+5OH SHI--
- PatrickTulskie, on 06/04/2008, -3/+10I want a blendtec blender!
- eviljolly, on 05/22/2008, -1/+2I wanted one too when I first saw these videos. Logic and reason told me that it wasn't worth $300 for the occasional smoothie I'd make. Not to mention I already have a perfectly good blender.
You can buy a lot of smoothies for $300....- inigomntoya, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1http://www.blendtec.com/products.aspx?catagory=1
Make that $400 - while its on sale!! - PueSi, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Yeah but you can't make an Iphone smoothie with a normal blender, hmmm delicious cancer...
- inigomntoya, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1http://www.blendtec.com/products.aspx?catagory=1
- eviljolly, on 05/22/2008, -1/+2I wanted one too when I first saw these videos. Logic and reason told me that it wasn't worth $300 for the occasional smoothie I'd make. Not to mention I already have a perfectly good blender.
- mediaspree, on 05/22/2008, -2/+1Yeah? How many people went out and bought a "blend-tec" brand blender after seeing one of these videos? How many blenders does one purchase in life, one? It better be a blend tec!
- Marnault, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7I'm sure there were at least a few people who bought one after seeing the videos. Its the same thing with a commercial, a million people might see your ad for widgets but it will only influence 100 people to purchase one.
Also by having a successful marketing campaign like this you increase your brand recognition, and a brand name can a company's most important asset if well known. If it wasn't for the will it blend videos very few people would know of blendtec. Brand recognition is especially useful for expanding your product line.- inigomntoya, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3"Brand recognition is especially useful for expanding your product line." - I can't wait for the blendtec toaster to come out - "Will this garden rake toast?!"
Of course, being a Utah company, they will have problems with the BlendTec coffee maker...
- inigomntoya, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3"Brand recognition is especially useful for expanding your product line." - I can't wait for the blendtec toaster to come out - "Will this garden rake toast?!"
- Marnault, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7I'm sure there were at least a few people who bought one after seeing the videos. Its the same thing with a commercial, a million people might see your ad for widgets but it will only influence 100 people to purchase one.
- destron, on 05/22/2008, -9/+4Wow, all these comments suck. This is Digg, people! Look alive!
- Charklii, on 05/23/2008, -0/+1Saying that only gets you dugg up when there's some truth in it. Sorry, -1.
- MScrip, on 05/22/2008, -2/+3But does a clever ad campaign translate into actual dollars?
30 million YouTube views is one thing... but how many of those people bought the blender? They say that the video have improved their sales. I've never seen a Blendtec in stores... so it must be working.- bobpotter, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1It definitely translates into brand awareness. Who'd heard of Blendtec before?
The alternative is to run an ad campaign and pay for it. There's no guarantee sales will improve just because it is "traditional" either, though you will spend/loose (hundreds of) thousands of dollars. Traditional advertising doesn't get talked about like a viral campaign does. BlendTec made an amazing product, proved it, and entertained us in the process. - nobodynoes, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1 I have made 30 million theoretical dollars from my videos
- Charklii, on 05/23/2008, -0/+1I am actually (seriously) planning to buy a blender.. and blendtec is the name that keeps coming to mind - too bad they aren't available in New Zealand..
- jdh358, on 05/27/2008, -0/+1You're kidding right? How many cars does Ford sell for every 30 million views of their un-entertaining commercials? How many chicken broilers did RonCo sell with 30 million views of their infomercial?
There's cynical and then there's dumb. There's no need to guess whether the guy is making a killing or not. Yes, he's selling the hell out of those blenders.
- bobpotter, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1It definitely translates into brand awareness. Who'd heard of Blendtec before?
- omnisync, on 05/22/2008, -2/+13My girlfriend got one of those. She wanted something to blend nuts and other things I didn't know were edible. That blender is a HELL of a machine! It suits my geek side because it flashes the firmware version when you turn it on... Oh.. and it has a blue backlight... hummm blue blacklight! Droolin'
- casual7y, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2blendtec blenders have firmwares?
drool.
- casual7y, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2blendtec blenders have firmwares?
- winmywii, on 05/22/2008, -1/+4I actually thought about buying one, then I saw the prices. The cheap blender is $399.
- koft, on 05/22/2008, -4/+1Until I read this article, I never knew there was a real company called Blendtec that made products. I just thought I was some joke. So much for viral advertising.
- uniformeddate, on 05/22/2008, -17/+0alina's blurbs
Lets see whats up with me now in 2008.....Well I'm 22 now and Im going to have a babyboy in June..I will be a single mother...Umm i love all the friends i have they have helped me threw alot and all the people i have met have became good friends to me....i marriaged at june last year and i found my true lover at the internet.well if you wanna know more,
just link to the http://www.UniformedDate.com Thanks for this site,i found my lover... - diggit08, on 05/22/2008, -0/+12Blendtec could totally own Scientology.
- omnisync, on 05/22/2008, -1/+0But... Will it blend?
- SacraBos, on 05/22/2008, -1/+0Okay, we know that Chuck Norris won't blend, but will Tom Cruise?
- jstone, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2He won't blend. He'll use his OT powers to postulate the blender out of existence.
- jetblackz4, on 05/22/2008, -1/+3I am curious on how many units they have sold before and after the online advertising.
- Versh, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4Seems like they borrowed from David Letterman's absurd comedy segments like "Will it Float?" or "Is this Anything?"...
- timewarp424, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2That gives me an idea...
Is that anything going to float while blending? - khaavren, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1yea i remember "Will it explode?" when they dropped things off a building, the fire extinguishers were the best.
- timewarp424, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2That gives me an idea...
- FredFredrickson, on 05/22/2008, -2/+2...you spend most of your day watching YouTube? What a sad, sad existence.
- Ablerank, on 05/22/2008, -6/+1Buried. This has been covered about 9389828349823 times, and Blend(tec) is honestly nothing special when it comes to viral marketing. 1. Use some creativity, 2. make a video of your product doing wacky *****, and 3. PROFIT!
- gdehms, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Jeese negative nancy
- merreborn, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Blend(tec) is nothing special when it comes to viral marketing?
Name another viral marketing campaign that's received half as much attention on the digg.
Or youtube, for that matter.
- frepnog, on 05/22/2008, -3/+1***** blend tec. i have a goddamn Whopper Chopper!
/obscure?- arlok789, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1What the hell is a whopper chopper? That sounds like a way more badass brand of awesome.
Blendtec should change their name to something more badass to reflect their sweet marketing.
- arlok789, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1What the hell is a whopper chopper? That sounds like a way more badass brand of awesome.
- JohnnyHotballs, on 05/22/2008, -1/+2nice article. but will it blend?
- cfelde, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Mr obvious..
- rhkaloge, on 05/22/2008, -1/+1In the interview linked to in the article (I'm down the rabbit hole here people) they are asked directly about how this affects sales and they dodge the question completly, claiming it has "raised brand awareness". Of course, I read both the article and the interview and not even I remember the name of the blender. 3 million views won't generate the sales to cover the price of the iPhone.
- arlok789, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1He gets payouts from video sites and profits from advertising.
- jabelar, on 05/22/2008, -0/+6Hey, I've got a good viral marketing idea for a hammer company ...
- nobodynoes, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3this all seems like common sense, but from someone who works at a marketing company, you'd be surprised at how many horrible ideas for viral marketing people can come up with.
- EASwanson, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1I saw this guy at an Internet Retailer convention... He went up onto stage and was going to blend a rake and the blender got stuck half way through. Wish I got it on video lol.
- nobodynoes, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1I believe you can find this video on youtube somewhere, think I saw it.
- miketighe, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1There is no viral marketing, viral is a state.
You make a video, and if it is good enough that video can 'become' viral. You can film a video with the intent of trying to make it 'go' viral. - orlandorays, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Will Digg blend? That is the question.
- TrashDispatch, on 05/23/2008, -0/+1Destruction resulting in creation. Hmmm, now there's something new.
- platylover, on 05/23/2008, -0/+0I bought a couple of these $400 blenders, one for my mom and one for me. I use mine daily to blend fresh fruit smoothies for my pregnant wife. Apparently, pregnant women get constipated and it helps with that.
The blenders you find in local department stores do not even come close to the performance of the blendtec units.
Juice places like Jamba Juice use the commerical version of these blenders, which have a simpler interface. The home version of these blenders have a menu system for making drinks, blending grains, etc and programmable buttons.
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2008 —
Content posted by