Have you been following the Blendtec YouTube story? Adweek has.
Blendtec, a small Utah blender maker, is a certified cult hit with the YouTube generation, with its product demonstrations drawing 15 million views since debuting in November. Without the marketing budget of larger rivals Hamilton Beach and Waring, it turned to something it’s long done: test blenders by placing in them all manner of unlikely objects. Blendtec created the Will It Blend? series out of such experiments, starring its CEO Tom Dickson.
Thanks to offbeat demonstrations of Blendtec blenders taking on everything from golf balls to glow sticks, Web sales of blenders have tripled, said George Wright, director of marketing at Blendtec. The series is so popular that the company’s marketing department actually turns a profit by doing Will It Blend? demonstrations at corporate events. “[The video] has to be fun and it has to be awesome,” Wright said. “Barring those two things, it won’t take off.”