Trendwatch - Will It Blend?
Ben Ayers has an interesting interview with Tom Dickson, a genuine Internet celebrity due to the Will It Blend viral campaign. The Will It Blend campaign was designed to raise awareness about the power and durability of the Blendtec blender. Tom used to run a test where he would put a log of wood into the Blendtec, the team decided to record it and another couple of videos and before long they were on the path to becoming Internet superstars. The campaign has since taken a life of its own with Dickson appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CBS News Sunday Morning, and iVillage Live in the United States alone.
One of the latest Will It Blend videos is below:
The Blendtec video series is probably one of the best examples of a brand using YouTube to successfully raise awareness about a product, whilst boosting sales in the process. Ultimately it was successfully due to its ability to tap into Internet culture. Similar YouTube videos which found success in the past include the Smash my Ipod and Smash my Xbox social experiments. The Will It Blend series is reminiscent of these. While the Blendtec team might not have been familiar with these videos when originally planning their own campaign, it offers an insight to other brands that want to try and tap into Internet culture and find success of their own.
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