Test of company products as viral marketing campaign

Blendtec, a company from West Orem in Utah, that produces and distributes blenders, mixers and mills - both for commerical and private use - is very successful with its viral marketing campaign "Will it blend?".

The company has its own websites (www.blendtec.com, totalblender.com), uses twitter (twitter.com/blendtec) and facebook (www.facebook.com/BlendTec), has its own YouTube-channels (www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec, www.youtube.com/user/InsideBlendtec) and a video blog (www.blendtec.com/willitblend). The company also offers recipes and tips on healthy eating to customers and all those who are interested through its websites and facebook.

On the video blog with the name "Will it blend?" the company tests which products can be blended with one of their blenders. Tom Dickson, the founder of Blendtec, throws in different products in each video. Books, soft air guns, laser pointers, cameras, camcorders, paintings, car parts, light sticks, skis, but also fruits, vegetables and other food. The Blendtec devices blend everything - until dust is the only thing left. Dickson already blended iPhones - the YouTube-video of blending an iPhone has more than 8 million views, almost 4.5 million viewers wanted to see the blending of the iPhone3G. The latest video of the company, blending the Apple iPad is extremely successful already. After being put online only on April 5, almost 3 million viewers watched it so far.

All of the "Will it blend?" videos are set up according to the same scheme and also contain the company logo, which definitely increases the recognition value. The "Will it blend?" campaign has been running successfully since 2006. Since the beginning of the campaign the company was able to increase its turnover. Meanwhile, the campaign has its own page on wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_It_Blend).

Viral marketing – word-of-mouth on the Internet

Viral marketing is a form of advertising where customers voluntarily speak about the product or the advertising measure. Consumers for example tell their neighbors or their colleagues about it. On the Internet the advertising message then spreads like a virus. However, this type of advertising is difficult to control, as the clips have to be well made in order for consumers to talk about them. Most of the clips are one thing above all: entertaining. The product or brand steps to the background.
Often companies camouflage their blogs and video clips so they are not directly identifiable as advertising. If, however, it turns out that it is disguised advertising of the manufacturer, companies often suffer brand damage.

The most popular video on YouTube with the topic of viral marketing (about 2.926.786 hits) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkTDDeuytM8




Example: Viral marketing campaign of a Swabian business (about 743.798 hits)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj5_pSwJ0Ao