Leverage YouTube for Revenue Generation
I have seen a handful of these “Will It Blend” videos on YouTube in the past. They are classic stuff featuring cheesy 70’s music and a guy in a lab coat and safety glasses putting things a blender that shouldn’t be there. The most recent video features our host putting an iPhone into the blender. Topical…funny…absolutely brilliant.
At first, I thought these videos were a joke. I have recently learned that they are not only real but have become an online cult classic with significant financial gains attached to the strategy. The company, Blendtec, that manufactures the blenders, has seen a huge explosion in sales from these videos. In fact, consumer sales of the blenders have increased five-fold since the videos went up on YouTube and Revver according to this interview by Josh Bernoff at Forrester. Additionally, the company has received over 4 million views to their videos and is now selling advertising and promotion off the videos — a new revenue stream for the company. This is all off and original marketing budget of $50 to create the first video. The Wall Street Journal has even gotten into the mix writing a great summary on the company and marketing strategy last week.
This has got to be one of the best, and most cost-effective online viral marketing messages I have ever seen. As the Blendtec marketing guru states in the WSJ article…
Be brave. Try something. Sometimes we get a little bit stuffy and stuck, and we have a hard time seeing things from a different perspective. Spend some time with a 14-year-old.
I have a son who is 14, and they see things differently.
Do you have a YouTube marketing strategy?
Thanks to Michael Krigsman for sharing this great finding.
UPDATE - You can buy the “blended” iPhone on eBay now. They already have 39 bidders at the time of this post with the highest bidder at $570. The auction also includes a brand new Black Total Blender, a “Will It Blend?” DVD of the first 50 videos and an autographed “Tom Dickson Is My Homeboy” t-shirt!
July 12th, 2007
1 Comment Add your own
1. Naomi Bloom | July 12th, 2007 at 11:30 am
It’s true that fourteen-year-olds, as well as many of their still young parents, interact quite differently with technology than do we seniors (and that covers most of corporate managements, especially HR and IT). They have no concept of user manuals and simply reject anything that doesn’t operate intuitively. They have no concept of intellectual property or why software or IP like music or film should cost real money. And they aren’t likely to join firms (or, if they do join, to stay engaged and productive) that look foolish in their use of technology. So, instead of worrying about “getting a seat at the table,” HR pros had better be worrying about what it will take to engage, develop and retain the next wave of talent — and these young folks are more similar on a global basis by their age than by their nationality. Thank you as always for your efforts to bring new think to this older thinker.
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