Happy Accidents #031 - Will it Blend?

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This week, we’re diving into the captivating story of Blendtec's "Will It Blend?" campaign, where accidental genius and innovative thinking turned Blendtec blenders into internet sensations.

In this edition, we uncover the role of George Wright, the Marketing Director at Blendtec, in transforming a low-budget marketing endeavor into a global viral sensation.

Let's dig in, shall we?

SETTING THE STAGE

This is the part of each Happy Accident story where we see every successful outcome starts with the person putting themselves in a favorable position. They work hard, they try new things, they meet new people. They're not just sitting around 'hoping' to be successful some day.

In the late 1990’s Tom Dickson was a BYU graduate with an engineering background and an interest in….bread making?

Yup, it was a passion of his.

But there was a specific problem his engineering brain was determined to solve. Tom liked to make his own homemade ground flour, but he found there were no affordable high quality blenders available on the market which were suitable for breadmaking.

So, like any engineering minded person would do, he made his own! And it was amazing.

In fact, Tom’s blender / grinder was so superior to anything else on the market he decided to put on his entrepreneurial hat and make more of them and sell them, at scale.

In 1999, Dickson founded the company Blendtec.

But that’s when Tom faced a new challenge. Marketing.

Sure, he had a great product on his hands, but what good was it if nobody knew about it?

Try as he might, Tom could not get the product and the company to take off like he had dreamed it would.

By 2006, after 7 years of slow sales growth, Tom decided to bring in another BYU alum, George Wright as Blendtec’s Marketing Director.

Armed with determination and a limited budget, George’s mission was to help market the company's high-quality blenders and showcase their strength and durability.

With little resources at hand, George was determined to find a creative way to stand out in the competitive market.

And how he managed to do it was fascinating…

THE HAPPY ACCIDENT

This is the part of every success story where there's a chance encounter, a serendipitous moment, an unintentional discovery (or Happy Accident) that paves the way for the next steps. In some cases, a Happy Accident can even be disguised as something bad in the moment.

One day, as George wandered around the Blendtec workshop, he stumbled upon Dickson, in an amusing position.

Tom was experimenting with blending different items to test the limits of the blender's power. Intrigued by Tom's playful experiments, George saw the potential to turn this into an attention-grabbing marketing campaign.

Recognizing the captivating and somewhat audacious nature of the blending experiments, George pitched the idea to Tom: "What if we make videos of you blending all sorts of crazy things? It could be fun and might catch people's attention online!"

Boy, was he right.

CAPITALIZING

Just like Happy Accidents don't just fall into your lap (you need to set the stage first), they also don't turn into anything if you don't recognize them and take action. This is the part of every success story where we see people capitalizing on their Happy Accident.

Tom Dickson, with his characteristic sense of adventure, agreed to George's unconventional marketing strategy.

Armed with their minimal budget and a dash of humor, they embarked on their journey to create the "Will It Blend?" videos.

With George's marketing background and Tom's blending expertise, they blended everything from iPhones to golf balls and marbles to glow sticks.

Each video showcased the power of Blendtec blenders in a lighthearted and mesmerizing way, captivating audiences with the sheer strength of the blenders.

The result?

People LOVED the videos. In fact, the first week of videos alone garnered 6 million views on YouTube!

In total, the ‘Will it Blend’ videos amassed over 300 million views and the campaign was responsible for a 700% increase in their blender sales.

Now that’s what I call capitalizing on a Happy Accident!

All this from a low budget, unexpected marketing campaign. 😃

Some fun facts:

• This ‘Will it Blend’ video from 2010 shows Tom Dickson blending an iPad. It has surpassed 19 million views on YouTube!

• According to Zippia, Blendtec’s revenue in 2022 was $56M with 694 full time employees (they’ve come along way since their humble beginnings in 1999)

• Blendtec now offers a wide range of both residential and commercial products from blenders, jars and lids, and accessories in a variety of price ranges.

The lessons here:

• Embrace creativity and teamwork: The collaboration between George Wright and Tom Dickson exemplifies the power of teamwork and creativity. Their ability to recognize opportunities and bring their distinct skills together paved the way for an iconic marketing campaign.

• Make the most of limited resources: The success of the "Will It Blend?" campaign teaches us that constraints can spark creativity. With a low budget, George and Tom found a cost-effective and engaging way to market Blendtec blenders.

• Trust in happy accidents: Sometimes, the most brilliant ideas can emerge from accidental encounters. Embracing happy accidents, like George stumbling upon Tom's blending experiments, can lead to game-changing marketing strategies.

YOUR Happy Accidents

Check out this fun story from Sam Browne on LinkedIn about how he unintentionally turned his content into over $10,000 in cash.

Or this incredible post about how 10 year old Lily Harper accidentally started her business Lily Lou’s Aroma’s during the pandemic.

Hey, Dennis Geelen here. Author of the Happy Accidents newsletter.

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