From Deseret News archives:
Orem firm has Net all shook up with blends
"I've never seen anything that's taken off quite like this in my life," said Blendtec marketing manager George Wright, who developed the idea for the hit video series, "Will It Blend?"
One high-traffic video — that hit 933,858 views by Friday on www.YouTube.com — shows Blendtec owner and CEO Tom Dickson in a lab coat and safety goggles, grinding up golf balls in the company's heavy-duty home blender.
The company's Web site www.willitblend.com is divided into two segments. "Don't Try This at Home" shows marbles being blended into glass dust and a rake handle that ends as a pile of shavings.
The "Try This at Home" segment proves credit cards and ice cubes are no match for the surgical stainless steel blades spinning at nearly 300 miles per hour.
The first videos went on the company's Web site Nov. 2, with a total viewing audience of 10. The next day, however, word had spread, and the site received nearly 23,000 hits.
"People started to hit it and started to love it," Wright said. "It just went nuts on YouTube, and it's just gone crazy from there."
The company doesn't do much advertising, Dickson said. In fact, he said he was not in the business to make money, just to provide the highest-quality appliance he could.
The Utah County company projected revenues close to $30 million this year, but with Internet clips of pureed Extra-Value Meals, sales are already beginning to climb, Wright said.
"Ten days ago, I didn't even know what YouTube was," Dickson, 60, said with a chuckle. "I'm learning real fast."
With the Internet videos, the company is reaching an international market on a budget any advertising executive would envy.
For close to $50 — the cost of a rake, a Big Mac meal, Coke and some marbles — the company has been seen — and been talked about — by millions, Wright said.
"We have built a top-of-mind brand recognition awareness of this company in a matter of days," Wright said.
So, what's next?
Every day, Wright said he reads through hundreds of e-mail suggestions of what to puree.
"You should hear some of the creative things they're telling us," Wright said. "'Precious Moments figurines, because 'I hate them' ... batteries, cell phones, iPods."
Dickson said he's looking forward to the next shows, which the company plans to release each Wednesday.
He never planned to be a "blending icon, but now he's stuck, he said.
"I'm the guy, I'm the inventor," he said. "I'm the guy that likes to cram things into (blenders) and go fast. There's no end to what we can put in a blender."
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com
