76 THE POWER OF VISUAL STORYTELLING and fans started writing in with requests for items to be blended, to which Dickson often responded (http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec). The original video, featuring a bag of marbles being reduced to dust by Blendtec’s hardy blender, has now been seen over 6 million times, while a video showing an iPad meeting its match has had nearly 16 million views. The channel has over half a million subscribers, with 130 videos now uploaded, and counting. Dickson likes to bring out themed versions for holidays such as Thanksgiving (blending a Thankgiving turkey dinner, naturally), and a World Cup version where he blends a vuvuzela (a plastic horn used in football matches in South Africa). The popularity of the brand’s series is staggering, but the impact on sales has been similarly impressive. Since the first video went viral in 2006, Blendtec has seen sales jump by over 700%.50 So what is the secret to Blendtec’s success? There are several reasons why the Will It Blend? series made such an impression on viewers—and on sales. The format is brilliantly simple: everyone can relate to the corny infomercial style. And it’s got that edge of misbehaving to it—we know our moms would never, ever let us blend half a dozen lighters (for good reason as it turns out: Blendtec had to deploy a fire extinguisher when the lighters exploded). Tom Dickson is also really good at listening to fans and responding to their suggestions for items to blend, which has secured his popularity with followers. Dickson has also taken onboard that first rule of Internet con- tent marketing: keep content fresh. New videos are always being released, keeping the product firmly in the minds of the hundreds of thousands of YouTube subscribers. Then there are the themed versions, inspired by hol- idays and events like anticipated product releases (the iPhone videos are some of the most popular) that keep the videos topical and add humor. The Will It Blend? series has now gained a total of almost 300 million views, and it has become an Internet meme in its own right. Not bad for a small blender company from Orem, Utah. YouTube is a marketer’s dream: it can connect with a global audi- ence and show more dimensions to your brand than the more traditional