Nothing (Original)to See Here, Please Disperse
by: Amy Teeple
After reading The Last Original Idea, I have accepted the fact that Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein were right. There are no new ideas in marketing. All of the fresh and innovative ideas that pack conference halls with marketing executives are just variations of a theme: communication. Why then, am I submitting an entry highlighting the last original idea in marketing? It's simple. I want to win stuff!
My vote for the last original idea in the marketing realm goes to Blendtec's Will It Blend? campaign. Yes, videos were already being used for marketing (hello — television ads have been around in the United States since the 1940s), but Blendtec took an unlikely hero (CEO Tom Dickson) and catapulted him to internet stardom just by demonstrating a quality control test of his blender. Sure, the videos first got the attention of a mostly non-blender-buying demographic, but as their popularity grew, so did the sales of Blendtec blenders (with an increase of 500%).
Newer Will It Blend videos are by no means original ideas; they are just variations of the first video, but there is still demand for them. Why? Because the first video took something as boring as a blender and made it marketing gold.
The Last Original Idea
... is a chronicle of communication and commerce as seen through the lens of the Internet. It is a must-have reference book for marketing people..
Jim Sterne Founder of
eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit
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