A common question that I hear is how to overcome a product or topic that is – well, just plain boring.  Our job as marketers, writers, and bloggers is to take the mundane and make it interesting.  When trying to promote something, whether it’s content, products, or services, you need to approach them with an angle that makes them intriguing and interesting.

WineLibrary TV & The Transformation of a Category

Typically when you think of wine (especially from a novice point of view) your mind may conjure up images of snootiness, affluence, and arrogance.  These are a few of the traits that immediately jump into my mind as someone who doesn’t really know about wine.  However, Gary Vaynerchuk of WineLibrary TV fame has transformed an entire industry, opened the door for aspiring wine connoisseurs, and took his family wine company from just a few million dollars per year in sales to doing over $50 million in the course of just a few years.

How did he do it?

In addition to his charismatic personality, Gary appealed to the masses by catering to their interests and pulling back the curtain on the wine category.  He introduced people to wine and showed them that it is something that everyone can enjoy and it’s not a secret society of rich, arrogant people.  He embraced social media, was extremely passionate about his topic, and connected with his visitors and customers in a way that no one had before.  He made wine fun and enjoyable to millions of people.

BlendTec & The Transformation of a Product

There are few products that are more boring or mundane than a blender.  Blenders do pretty much one thing and there are few of us that are really concerned with what a blender does – other than blending things when we need them blended.  Then along came a company called BlendTec that made blending interesting, and not only showed us that you can be interested in seemingly boring products – but changed the way we thought about the product altogether.

How did BlendTec do it?

BlendTec came up with the idea to blend all kinds of everyday objects – from iPhones to lighters – posted their videos to YouTube and got millions of people watch how powerful their blender really is.  They appealed to the masses by putting a unique and fun twist by blending all types of crazy things, and gained a ton of media exposure.  In the process of creating these videos, they instilled in our minds what one of their products can do – and what a blender is capable of.  In addition to the direct sales that they received from their videos, they also positioned themselves in front of millions of people – who will certainly consider buying their product the next time they are looking for a blender.

What you can learn from these two examples

What Gary & BlendTec teach us is that no matter how seemingly boring a topic or product appears to be, if you cater to your audience with a unique angle you can greatly profit and make a lot of money.  These two companies approached their markets like no one had before them, revolutionized their industries, and the result are two extremely successful companies that have grown because of their innovations.

This goes to show you that even if you have a drab product or topic, you can get great results by being innovative and approaching with a fun and interesting twist.