Home Depot Shows You How

1.   What in particular about Home Depot’s business made this how-to series of videos so successful? What other industries might be able to use a similar strategy?

With Home Depot being one of the leading large hardware stores a lot of their customers will be looking to improve their homes and do some DIY work of their own. The videos were so successful because customers looking into a certain project know that they can get all of the supplies to create what was in the DIY video at their local Home Depot. Other industries that could do this are automotive stores, they could make simple how to videos for replacing simple parts like batteries, wipers, and bulbs.

2.   Are these instructional videos actually more effective than overt commercials? Why or why not?

The instructional videos are more effective for building brand loyalty with customers because they are interacting with the brand. But to get people looking at the brand in the first place overt commercials are important. However in my opinion the instructional videos are more effective because it helps to keep the customers coming back since they are building brand loyalty.

3.   Why did Home Depot choose to focus on producing YouTube videos? Would videos exclusively hosted on its company web site or on other video sharing platforms have been equally effective?

Home Depot choose to focus on YouTube because it offers strong search ability, and since YouTube is a video sight the customers comments will be mostly about the video so they will not have to worry about losing control of the marketing message. It would not be as effective to host the videos on their site exclusively because then people who are searching YouTube for DIY projects are less likely to come across the video and possibly purchase from Home Depot as a result of watching.

4.   What advantages did Home Depot gain from having in-store representatives featured in the videos? Name at least two advantages, and explain why they are important.

By having in-store representatives featured in the videos it gives the videos and brand a community feeling which helps grow customer’s brand loyalty. Another benefit is that it makes the how to videos more approachable, if it seems like a normal person is instructing the video it is less intimidating than if a professional is doing it. Since people will think that they also have the skill set to accomplish the how to or DIY project.