We wrote not long ago about a bunch of new, awesome YouTube videos (which are also TV spots) showing up on YouTube in the official Chromebook Channel. They are quick, informative, and well-made.
Sure, some people aren’t huge fans of the “You Chromebook” slogan, but it works to deliver the message Google is trying to convey with this latest campaign.
Right on the heels of those slick, punchy ads, Google has unleashed a new set of videos that are quite a bit different from the last batch.
Likely not destined to be TV spots (they are all around 3:00 long), these videos look to be more YouTube focused and feature different creative professionals across a few different genres.
Included in the group are a fashion designer, traveler/vlogger, artists, video producers, and a writer. We’ve dropped them just below the article if you’d like to watch.
So what is Google’s point with these videos?
Well-Produced
If you take the time to watch even one of these videos, the first thing that will likely strike you is how well they are made. These are not afterthoughts. The videos are well-constructed documentary-style productions meant to draw you into the subject.
And, for the most part, they work really well at doing that.
Knowing these videos won’t be on TV anytime soon makes me wonder exactly why Google took the time to make them. I’m sure time will tell, but it will be interesting to see where these show up. I’m sure they weren’t exactly cheap to produce.
Ultimately, like the more TV-ready ad spots Google dropped not long ago, the question simply comes down to whether or not the videos work for the intended audiences.
A good portion of these videos are focused on the artist/creative person in the video, and that is great. There’s nothing wrong with highlighting people and their creativity. Sure, we see shots of the fashion designer sketching, the traveler plotting a trip, video makers sharing real-time notes in Docs, etc., but we aren’t being sold on Chromebooks as all-out creative tools, per se.
Instead, these videos serve to show where Chromebooks can easily plug in as tools for creatives. Sure, you may not edit intense videos on your Chromebook (just yet), but you may use them to document, share notes, and organize the shoot and its edits. You may not use a Chromebook to fly your drone, but you can use it to plot out the journey you will be capturing.
In other cases, however, for the writer/blogger, a Chromebook becomes the entire toolbox and is all you really need.
Different strokes for different folks. I think these videos do a great job communicating that truth.
If people are watching these videos trying to prove to themselves or someone else that all the creative needs can be met with a Chromebook at this point, I think they will be disappointed. But, that’s a good thing. Google isn’t selling anything it can’t deliver. They aren’t trying to say that Chromebooks can fully replace Windows or Mac OS. They are simply saying that Chromebooks can make for very handy companions in the creative process and, for some, can be the entire toolbox.
Marketing Dollars
Either way, regardless of where you find yourself in the Chromebook narrative, one thing is quite clear: the Google marketing machine is churning away and is fully behind the Chromebook initiative.
Finally! It will take a considerably larger amount of this same treatment over a considerably larger time frame, but it feels like Google is behind the Chromebook in a real and solid way this time around. Seeing highly produced content only serves to solidify this fact, regardless of what you think of these latest videos.
Google is on board, and an ongoing commitment to telling consumers about the great parts of Chrome OS is what excites me more than anything right now. 2018 will be a very interesting year, indeed.
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