I figured I would start off with Google’s video…as this was one that stuck with me.

It is a very good video.  The video was filmed in an interview style format and you got to hear from people “on the front lines.”  Filled with information about the environment, culture, facilities, perks, and the surrounding area and cities…my concern is the video has too much and is too long.  At a length of 7 minutes and 22 seconds, after about minute 5 it starts to lose me.  I would be interested to see YouTube’s Insight data regarding engagement throughout the video…I bet it dives after about 3 minutes.

Whenever I speak about video, I tend to mention (at least once) that transparency and honesty is a must.  The video should not be faked in any way.  So I don’t like what Google did in the first 10 seconds of the video.  They have a totally faked “interruption” – with a ”we’re making a movie” and a look of surprise…as if the lights, camera, and crew where not an immediate giveaway.   This interruption feels scripted and faked…and really diminishes the overall affect of the video.  There will always be in the back of viewers minds…what else is faked (and too good to be true).

Google is almost a too good to be true company, so this faked portion at the start was a bad move…in my opinion.  Take a look at it and see what you think about it.