Home Depot

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?
What made Home Depot so successful is their massive following. They are one of the hardware giants and have huge following. Also they took the DIY and made it into a company slogan. I think what really made it work is that they put out these videos and people like me look up how to do things. They see the Home Depot video and see that Home Depot carries all the things they will need for the project and just go there. I think Auto companies like Autozone could really benefit from this as well.

 2.   Are these instructional videos actually more effective than overt commercials? Why or why not?
Yes i think they are. They give people the opportunity to see everything step by step. They can pause at any time to stop and try that step. I think this really builds brand loyalty and sets up an advocate for the company. Especially with projects on the house when people come over they ask about it. If the videos are good every person will talk about the videos and where they found it. 

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?
I don't think it would be as effective if it was  only on the companies web site. Youtube has such a strong presence in all things video related. Also it gives Home Depot a nice was to interact with customers. Youtube has a good comments section that will have personal experiences from people that did the project using the video. If there are negative comments Home Depot can respond and see what went wrong. 
 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.
I think the biggest one is it gives people confidence that they can do the project by seeing a normal person in the video. Along with that it makes it feel more like a community. Both of these are important because it makes people feels good about the project. It gives them confidence that they can do it.