Google crowdsources Gmail M-velope Video

Interested in Open Innovation & Crowdsourcing?
Follow Open Innovators on twitter or subscribe to the Open Innovators RSS feed!

This week, Google launched a viral video-competition. The Gmail Team is now accepting 10 second video clips featuring the red envelope on the right (M-velope). The best videos will be strung together into a collaborative video that will be featured on the Gmail homepage.

Want to make some fun with your family, friends, or colleagues? Download and print the signature M-velope, record a 10 second video where someone hands the Gmail M-velope in from the left of the screen, does something, and then hands it off to the right, and then upload that video on YouTube. Clips are due by August 13, and the final video (set to music) will be released to the world on August 20, 2007.

It will be interesting to see how much buzz they can build and how many will take part. With respect to crowdsourcing, the M-velope initiative is not revolutionary though. It’s mainly a fun way to kill summer boredom.

As a lot of crowdsourcing initiatives are featured on blogs and websites, it may seem like many many companies have adopted strategies to tap into the wisdom of the crowd. In reality however, most companies have not yet developed such strategies. Therefore, organizing a fun video competition could be a first step in exploring what crowdsourcing is about, and how it could benefit your company’s business.

[youtube KEPE-2KZESc]

[youtube xwkyOI3cAOE]