If you’re a sharp observer of our YouTube page, you noticed that we recently uploaded a slew of walkaround videos for our 2015 models. Walkaround videos are a way to get acquainted with a vehicle in a minute or two. They also offer insight into a dealership and the people who work there.

We thought it would be fun to contrast one of our 2015 videos with one from 2014. Do we shoot videos exactly the same, we wondered? Let’s take a look.

This is our RAV4 video from 2014. It’s 2 minutes 12 seconds long, which is “forever” according to the 11- to 27-year-olds in our survey group.

There’s a voiceover in the beginning followed by a transition to a sales person explaining the merits of the RAV4. We stay with the vehicle for about 1 minute 40 seconds before breaking for some general points about Leith Toyota, our parts/service department and the close.

Contrast this with the 2015 RAV4 walkaround video.

This year’s version is almost a half-minute shorter at 1 minute 46 seconds total. We have the same building, and clearly there’s some footage being shared. Either that or we used the exact same people in the exact same clothes in the exact same lighting as last year.

Time spent on the vehicle is about 1 minute 10 seconds, and this time there’s no cut to a sales person. We scrutinized every frame, but aside from the vehicles, it looks like we didn’t reinvent the wheel with our videos this year.

Ultimately a walkaround video, at this point, is exactly what it sounds like. Do you have any ideas for how we can do these in a new way? We have a vision of being in 3015, looking back at our videos and saying, “What were we thinking? How antiquated! Could you be any more old-fashioned?”

It’s hard to be forward-thinking in the moment. That’s why it would be great to get some outside-the-box suggestions from y’all. Comments are closed on the blog for now, so comment on our facebook post about this.