Convergence in branded video content: A case study of The Home Depot’s YouTube and Facebook marcomm and tech comm practices

Technical communication (tech comm) and marketing communication (marcomm) are converging in business-to-consumer (B2C) contexts. In this paper, we examine how The Home Depot deploys tech comm and marcomm in their social media video content, examining both form and function. Each company produces videos that (a) function primarily as marcomm but also incorporate elements of tech comm, and (b) function primarily as tech comm but also incorporate marcomm conventions. This kind of convergence in B2C content is common in the home-improvement industry, but such practices have been neither strategic nor systematic, and are limited in scope of application across the customer lifecycle.