Viral Marketing the Google way

Google sometime back had released a collaborative video of Gmail and had asked users to imagine how an email message travels across the world and post their own videos on the same theme. Now this is a very unique and viral way to promote its weaker link Gmail which is not as popular as compared to other mail services like a yahoo mail as well as to tap into user creativity and promote video making on Youtube and to add to it Google has posted the locations of users by mashing it up with a Google Earth API thus a three way cross brand promotion and all without spending a dime. From a marketing point of view the key in fact is the Gmail logo in the shape of an envelope which is being passed around in the video and that is very visible throughout the video through which Google is trying to create a subconscious brand appeal for Gmail.We really have a lot to learn from them even in terms of marketing.
You can check out the final video which was combined after nearly 1100 video submissions around the world on Official Google Blog: Lights, camera, Gmail and onOfficial Gmail Blog: Watch the final Gmail collaborative video.
Now Google instead of using traditional marketing has usually relied on its own blogs and PR however of late it has used Youtube for marketing itself with some dedicated channels for Google related videos an example being this earlier marketing video of Gmail.