Yes.

Flashing...

• ...partitions the eMMC. Formatting does not.
• ...loads some sample pictures and videos into MyDocs. Formatting does not.

You can generally live without the former and you can definitely live without the latter so in most cases, formatting is sufficient. But keep in mind that the eMMC has three partitions. Formatting MyDocs is not always what the doctor prescribed, you may need to format /home and that may not be as easy if you do not have the right tools installed.