Amazon, traditionally marketing based on data targeting and ROI, showcased new programming during its upfront debut, addressing inventory supply challenges. The presentation highlighted Amazon's content portfolio across Prime Video, live sports, and Twitch. Tanner Elton, Amazon's VP of U.S. advertising sales, emphasized Amazon's dual role as an entertainment and shopping platform. The company's advertising division saw a 24% YoY increase in Q1 revenue, reaching $11.6 billion, due to updates by Amazon Advertising.
New series like "Noir," sports documentaries like "Federer: Twelve Final Days," and additional seasons to established properties like "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" were unveiled. Amazon MGM Studios head, Jennifer Salke, emphasized Amazon's unique ability to engage audiences across various mediums.
Amazon's focus on the upfront season was hinted at with the January announcement of an ad-supported tier Amazon Prime Video. Elton noted that Prime Video boasted 115 million ad-supported viewers, who are more engaged and shop more.
However, Amazon Prime received mixed reviews from media agency buyers. Some found Amazon more reasonably priced than Netflix, but others reported inflexibility and slow responses to buyer requests.
Amazon's rise in advertising is due to its ability to provide e-commerce behavior insights at scale. This has been facilitated by developing cleanroom services for both buy- and sell-side offerings, namely Amazon Marketing Cloud and Amazon Publisher Cloud.
Amazon recently announced a partnership with NCS Solutions to help CPG brands assess how their online ad spend can bolster offline sales. It has also been enhancing its DSP offering by integrating with supply-side platforms and launching Performance+, a feature within the Amazon DSP aimed at driving specific ad campaign goals.
However, Amazon still has work to do in increasing its share of the DSP market, with only 5% of Digiday readers claiming Amazon as their preferred DSP.
