Amazon, which has added commercials to Amazon Prime Video, is rolling out new interactive ad formats that will enable advertisers to engage streamers and sell stuff to them.
A week before its upfront presentation, Amazon introduced its Shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads and interactive brand trivia ads.
“Amazon Ads continues to reimagine the streaming TV experience with interactive ad formats that are seamlessly shoppable and help advertisers meaningfully connect with customers,” Alan Moss, VP, global advertising sales for Amazon Ads, said.
“We are developing innovative experiences to help brands better engage with customers, as we work to transform streaming advertising through our differentiated combination of reach, first-party signals, and ad tech,” Moss said. “Ads in Prime Video provide an unparalleled experience for advertisers to deliver on any full-funnel marketing objective — whether it’s awareness, consideration, or conversion.”
Amazon increased the number of ads appearing on Prime Video earlier this year. Instead of asking subscribers if they were willing to watch ads in exchange for a cheaper subscription, Amazon decided to add the commercials and offer viewers who don’t like commercials an option to keep their service ad-free by paying an extra $2.99 a month.
According to Hub Entertainment Media, the strategy resulted in 85% of Prime Video subscribers being available to see commercials in entertainment programming, much higher than other streamers that have launched ad-supported tiers.
Prime Video said it has an average monthly ad-supported reach of over 200 million global customers.
Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football telecasts have always been ad-supported.
The new formats introduced by Prime Video are:
- Shoppable carousel ads enable brands to present a sliding lineup of products that customers can explore on Amazon and add to their cart using most living-room remotes. The ad automatically pauses so that customers can browse, and automatically resumes play when ad interaction has stopped.
- Interactive pause ads enable customers to discover and engage with brands when they decide to pause the show or movie they’re streaming. When viewers press pause on their living room remote, they will see a translucent ad featuring brand messaging and imagery, along with an “Add to Cart” and “Learn More” creative overlay.
- Interactive brand trivia ads entertain potential customers with factoids about their product while giving them the opportunity to shop on Amazon, learn more about services and products, and even unlock rewards. Customers can use their living-room remote to add a product to their cart, request information via email and claim rewards like Amazon shopping credits with the purchase of eligible items.
Amazon says its research shows that interactive ads are more effective in boosting engagement rates across the customer shopping journey, driving 10 times more product page views and conversions than non-interactive formats.
"Amazon's engagement with consumers throughout the funnel is unique,” says Geoffrey Calabrese, chief investment officer for Omnicom Media Group North America. “With the ad innovations we are seeing from inside of their streaming offering, our clients are now able to test and learn at scale the true power of streaming TV."
