Amazon's new OTT pitch deck shows the e-commerce giant is selling ads that let consumers shop from Alexa while watching TV
- Amazon is pitching brands the ability to include messaging in their OTT ads that promote branded Alexa skills, according to a recent pitch deck the company has shown media buyers.
- Amazon said in the deck that it would handle the creative and technical work to create a skill for advertisers that spend at least $750,000.
- The deck shows how Amazon is increasingly vying for TV ad dollars, joining companies like Roku that also want to cash in on viewers' shift to streaming TV.
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Amazon is pitching advertisers on the ability to promote voice commands in TV commercials.
In a recent pitch deck viewed by Business Insider, Amazon is selling an ad format called "branded utterances with Alexa" that incorporates Amazon's voice-powered Alexa devices. The format is among Amazon's growing number of video advertising products that's trying to compete with companies like Roku.
Business Insider reported on an earlier version of Amazon's OTT pitch deck in May 2019.
Amazon doesn't sell traditional ads in Alexa, but it's incorporating the voice technology into its advertising pitch, the slides show. For example, advertisers can create voice apps, called skills, that let consumers buy items by prompting Alexa to place an order. Amazon Music also sells ads within its free streaming service that's built into Alexa devices.
Along with Amazon Web Services, advertising is one of the fastest-growing areas of Amazon's business. Most of that comes from ads that run on its website and app, but the company is building up a video ad business within its Fire TV apps and its ad-supported streaming service IMDB TV.
According to Amazon's pitch deck, branded utterances can help advertisers increase brand awareness and loyalty by encouraging consumers to buy items advertised in commercials through an Alexa device. The deck shows how the format works by showing an ad for PepsiCo-owned Smartfood that features a call-to-action prompting consumers to ask Alexa to order the popcorn. Amazon says there's no minimum spend required to buy branded utterances.
The next slide shows how the voice activation works and breaks down what advertisers get out of the program. A challenge with voice technology is that it costs thousands of dollars to develop skills - Amazon's version of an audio app - and it can be hard for them to get discovered on smart speakers. Amazon said it would cover the cost of the creative work for advertisers that spend at least $750,000 on advertising, according to the pitch deck.
An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to additional questions about branded utterances by deadline.
Amazon has long pushed brands to include Alexa branding in their ads similar to the Smartfood example. In 2018, Recode reported that Amazon was asking consumer packaged goods makers for "millions of dollars worth of advertising impressions and months'-long campaigns on non-Amazon platforms." Amazon's pitch deck suggests that the company has cooled on its demands on advertisers, at least with ad spend minimums and guarantees.
Amazon does not explicitly say in its pitch deck what data it gives advertisers that use branded utterances but the program likely gives brands some sales and performance data about how items are selling on Amazon, similar to Amazon's ads that run on its website and app.
