Amazon puts its massive media account into review

Amazon, the largest ad spender in the U.S. and worldwide, is shopping for a new media agency. IPG’s Initiative is the incumbent. “As part of our regular course of business, we routinely review existing business relationships with third-party vendors and partners, and based on those reviews, may decide to solicit proposals from vendors interested in working with us. We look forward to the proposal process in this case and will evaluate the right next steps for our businesses once we’ve reviewed submissions,” Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement. Marketing Brew first reported the review. In 2022, Amazon boosted worldwide advertising and promotion spending by 22% to $20.6 billion, breaking a record for annual spending by any marketer. Amazon does not disclose how much of its ad and promotion spending relates to the media account that is now in review. Ad Age Media Summit Hear from industry leaders during October event in NYC Register here During the 2017 review, in which IPG successfully defended the account, most major holding companies participated. Initiative handles media buying, media planning and media strategy for various pieces of Amazon’s business, including everything from Amazon Ads and Amazon Prime Video to Amazon Web Services and Whole Foods. The news comes as Amazon announced the addition of advertising to its Prime Video streaming platform. Many media buyers, who spoke with Ad Age about the details of the tech company’s pitch under the condition of anonymity, expressed enthusiasm for the streaming inventory. However, each expressed doubt about the consistency of Amazon’s marketing for its original content. One media buyer said, “They don't promote their content as much as they should,” and expressed that the streamer would need to be more consistent in its marketing of Prime Video content to fully convince advertisers to buy in. Earlier this year, Amazon began working with 72andSunny for some of its creative work, awarding the Los Angeles shop a brand campaign that began running in May. That campaign continued Amazon’s “Every day better” tagline, a push that has been running since 2022. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has also worked with the likes of Lucky Generals on its holiday campaigns. This year’s holiday push should debut within a few weeks. Last month, Amazon reported second-quarter results that blew past guidance. Net sales were up 11% to $134.4 billion and a $6.7 billion profit followed a year-earlier loss of $2 billion. Yet such blockbuster growth comes under the eye of the Federal Trade Commission, which, along with 17 states, sued Amazon earlier this week, alleging the company has created a monopoly that overcharges sellers and inflates prices.

Amazon puts its massive media account into review

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