Depending on your age, you might remember watching “The Jetsons” and marveling at the technology that was part of George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, and Astro’s everyday life.
Driverless cars, flat-screen TVs, smartwatches, shoppable television, virtual assistants, video phones.
It all just seemed a little out of this world, but today we take these things for granted.
Okay, you got me: “The Jetsons” didn’t have shoppable television. But it looks like we’re all about to.
Or at least anyone who watches Amazon Prime Video may soon be able to shop mid-show or mid-game.
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Amazon has spent the last 20 years changing the very face of retail and upended the way we shop. It certainly changed consumer expectations around convenience, speed, and price.
And while e-commerce still represents only a fraction of overall retail, it takes a little more of a bite each year.
Thanks to Amazon, many of us now expect to get what we want, when we want it. It also made us expect easy returns and free shipping (both ways). Now Amazon is doubling down on its fusion of streaming and e-commerce.
Amazon believes it has the ability to integrate ads into television in a seamless way.
Image source: NurPhoto/Getty Images
Amazon is betting we’ll shop while we watch
At this week’s “upfronts” in New York, the annual weeklong event where television and streaming networks present upcoming program and advertising innovations, Amazon positioned Prime Video as the platform poised to rival traditional television and also to disrupt traditional passive advertising.
The company showed a demo of what it calls “pause ads.” The demo featured the hit show “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” in which viewers could see characters in a scene from the show sitting on a beach engaged in typical teenage banter.
When viewers paused the show, an ad from a travel agency exhorting them to book a beach vacation and “Start your summer story” popped up.
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“Our ad formats are proven to drive measurable action on and off Amazon,” said Vice President, Global Ads Sales for Amazon Ads Alan Moss.
“Starting this year, we are introducing a contextual advertising experience that dynamically aligns the ad message with the content viewers are watching – creating a natural and relevant connection,” Moss said, as reported in Deadline.
Moss believes Amazon is uniquely able to offer viewers ads that are extensions of what they’re watching rather than interruptions.
Amazon’s contextual ads are AI-powered
Contextual ads, like the one demoed during “Pretty,” will allow viewers to add products from the television screen into their Amazon carts and even put live pricing, reviews, and discounts right on the screen.
Related: Amazon makes wild move shoppers did not expect
Basically, shoppers will be able to make purchases without disrupting their viewing.
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At the upfronts, Amazon said it is investing in “AI-driven contextual targeting,” which analyzes a show’s content and then serves up relevant ads.
It could be a welcome alternative to the traditional advertising model, known as “spray and pray.” The old model is the reason you might get ads for Viagra when you’re watching, say, “The Great British Bake Off.”
Nobody wants this.
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