Amazon Entices Advertisers With New Video Format

Amazon is working to attract advertisers by allowing them to add wide-screen videos and interactive, multimedia displays to their product pages.

But those enhancements come with a price — $500,000 per year to be exact, according to advertisers familiar with the offering.

According to AdAge, Amazon has been rolling out “Premium” product pages over the past month, with Bose being one of the first advertisers to sign up. Its page is already filled with new elements, including video and an interactive comparison guide to browse features from other Bose products.

And while the price tag seems steep, it does include all of the participating merchant’s products.

“This is entirely new, something that’s never existed before on Amazon,” one ad executive says. “And guess what? It looks like a TV commercial.”

Amazon has offered video in the past, but as thumbnails in broader product pages. This new offering takes up the entire width of the screen on desktop, and also works on the mobile web.

“The industry talks a lot about virtual shelf space,” says Evan Hanlon, VP of strategy and platforms at GroupM, the giant media-agency network. “They have to make sure to optimize that presence like they would at any grocery store or retailer. People have to take that deathly seriously now at Amazon.”

Amazon has been working to offer more services for advertisers, with experts revealing that a brand’s Amazon presentation has a direct impact on sales.

“As that becomes the superstore of the future, not just the internet,” Hanlon says, “Amazon needs to make sure the experiences brands generate there are luxe and premium.”