MGR Amazon Weekly Update | October 14, 2019
Top News This Week
Is Amazon Unstoppable? An Excellent Deep Dive by Charles Duhigg
Preview: In 2017, a few months after Forbes named Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, the world’s richest man, a rumor spread among the company’s executives: Bill Gates, the former wealthiest person on earth, had called Bezos’s assistant to schedule a lunch, asking if Tuesday or Wednesday was available. The assistant informed Bezos of the invitation, and told him that both days were open. Bezos, who had built an empire exhorting employees to be “vocally self-critical,” and to never “believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume,” issued a command: Make it Thursday.
Amazon AdCon 2019 Recap
Amazon held its first ever advertising conference last week, they kept it to only 400 people unlike their other conferences which hosts tens of thousands. Expect this number to grow in the coming years. Amazon announced that their advertising revenue surpassed $10 billion for the first time last year and is still growing rapidly.
Amazon wants to continue to grow its advertising offerings, beyond much more than just search and display ads. New types of ads they are testing include: video ads in search results, allowing sellers to send free sample products to customers, a new QVC-like show on Amazon Live where brands can pay to have their products featured, and much more. Of course all of these advertising opportunities are great, but Amazon needs to prove the ROI before brands will start pouring money into these new options.
Plan C: Every Brand Needs a China Strategy Before it’s Too Late
The NBA sparked an international controversy, now brands need to decide what their “Plan C” is before it’s too late. We also discuss the resurgence of profitable companies, is the growth over everything trend over?
Other Notable Links:
1. Amazon launches in Singapore, small population but very high discretionary spending – MASHABLE
2. Amazon is releasing new automated email reply templates for Sellers – AMAZON
3. Amazon is getting into the law business, aims to create network of legal service providers primarily focused on IP protection and registration for sellers – ABOVE THE LAW
4. How to reduce cart abandonment through one page checkout – MGR
5. Glossier is now a billion dollar brand, what marketing strategy has brought them here, and what is there strategy for the future? – GLOSSY
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