Recently, Amazon experimented with a new marketing technique of placing outside advertisements on their delivery boxes. Last week, this came as a surprise for many people who were expecting a traditional brown Amazon box on their doorstep, but instead were greeted by a one-eyed goggle wearing creature. Who might this little guy be? None other than a minion.
With the release of the new Minion movie on July 10th, producers were trying to develop a creative way to drive box office sales. Film advertisers decided that interacting directly with potential consumers could drive significant traffic to their movie premiere. In addition, given that this was one of the first times a large e-commerce site has done something like this, advertisers knew that at a minimum, their advertisement would receive public attention.
Now this isn’t exclusively a win for film advertisers, but Amazon as well. One of the things customers love most about Amazon is their “Prime” option that allows for two-day free shipping. We all know that nothing in this world is truly free and, in this case, it’s Amazon paying and not their customers. Placing other company’s advertisements on their boxes alleviates a portion of their free shipping costs, while keeping customers and advertisers happy.
Amazon has yet to say whether this is going to be a repeatedly used advertising approach, but so far, it seems to be working for them. However, experts argue that the overuse of this campaign could cause a decline in consumer response due to repeated over-exposure. So, as we wait for Amazon to make their next move, don’t be alarmed if your next package comes in an unexpected form.
