Amazon boosts advertising efforts with new hire in Prime Video

Article Brief:

Amazon has hired a former Disney executive to spearhead its efforts to introduce ads to Prime Video, according to media reports. 

Jeremy Helfand has been appointed as the new vice president and head of advertising for Prime Video just before the planned launch of the ad tier later this month. Previously, he played a vital role in building Hulu's ad business and took on broader responsibilities at Disney, overseeing properties such as Disney+ and ESPN. Helfand, who announced his move on LinkedIn, will be responsible for driving the strategy of a business segment that is anticipated to generate billions more in revenue for Amazon's media empire, and is an essential component of the streaming category's move towards incorporating more traditional commercials.

Article Insight:

Amazon has acquired a seasoned media expert with established expertise in developing an advertising business for the streaming era. Helfand played a crucial role in expanding Hulu’s offerings, and later applied that knowledge to other divisions of Disney such as Disney+ and ESPN. According to his LinkedIn page, Helfand most recently led Disney’s global advertising platform strategy, product development, engineering, operations, and partnership ecosystem across linear, digital, and streaming channels.

Helfand faces a challenging task leading Prime Video's expansion into advertising, which includes the launch in North America on Jan. 29. Prime Video has been expanding its programming to attract brand sponsorship, such as securing the rights to the NFL's "Thursday Night Football" in 2021. However, it is a relatively late entrant in the ad-supported streaming market, following the lead of rivals like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, who are under pressure to demonstrate the profitability of streaming. Amazon also owns the ad-supported streaming brand Freevee.

Prime Video is part of the popular Prime subscription package, providing it with a broad audience reach. Amazon has assured that there will initially be limited advertising, and users will have the option to pay an additional $2.99 per month to eliminate commercials altogether.

Amazon is projected to see a surge in annual revenue as high as $5 billion through the expansion of advertising on Prime Video, based on forecasts from Bank of America cited by Bloomberg. This will strengthen the advertising sector as one of Amazon's rapidly growing areas of business, fueled by the company's capability to connect ad campaigns with transactions on its vast e-commerce platform. An example of this is when Amazon featured the NFL's first Black Friday game in November, bridging a highly anticipated game with a major shopping event.