🎙️Live at unBoxed With Chris Conetta of Amazon

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Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.

In this special episode, we're coming to you live from Amazon unBoxed in Nashville, where we're sitting down with Chris Conetta, Director of Amazon DSP Supply.

Together, we dig into Amazon's latest investments and breakthrough product updates within its Demand-Side Platform (DSP). From new integrations and measurement innovations to tools designed to make programmatic advertising more accessible and effective for brands and agencies.

Let's dive in.

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It goes back to this theme of democratizing the ad experience, 100%. With Creative Agent, we're now democratizing the ability to create video assets at scale.

Chris Conetta

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Chris discuss:

• Amazon's journey in expanding DSP from a closed beta to an integrated, open internet solution with recent high-profile partnerships (Roku, Disney, Netflix, Spotify, Sirius, etc.).

• Comparison of Amazon DSP's differentiation against other legacy programmatic platforms, focusing on authenticated reach, authenticated signals, and lower programmatic fees.

• The pivotal role of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) in providing holistic, transparent measurement.

• The new Ads Agent, which leverages AI to make AMC data more accessible for all users.

• Announcement and impact of unifying Sponsored Products and DSP into a single ads console, making campaign management and measurement across channels simpler and more unified.

• Introduction of the "full funnel campaign" product, designed to easily map and optimize brand touchpoints along the customer journey from streaming to conversion.

• The debut of Creative Agent, a tool that democratizes and streamlines creative production for video assets, empowering AB testing and campaign agility for brands.

• Discussion of Deal Builder and Inventory Hub, new solutions aiming to make the selection and bundling of media inventory more efficient and tailored to campaign goals.

• Greater theme of democratizing access to advanced advertising tools, enabling brands and agencies of all sizes to maximize their Amazon and open internet advertising results.

🎙️Interview With Adam French of Acadia

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Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.

Today, we're diving into one of the most quietly powerful and still widely underutilized growth levers on Amazon: Creator Connections.

To help us unpack how brands can tap into this channel effectively, we're joined by first-time guest Adam French from our Account Management team. Adam has been deep in the trenches running the Creator Connections program across dozens of consumer brands, and he's bringing a ton of hands-on insight to today's conversation.

Let's dive in.

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We always recommend starting with a 10% baseline commission and running that for 30 days. That gives a great indication of who's engaging and what kind of traction the content gets before adjusting upward.

Adam French

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Adam discuss:

• The history and evolution of Amazon's creator and affiliate programs, including the Associates Program, Influencer Program, and now Creator Connections.

• Limitations of earlier programs and how Creator Connections offers new opportunities for brands to proactively collaborate with creators.

• The difference between Affiliate Plus campaigns and the new Sponsored Content Requests, and how each fits into broader marketing strategies.

• Guidance on setting commission rates for campaigns, testing performance, and optimizing investment.

• Tips for brands on managing selection and content quality control when working with Amazon creators.

• Real-life success stories of brands in categories like home & kitchen and premium beauty using Creator Connections to drive sales and brand awareness.

• Key limitations and current challenges of the platform, particularly in terms of granular reporting of campaign results.

• How Amazon could improve Creator Connections to better meet brand needs in the future.

🎙️News Review with Armin Alispahic and Pat Petriello

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Welcome to another edition of The Retail Round Up: your monthly recap of the biggest headlines and developments in the retail world.

This week, Pat Petriello is here to unpack everything happening in the world of ads, and Armin Alispahic will take us through the latest in operations and organic trends.

First up: Amazon fees. What changed, what's next, and how to respond, followed by rapid-fire industry updates.

Let's dive in.

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Search is not dead. I think in two years, 90+ percent of product discovery will still be going to happen through the search bar.

Pat Petriello

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Pat, and Armin discuss:

• Amazon FBA Fee Changes: The latest fee updates, how they compare to previous years, and what they really mean for brands, from operational efficiency to punitive costs for poor fulfillment practices.

• Survival of the Fittest: How increased complexity and tighter margins are pushing sellers to optimize their operations or risk falling behind, with commentary from Pat Patriello on treating SKUs as individual P&Ls.

• Big Retail Media Announcements: Amazon's new partnerships and platform updates, including shoppable ads on Twitch and audio/video ad placements on Spotify, and what these mean for near- and long-term media buying strategies.

• AI Tools and Storefronts: Amazon's rollout of its Storefront Page Builder powered by AI, its current limitations, and predictions for what's coming next.

• The Rise of ChatGPT in Commerce: Recent announcements about the Agentic Commerce Protocol and integrations with platforms like Walmart, Shopify, and Etsy, reflecting on how conversational AI could transform (but not immediately replace) traditional search-driven product discovery.

• Fee Updates and Pricing Transparency: New Prime Exclusive Deal structures for the holidays, plus a potentially game-changing test of displaying historical price data in the Amazon mobile app, and what that could mean for brands and consumers.