unboxed 2025: What You Need to Know With Ross Walker and Pat Petriello - Episode 420

DESCRIPTION

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 excited to welcome back two familiar voices: Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, and Pat Petriello, Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy.

They're here to help us unpack the wave of announcements that came out of unBoxed 2025 and break down what they really mean for brands.

Let's dive in.

Quote:

It's a trap! Every single one of our brands that has said, 'Forget about it—go upper funnel. Go conquest new territory. Go get new customers.' That's been the more effective use of dollars.

Ross Walker

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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

• Overarching themes from Unboxed: democratization and simplification of Amazon's ad products and tools

• Unified reporting: Merging Sponsored Ads and DSP platforms for easier campaign management and deeper, cross-platform insights

• Creative Agent: Amazon's advanced AI tool for quickly generating and testing high-quality video and creative assets—especially impactful for brands without in-house creative teams

• AMC Agent: Making Amazon Marketing Cloud more accessible with natural language queries and easier data exploration, streamlining technical work for agencies

• The evolving role of agencies and partners: How AI-powered solutions shift agency focus from tactical execution to strategic guidance and validation

• New ad formats: Sponsored Product Video and other SERP-based innovations, plus the impact on conversion and brand visibility

• Sponsored Brand Reserve Share of Voice: Its potential uses, strategies, and when it makes sense to invest

• Upcoming and lesser-discussed features: Project Complete TV for streamlined top-funnel investments and new full-funnel campaign capabilities