After two straight years of presenting well-attended and received NewFront events at Lincoln Center, Amazon graduated to the Upfront event scene May 14, led by a grand procession of stars and announcements largely connected to what's upcoming at Prime Video, the megacontent service with the majority of its consumers transferred to an ad-inclusive format earlier this year. Amazon's first Upfront fling originated inside Pier 36 on South Street near the East River, site of several notable presentations over the years from AMC Networks to TelevisaUnivision.
The Big Message: Advertisers can't get a bigger megachannel ad-supported tier to take full advantage of than Prime Video, at more than 115 million U.S. customers (as of two months ago). Plenty of new, buzzy scripted/unscripted series and sports offerings launching over the rest of 2024 and early 2025 will raise that consumer universe even more. That's just one TV lane brands can use to boost business through Amazon. Others include sister megacontent service/channel bundle Amazon Freevee, shopping channel Amazon Live (now playing on both Prime Video and Freevee), and Amazon Fire TV's lineup of features. "We've created the opportunity of brands of all shapes and sizes to reach audiences," added Paul Kotas, Executive Vice President of Amazon Ads.
Hosts: Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, handled the lion's (pun acknowledged) share of the presentation, assisted by Kotas and other top executives at Amazon Ads, and Alan Moss, Amazon's Vice President of Global Ad Sales
What Worked: The impressive assembly of top talent coming to Amazon's stage to show off their current or future Prime Video participation. Jake Gyllenhall, Aldis Hodge, Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Octavia Spencer, Keke Palmer all had their moments, along with tennis superstar Roger Federer and auto racing champion Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What Also Worked: Music superstar Alicia Keys -- coming off a big number of Tony Award nominations for her new Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen -- opened the event in outstanding form. She gave the audience a pair of her top hit songs "No One" and "Empire State of Mind," the latter complimented by NYC landmarks and fireworks.
What Can Work Here: Carving a few minutes out to detail Amazon's vision of TV advertising formats to come -- interactive and shoppable/commerce to name two -- and when brands can expect to use them in creative ways.
Data Points: Amazon Fire TV's multichannel bundle -- Amazon Fire TV Channels -- offers 5,000 new videos every day. More than 4.1 million people who dropped their cable or satellite subscriptions watched Prime Video's Thursday Night Football games last fall, up 55 percent from 2022. Reacher was Prime Video's most-viewed scripted series in 2023.
News: A trio of new scripted series derived from blockbuster movie/comics IP will go into production for 2025 presentation on Prime Video. Emmy-winning writer/producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) will oversee Tomb Raider, based on the popular video game and movies. One or more Tomb Raider spinoff series are under development through Amazon MGM Studio's first-look content arrangement with dj2 Entertainment. Noir, adapted from the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, will have Oscar-winning actor Nicholas Cage in the title role. Minutes before the event concluded, Witherspoon announced that her Hello Sunshine production company will make Elle, a prequel to the Legally Blonde films. In another development, Spencer will team up with Ted Lasso co-star Hannah Waddingham for an untitled relationship dramedy series. Expect new seasons of The Boys (fifth), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (second) and The Summer I Turned Pretty (third), plus a second season of upcoming detective saga Cross (first season premieres later this year). On the unscripted front, there's a surge of game/competition series around the bend, following the debut of The 1% Club next month on both Fox and Prime Video. Pop Culture Jeopardy!, the first specialized Jeopardy! series in eight years, will come soon, as will Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity? with Travis Kelce as host. For the 2024 holiday season, watch for interactive Buy It Now, where viewers can order new entrepreneur-crafted products through their TV sets, and Wish List Games, where studio audience members play for $25,000 in prizes -- and the chance to win a prize for everyone in that studio audience.
Bonus Points: Before and after the presentation, attendees visited a mini museum featuring scenes from various Prime Video and Freevee series, a "Connections" space serving coffee, tea and juices, and ate a variety of breakfast and lunch bites (the French toast bars with a maple syrup glaze was my favorite). Everyone also left with as swag a swag bag gets, complete with yellow towel, Brumate liquid container, small NASCAR model auto and Amazon Fire TV 4K Stick.
Parting Words: "My connection with Amazon is about how to make connections and how beautiful music can tell a story," -Alicia Keys.
"We're a one-stop entertainment and advertising destination." -Paul Kotas, Amazon Ads Executive Vice President.
"I'm very well-known for my rom-coms…and you aren't." -Reese Witherspoon, speaking to Will Ferrell before showing scenes from their new Prime Video movie You're Cordially Invited.
"A new level of advertising starts today. Full-funnel advertising, at scale, for everyone." -Amazon Vice President Of Global Ad Sales Alan Moss.
Photo at top, courtesy of Amazon - (L-R) Mike Hopkins, Jay Marine, Sarah Iooss, Alan Moss, Jennifer Salke, Paul Kotas, and Tanner Elton.
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