Dive Brief:

• Amazon has launched Amazon Live, a dedicated section on its site and in its iOS and Android apps that features livestreamed video with talent from the company and brands talking about and demonstrating products available on the site, TechCrunch reported. Shoppers can browse products and make purchases from a carousel located below a video.
• Amazon Live streams multiple videos at the same time, and viewers can tap on videos to switch between them and scroll down to watch recordings of videos that were recently live or see which shows are coming up. Recent streams include a Valentine's Day Gift Shop featuring a panel of guests discussing the meaning of the holiday and making gift suggestions. On Feb. 11, Fat Brain Toys is scheduled to go live with 5 p.m. ET with content about games. 
• On Feb. 7, 2019, Amazon launched Amazon Live Creator, a new app that lets brands stream video content directly on the site. The app includes built-in analytics, allowing brands to determine the effectiveness of their streams, total views, unmuted views, how much of their budgets were spent on "boosting" to reach more shoppers and other metrics.

Dive Insight:

Amazon is not a newcomer to livestreaming but the latest news points to how the company is bigger focus on this area with a dedicated viewing tab, a broader selection of content and tools to make it easier for brands to participate. Amazon is touting the new product’s ability to drive sales, reach more shoppers and interact with consumers in real time. A card-game maker, “Watch Ya’ Mouth,” said livestreaming helped increase daily visits to its product detail page by 5 times and boosted sales, according to TechCrunch.  

As marketers devote more of their digital ad dollars to video, many are seeing the benefits of live video for connecting with consumers, who are watching more livestreamed video content. About 95% of brand and retail executives cited live video as an important part of their marketing strategies in 2018, according to Brandlive and IBM Cloud Video research. Live video for e-commerce is also growing, with 60% of execs planning to pilot live e-commerce sales for the first time last year.

Amazon has been testing the waters for livestreaming for some time. In 2017 and 2018, it aired live videos promoting Prime Day deals that were produced by brands and resembled the new Amazon Live. A couple of years ago, Amazon also launched and later canceled a daily live show "Style Code Live" that focused on fashion and beauty. Amazon Live expands on these efforts by allowing brands across product categories, including smart home, home goods, electronics, toys, games and more, to showcase their products via livestreaming. 

Amazon Live follows other video-centric offerings that the company has unveiled recently. Amazon introduced a “sponsored” video placement for Prime Pantry in September, where a 10- or 15-second spot for the product plays automatically and doesn’t feature sound. Kellogg’s was one of the first companies to use the ad placement for its Frosted Flakes brand. Amazon already allows brands to add video to their product detail pages, and video ads are available in search results. 

The new offering is Amazon’s latest effort to beef up its advertising products, grow its ad revenue and become a stronger competitor for Google and Facebook. Amazon is already ranked No. 3 in digital ad platforms, and has been luring advertisers from Google, with some marketers shifting up to 60% of their search budgets usually devoted to Google to Amazon.