Amazon News and Trends –

Episode Summary:

Bundle Manager Tool
Amazon announced the launch of the new Bundle Manager tool. Bundle Manager lets you create, maintain, and remove virtual bundles for your products. This update should make creating and managing bundle strategies more realistic and attainable at scale.

AWS Clean Rooms
What is AWS Clean Rooms? A new privacy-enhancing analytics service that helps companies across industries easily and securely analyze and collaborate on their combined datasets.

Why is this impactful? Allows 2 or more AWS customers to securely collaborate their data in the AWS environment which helps marketers answer key business questions. Savvy agencies and advertisers no longer want a platform to grade their homework and AWS helps solve for this.

What about Amazon Marketing Cloud? AMC is still a focus but that’s meant to stay under the Amazon Ads umbrella to measure the effectiveness of our Amazon Ads media inclusive of Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP, and Sizmek Ad Server. AMC is built on AWS. AWS Clean Rooms is meant to be broader to measure clients’ larger business questions.

Update on Amazon Marketing Stream
Sponsored Display data sets are now available. Since Sponsored Display placements appear on product detail pages instead of search results (SERP), this update should offer new insights into additional placements.

Amazon Launches TikTok Style Feeds
Amazon launched TikTok-style feeds which are only available for accounts with beta invites. This new feature will allow customers to buy directly from a customized feed of photos and videos. Once your account has been given access, our team will work with you to determine best practices and guidelines for utilizing this new feature.

CES Announcements Around Amazon
Disney + Alexa – Amazon is releasing the Hey Disney! voice assistant, which will allow customers to interact with Disney characters and experience soundscapes through their Echo devices at home and in select Disney resort hotel rooms.

Automotive Voice AI – Amazon and Panasonic will allow the simultaneous use of Alexa and Siri in the SkipGen in-vehicle infotainment system, giving customers access to over 130,000 custom Alexa skills and iPhone features.

Alexa Fund Showcase – The Alexa Fund has invested in technologies and startups that are advancing ambient computing and the future of smart devices, including Labrador Systems, Orbital Systems, and Cognixion.

Sidewalk Update – Amazon is adding new third-party devices to Amazon Sidewalk, a private network designed to connect billions of devices, from New Cosmos USA Inc., Browan, and Meshify (a subsidiary of HSB). These devices include a smart door lock, a smart water valve, and a temperature and humidity sensor.

Matter Interoperability Update – Amazon is expanding support for the Matter standard, which enables interoperability between smart home systems and devices, to more than 100 million in-field devices and is adding support for new device types like thermostats and sensors.

New Ring Devices – Ring is releasing the Ring Car Cam, which has dual-facing cameras for interior and exterior recording and can detect events around and inside a vehicle, and the Ring Peephole Cam, a video doorbell that can be installed over an existing door peephole.

Alexa + Josh.ai – Amazon is partnering with Josh.ai to demonstrate the integration of Josh.ai’s home intelligence system with Alexa. Customers will be able to use both assistants simultaneously for tasks such as checking sports scores and managing shopping lists.