Dive Brief:
- Amazon is introducing a new ad product -- its shipment boxes.
- The online retailer has started shipping boxes with advertisements for the upcoming Minions movie -- the first time a non-Amazon ad has appeared on the brand's boxes.
- The mini-billboards started arriving last week and feature at least three different images for the movie. Recipients quickly took to social media to show off the specialty boxes.
Just ordered a couple of kids books from #Amazon and they came in this fun yellow minions box! #MinionsBoxes pic.twitter.com/vTgZwsGNpl
— Sarah Bachtold (@sarahbachtold) June 1, 2015
Dive Insight:
Amazon advertises on its Prime services packaging tape, and sells ads on its Amazon Lockers delivery locations. This is, however, the first ad from an external company for Amazon. The Minions movie franchise has grossed $1.5 billion, and the characters have been featured in several other partner ad campaigns, pointing toward a potentially high-profit revenue stream for the e-commerce giant.
The boxes also have a link to a Minions page on Amazon and feature the July 10 release date of the movie. The test will be if Amazon repeats the deal with a new brand, whether that takes off or if it becomes routine, it doesn't make such a splash.