This post was created in partnership with Amazon Ads and Tinuiti.
Key Takeaways
• Streaming TV can help brands tap into a show’s built-in fandom, but only if done authentically.
• Amazon’s Liquid I.V. integration into Off Campus shows how a deep, multi-touchpoint partnership can play out IRL.
• Sony’s Thursday Night Football campaign outperformed sales projections, illustrating how live sports can drive outcomes.
Streaming TV is giving brands access to new assets that were never available in linear: logged-in audiences, mountains of data, and interactive capabilities that bring viewers closer to their favorites.
During an ADWEEK House Cannes Lions panel session, leaders from Amazon Ads and Tinuiti discussed how streaming creates opportunities for brands to weave themselves into TV shows and live events that audiences love.
‘Borrow equity’
Tinuiti President Jeremy Cornfeldt said that streaming, with its authenticated audiences paired with commerce data from a partner like Amazon, can help brands understand consumer behavior and receptivity. These insights can help them answer a key question: Do you have a right to win here?
“Are there expansion audiences in these places where you want to go and explore and see if you can pull in new people into your brand, your product, or your service?” he said.
(L-R) Amazon Ads’ Jenny Burke, Tinuiti’s Jeremy Cornfeldt, ADWEEK’s Will Lee
If so, then streaming TV provides an opportunity to “borrow equity,” he said. If done seamlessly, an integration with a popular show can elevate the equity of the brand.
“That can really start to drive that brand salience, brand preference, and move you into the consideration set in a way that you probably wouldn’t be able to do from just standard advertising,” he said
Kate McCagg, who leads Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab, said the strongest brand integrations come from a “shared DNA” between the client and the show.
“We can tell a story together that we both have a right to tell, and it lands a lot more believably with people when they see it,” she said.
(L-R) Amazon Ads’ Jenny Burke; Tinuiti’s Jeremy Cornfeldt; ADWEEK’s Will Lee; Amazon Ads’ Kate McCagg
Inside the Off Campus playbook
The panel’s marquee example was Amazon’s integration of Liquid I.V. into Off Campus, a college hockey romance series streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Jenny Burke, director of global video strategy and go-to-market at Amazon Ads, explained that the seed was planted when Liquid I.V.’s team connected with Amazon Ads at last year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
The partnership led to multiple bespoke integrations throughout the show. For example, one of the lead characters is a college athlete who has an name, image, likeness (NIL) deal with Liquid I.V.
“There’s signage in the hockey rink and products as well, so there’s a lot of integration that feels very organic to the storyline,” Burke said.
(L-R) Amazon Ads’ Jenny Burke, Tinuiti’s Jeremy Cornfeldt
The partners created a custom 30-second spot for Liquid I.V. featuring the show’s two leads in character. Amazon also layered shoppable ad formats across its platform, and hosted experiential activations with creators and influencers to make the integration go viral on social.
“The elements here are really soup-to-nuts, and it took us about 12 months to get there, but we’re really excited about doing more,” Burke said.
Live sports, same principles
Knowing your audience matters just as much in live sports.
When Tinuiti worked with Sony Electronics on a headphones campaign running on Amazon during Thursday Night Football, it expected to see roughly 40% of sales attributed to the campaign.
“But we got 65% of our sales attributed to the campaign, which was great, but then we had to sustain it,” Cornfeldt said.
Cornfeldt stressed the importance of sustaining momentum and thinking about metrics beyond immediate sales.
“At any given moment, only 5% of your audience is ready to buy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what your product is. It’s only 5%, so you still have to talk to the other 95%.”
ADWEEK’s Will Lee
ADWEEK CEO Will Lee closed the panel by tying the conversation back to accountability and keeping the CFO happy.
“This is all about defending against the ‘C-F-No,’” Lee said.
Featured Conversation Leaders
Jenny Burke, Director, Global Strategy and GTM, Amazon Ads
Kate McCagg, Head of Brand Innovation Lab, Amazon Ads
Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, Tinuiti
Will Lee, CEO, ADWEEK
