Amazon wants to give Facebook and Google a run for their money in advertising - here are the 6 execs making it happen

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Amazon wants to give Facebook and Google a run for their money in advertising - here are the 6 execs making it happen

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Jeff Bezos

Getty/Chip Somodevilla

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

  • Amazon is increasingly building out an advertising business that's powered by reams of valuable data across search, display, and video.
  • The company made $2 billion in what it calls "other revenues" during the first quarter, largely from advertising.
  • Marketers say they're looking for alternatives beyond the duopoly of Facebook and Google to spend their ad dollars with, and Amazon is emerging as a contender.

Amazon may be one of the world's most mysterious brands, but advertisers are still enamored of the company's wealth of data and its potential ability to challenge Facebook and Google's dominance in online advertising.

Amazon's ad placements span valuable search ads on its site that zero in on products that people are looking for, in video advertising and in a growing programmatic business that places targeted ads across the web - all of which is powered by data on what consumers buy.

Amazon also helps brands develop e-commerce strategies for the platform, including helping retailers create pages, merchandise, and set prices.

"In the first quarter, Amazon spend increased 96% year-over-year, and that's just on sponsored product ads, which are most similar to Google Shopping listings," Andy Taylor, an associate director of research at performance marketing shop Merkle, told Business Insider.

"Amazon also has another ad product called headline search ads, which are carousel banner ads that are shown at the very top of Amazon - those increased 90% year-over-year in ad spend during Q1."

Amazon made $2 billion in "other revenues" during the first quarter of this year, largely from advertising.

Behind the scenes are advertising execs who rarely make public appearances but who agencies say are crucial in helping them navigate the ins and outs of Amazon.

Here are six top advertising execs you should know:

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Seth Dallaire, Vice President of Global Advertising Sales and Marketing

Seth Dallaire, Vice President of Global Advertising Sales and Marketing

Dallaire is responsible for overseeing Amazon's global sales teams and growing the company's ad business. He's the face of Amazon at industry conferences and events and is a liaison between advertisers and Amazon. Additionally, Dallaire is a director for the Interactive Advertising Bureau and The Advertising Council, two prominent trade organizations for the advertising industry.

He is on his second tenure at Amazon. After working on the account management team in the early 2000s, Dallaire went on to work at Microsoft and Yahoo before rejoining Amazon in 2012.

Tim Craycroft, VP of Multichannel Advertising

Tim Craycroft, VP of Multichannel Advertising

Craycroft oversees Amazon's ad-tech business, including its publisher-services arm that aims to help publishers make money from ad placements on "PC, mobile, and connected devices." He is also responsible for Amazon's video-advertising business and incorporating video into how consumers shop online.

For example, after inking a deal with the NFL last year to stream 'Thursday Night Football' games, Craycroft and his team worked with brands like Pepsi and Hyundai to package commercials into the broadcasts. The deal has since been renewed and Amazon will stream the games for the next two years beginning this fall.

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Colleen Aubrey, VP of Global Self-Service Performance Advertising

Colleen Aubrey, VP of Global Self-Service Performance Advertising

Like Google's huge self-serve search business, Amazon provides technology to let marketers buy and manage their own ad spend on the platform. Aubrey's team is zeroed in on that side of the business and Amazon's cost-per-click advertising tools.

One example of what Aubrey works on: Brands can select their own keywords to target ads toward — like a competitor or their own brand. When advertisers cherry-pick their own keywords in Amazon, they can use a feature called Bid+ that Amazon claims increases bids by up to 50%, making it more likely to appear at the top of search results.

She revealed that stat along with best practices for marketers during Search Marketing Expo East, a search marketing conference last year.

Jeremi Gorman, Director and Head of Global Advertising Field Sales, Global Key Accounts and Emerging Product Specialists

Jeremi Gorman, Director and Head of Global Advertising Field Sales, Global Key Accounts and Emerging Product Specialists

Amazon's retail and data-minded advertisers are focused on analytics and granular stats that show which products people are most likely to look at and buy based on their purchase history.

But there is another side of Amazon's ad business that's focused on content and creative. Gorman has worked with brands like Universal Studios to create innovative campaigns for "Minions" that turned boxes into ads and built the world's largest Amazon box for a recent marketing stunt plugging "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom."

We’ve got a T-rex. From Isla Nublar to Los Angeles, @PrattPrattPratt and @BryceDHoward helped @JurassicWorld @Jeep’s unveil @Amazon’s largest delivery ever. pic.twitter.com/VOOz7o2tPu

— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) June 9, 2018
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Saurabh Sharma, Director of Multichannel Advertising

Saurabh Sharma, Director of Multichannel Advertising

Sharma spearheads Amazon Ad Platform, the demand-side platform that aims to help advertisers buy ads programmatically on publisher websites outside of Amazon.com using the company's audience data.

Sharma is particularly interested in non-endemic advertisers that don't sell products on Amazon, such as airlines, automakers, and insurance companies. Instead of focusing on sales, Amazon wants to use tactics like remarketing to help lower the cost-per-lead for a TV provider, for example.

Ryan Mayward, Global Head of Agency Development

Ryan Mayward, Global Head of Agency Development

Mayward heads up Amazon's agency team and is responsible for building relationships with both large holding companies and smaller media shops. In particular, Mayward works on Amazon's managed service team dubbed Amazon Media Group (AMG), which tends to work with larger brands focused on metrics like branding and awareness.

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