Prime Video nabs first big agency partner as it prepares to sell ads in 2024

When the streaming service begins offering “limited advertisements” in early 2024, IPG Mediabrands — a portfolio of ten media and marketing agencies under IPG, including UM and Mediahub — will begin to integrate Prime Video ads and audiences into their clients’ media buys.

In a Dec. 7 press release, the e-commerce giant noted it “aims to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers while simultaneously offering advertisers reach, frequency and opportunities to tailor their messages.”

Per the release, the partnership will include new ad formats and content sponsorships globally — as well as, access to Amazon's first-party data so clients can “create relevant ad experiences for Prime Video viewers.”

While it wasn’t immediately clear what the new ad formats will include, Eileen Kiernan, global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, offered a hint in a statement: “Amazon’s latest offering brings a first-to-market opportunity for our clients to reach consumers at the category level in a comprehensive, scalable way — from culture and content to commerce and shoppable experiences.”

According to the release, Prime Video ads will reach an estimated 115 million viewers monthly in the U.S. However, Prime Video has its sights on nine markets in 2024: It will first roll out ads in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Canada in early 2024 and then follow in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia “later in the year.”

IPG Mediabrands, which manages more than $47 billion in media investment globally, will partner with Amazon in all of these countries as they go live.

In a statement, Dani Benowitz, global president of IPG Mediabrands agency Magna, said, “The ability to access the entire Amazon streaming TV product suite is an added benefit for both endemic and non-endemic brands within our broad client portfolio.”

The press release noted IPG Mediabrands’ clients include “recognizable and iconic brands” in at least a dozen sectors, like beauty, CPG, entertainment, fashion, hospitality, pharma and retail.

According to the websites of the agencies in IPG Mediabrands’ portfolio, these brands include American Express, Celebrity Cruises, CVS, Fox, General Mills, H&M, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co., Mattel, Netflix, New Balance, Pinterest and Twitch.

Amazon’s U.S. Prime members — which founder Jeff Bezos said number around 200 million in his 2020 shareholder letter — will be able to pay an extra $2.99 per month to retain the ad-free experience. Pricing for other countries was not immediately available.