The telecom sector is at a crossroads: demand for connected services is plateauing, even as audiences yearn for engaged experiences. Telecom companies must find innovative ways to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
In this illuminating podcast episode, we sit down with two leaders from Amazon Ads: Bailey Hayes, Senior Sales Manager of Cable, and Paul Godino, Sales Manager of Wireless. They offer invaluable insights into the changing telecom landscape and how Amazon Ads is uniquely positioned to help companies navigate these challenges.
From leveraging rich insights to predict life changes that lead to switching, to using a variety of Amazon Ads solutions, our guests delve into the strategies that can help telecom companies connect with hard-to-reach audiences. They discuss how connections to millions of global customers' daily lives translate to powerful opportunities to reach customers.
The conversation also touches on new offerings from Amazon Ads and how telecom companies can reach engaged audiences via Prime Video ads, Twitch, and partnerships with major sports leagues such as the NBA and the NFL. Here, Hayes and Godino emphasize the importance of activating during key retail moments and cultural events, presenting unexpected but highly relevant opportunities for telecom advertisers.
Tune in to discover how Amazon Ads is reshaping the future of telecom advertising. Learn how the synergy between Amazon connected services and telecom offerings can help drive growth and engagement in new ways.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Hello and welcome. Today we are joined by two leaders of Amazon Ads. We have Paul and Bailey here with us. Thank you so much for joining us at Fierce. Can you tell us a little bit about your role at Amazon?
Bailey Hayes:
Hi Shannon. Thank you for having us here today. We're very excited to chat about all things telecom. I'm Bailey Hayes, Senior Sales Manager of the cable category.
Paul Godino:
And I'm Paul Godino, Sales Manager of the wireless category.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Wonderful. Paul, let's start with you. Let's talk about a general overview of the telecom industry. Are there certain trends and challenges that you see that we're facing in this post-pandemic climate?
Paul Godino:
Well, yeah. Right now the telecom industry is in an interesting position. The way we rely on telecom services evolved dramatically in recent years. During the pandemic consumers demand for telecom services increased as we worked, schooled and socialized remotely. Demand on bandwidth has grown as people connect, watch, game, and get information online. At the same time, the challenge for service providers is in availability of new customers as broadband households aren't growing and wireless churn is extremely low. To attract new customers, telecoms need to find the right people in the right moment while making switching simpler.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Wow, that is a lot of variables. What can telecom companies do to overcome this?
Paul Godino:
Well, we strive to deeply understand our customers. We're a part of 300 million global customers' lives every day in a number of ways, through shopping, streaming entertainment and connected devices. We interpret rich insights and signals to predict life changes that lead to switching, like moving, getting married or growing families. In our view, the key to helping telecoms connect with hard-to-reach audiences is meeting them where they are, where they spend their time, and when they're most in need of these services.
Shannon O'Dowd:
How can Amazon Ads help these telecom companies reach and engage customers in this ever-changing digital media landscape?
Bailey Hayes:
We have insights that can help telecom companies engage the audiences that matter most to them, whether that's movers, gamers, streamers, business customers, or something entirely different. Amazon has unique insights that allow us to understand these customers, their needs, and how to reach them wherever they are. Amazon Ads also has a variety of ad solutions that can help telecom companies cut through the noise and connect with customers wherever they spend their time. Amazon Ads utilizes first-party signals and machine learning to automate campaign setup, optimization and audience creation, while also ensuring that advertisers retain control over key levers and have access to transparent reporting.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Wow, that's exciting. So what are some of the most recent latest offerings from Amazon Ads?
Bailey Hayes:
Well, we of course recently launched Prime Video ads with an average monthly ad supported reach of over 200 million global customers, putting telecom companies on the biggest screen in the home within shows like The Rings of Power, Summer I Turned Pretty, and The Boys. We're also continuing to find the intersection of ads and cultural moments by elevating our streaming TV offering with must see live sports program like Thursday Night Football, the WNBA and our recently announced landmark 11 year global media rights agreement with the NBA.
Amazon Prime Video is now the global home for the WNBA, featuring 30 regular season games per season and postseason coverage. And starting in 2025, Prime Video will present exclusive global coverage of 66 regular season NBA games, including an opening week doubleheader, and a new Black Friday game. This joins our partnership, of course with Thursday Night Football, which also features a Black Friday game, and this year debuts an NFL Wild Card game.
In addition, we're home to Twitch, an interactive live-streaming service for content, spanning gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and so much more. We also have can't miss live music integrations at popular festivals like Stagecoach, Outside Lands, and Rolling Loud.
Shannon O'Dowd:
That is really exciting. A lot of different offerings. I know you love The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it's so cool how popular the WNBA is getting.
Bailey Hayes:
Massive.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Yes. Okay. So what are some offerings or areas of opportunities that Amazon has for these telecom companies?
Paul Godino:
Well, a large part of Amazon's business centers on these tentpole moments. As a result, we're dialed into consumer retail behavior. We see the opportunity for telecoms to activate during key retail moments like Prime Day and Black Friday, Cyber Monday and end of year holidays. Our rich insights enable us to better understand when consumers are in the buying mindset and when they're engaged online. We have deep engagement from telecom customers on popular solutions like Amazon Prime Video, where we see four in 10 of all surveyed telecom customers engaging with Prime Video every week and nearly one in five engaging with Prime Video every day.
We also see noticeable lifts in their media consumption and device usage in the lead up to these tentpoles. We see significant increases in the consumption of certain programming on Prime Video, a 40% increase in hours of consumption on Amazon Music's ad-supported tier, and a 41% increase in new Fire TV device activation all around the Q4 holiday and buying season. It may seem counterintuitive as when one thinks of these tentpole moments, they often think of advertisers in traditional categories like clothing or consumer electronics, but there's a huge opportunity for telecom companies to invest more here too.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Wow, that's great. So if there are companies out there, telecom companies that are still skeptical, what would your advice be to them?
Paul Godino:
Well, our advice for telecom advertisers is to get in on the action. Be more nimble, think more holistically, and adopt an advertising strategy that not only addresses retail moments, but also device releases and cultural moments too. Things like sporting events and live music events where Amazon continues to grow. All of these present opportunity for telecom companies to reach consumers in relevant but unexpected ways.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Paul, Bailey, I know we don't have much more time with you today. Can you give us some parting advice or some wisdom?
Bailey Hayes:
Whether you browse, buy or stream, connected services are at the heart of the Amazon universe. There are synergies between what we do and the services that telecoms offer. Together we can help telecom companies drive growth.
Shannon O'Dowd:
That is great advice. Thank you. And thank you both so much, Paul and Bailey, for being with us today here at Fierce.
Bailey Hayes:
Thank you.
Paul Godino:
Thank you so much for having us.
Shannon O'Dowd:
Absolutely.