Amazon Ads’ on-box advertising is 4x more effective than traditional media

Fans of SpongeBob SquarePants were delighted last spring when the animated Nickelodeon character emerged from the depths of the sea and landed on their doorsteps. Nickelodeon’s parent company Paramount had just launched its new Paramount+ streaming service and turned to Amazon Ads to help deliver—quite literally—a customized experience with its on-box ads that would drive visibility and awareness to help grow their audience.

On-box ads—a form of on-package custom advertising created by Amazon Ads’ Brand Innovation Lab—takes brands to a place that many other types of ads cannot. The Amazon delivery box provides a highly visible, interactive advertising canvas and a portal for customers from which to discover products, stories and immersive experiences.

And for the 2.2 million Amazon customers who received the brightly colored SpongeBob-painted boxes, along with another 375,000 who received Amazon Fresh bags as part of the campaign, those experiences included a QR code displayed on the package that enabled the customers to watch full episodes from 11 different shows on the streaming service for free.

For any advertiser, creating these kinds of tailored experiences at scale—Amazon delivered a total of 4.2 billion boxes in 2020, which equates to more than 11.5 million packages per day—can leave a lasting impression on consumers. For example, a recent Kantar analysis of Amazon Ads’ on-box/on-bag campaigns that ran between Q4 2020 and Q1 2022 found that they are more interactive and engaging, resulting in ad recall that is 4.1 times higher than traditional media campaigns.

Insitu: From eyeballs to fingertips

Many marketers have long viewed at-home delivery as the next branding frontier, and for good reason. In a digital world of email, texts and social media, delivery packages stand out as a welcome physical touchpoint. Customers engage with on-package ads unlike any other form of advertising by interacting with the parcels during the most rewarding phase of the shopping journey—the unboxing moment.

Amazon Ads’ Insitu web application offers the ability to take this idea from conception to reality. Insitu’s 3D package design software allows creative teams and advertisers to simulate the customer experience with the ad placement. Designers can use the tool to rotate the box or bag, open and close the box, and show it with packing tape to ensure a quality customer experience in which the art isn’t covered by the water adhesive tape or hard to see because it appears on a seam or corner of the box.

Insitu also offers critical safeguards for advertisers as they develop on-box ad placements. Designers can use the web application to export images or videos that show the advertiser the complete design, as well as different angles that show how the ad will appear on the box, thereby ensuring both the accuracy and effectiveness of the design.

“With Insitu, advertisers no longer have to imagine what the ad will look like on the box—they can see it right on their screens,” said Amazon Product Manager Kate Kemp, who teamed up with Senior Design Technologists Scott Thiessen and Joe Brust to design and build the Insitu web application, which launched in January 2020.

Paws to celebrate

In late 2021, when Paramount Pictures released “Paw Patrol: The Movie” simultaneously on streaming and in theaters, Paramount+ looked to build upon the success they experienced with promoting films through on-box ad campaigns. For the Paw Patrol campaign, they wanted not only to generate awareness but also help customers get excited about the movie, which was based on the popular Nickelodeon television series.

360 degree preview of Paw Patrol on-box ad using Amazon Ads’ Insitu web application

The Paw Patrol custom Amazon box featured colorful images of the “Paw Patrol” characters on one side. Customers could not only look at the illustrations but also cut them out, prop them up and play with them. Another side of the box showed a backdrop of Adventure City, the setting of the movie. The additional functionality in this on-box ad design made it crucial for the Brand Innovation Lab team to preview with Insitu and ensure that the character cutouts would show up correctly in print.

This full scene helped bring the plot of the film to life and provide a more thorough introduction for newcomers who weren’t familiar with the original show. A QR code on the side of the box directed recipients to a custom landing page that featured the movie trailer, information about the characters and links to related products, once scanned.

“We were very pleased at how well the creative turned out,” said An Bui, senior marketing manager at Paramount+. “The Amazon box was a great canvas that allowed us to showcase innovation and creativity while reaching our audience at scale.”

Because on-box ads are one of Amazon Ads’ marquee placements, it is important that the design engages and entertains customers, creating an experience that raises expectations of what advertising can be. But it also opens up opportunities for marketers to accompany campaigns with social media posts, including authentic brand messages from influencers shared on various channels that drive additional impressions and customer engagement beyond what printed boxes can physically reach.

In this way, Amazon Ads is helping advertisers truly think outside the box. On-box ads allow brands to deliver one-to-one, relevant marketing at scale. At the same time, they are expanding the very definition of out-of-home advertising with impactful box placements and technology that connects customers to the larger brand experience.