Amazon overtakes Netflix on content marketing spend

Amazon Prime Video has become the top spender on content advertising by an OTT company.

According to an analysis by Mediaradar, Amazon sits atop the pile for the first half of the year, with Netflic and Hulu in second and third respectively. 

This marks a shift from the first half of 2018, where Netflix was in first and Amazon in second. 

The Seattle company launched 13 new campaigns in the first half of the year, with Hanna seeing the largest spend. The show’s marketing push included a 60-second spot during the 2019 Super Bowl. It is estimated that a 30-second advert during the event set advertisers back roughly US$5 million, so Amazon’s spend on the event was presumably a lot higher than this.

Comparing the numbers year-over-year, Amazon was the only OTT platform to actually increase its spend. Amazon increased ad spend by 28% and increased digital spend by over 300% to highlight shows such as Good Omens, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Boys. 

By contrast, Hulu and Netflix cut back by over 40%. 

Netflix launched 67 new campaigns during the first half of the year, with the biggest spend being on the Our Planet? campaign which included a 30-second Super Bowl spot.

“While spend amongst these top OTT providers can be volatile based around content releases, it is telling to see Amazon continue to invest in the platform and its original content, further enticing viewers to stay in, or even enter, the ‘Amazon Ecosystem’” said Mediaradar CEO Todd Krizelman.

“Our recent OTT analysis highlighted that Amazon Prime Video’s jump to number one can in part be attributed to the heavy promotion of its new original content, including increased investment in native advertising. In fact, its native advertising spend rose 5X, year-over-year, when comparing 2018 and 2019.” 

Krizelman concluded: “Although Netflix’s spend on traditional advertising is down year-over-year, Netflix’s latest shareholder letter showed that its spend for overall marketing remains fairly steady as it experiments with new promotional initiatives, such as a Stranger Things game (mobile & console), and brand partnerships with companies such as Coke, Nike, Burger King, Baskin Robbins and Fortnite.”