Amazon Advertising and GroupM team up to help brands drive reach with audio ads

May 17, 2021

Americans are spending more time streaming audio than ever before, especially as the use of connected-home technology continues to grow. More than one-third of U.S. consumers have smart speakers,1 and 85% use them to play audio in a typical week.2 Additionally, digital audio this year is forecasted to surpass traditional radio in time spent listening, for the first time ever.3

To help more brands tell their stories to audiences during these screen-free moments, Amazon Advertising and GroupM are teaming up to enable the media company’s agencies and clients to easily leverage the reach and impact of Amazon audio ads.

Connect with audiences in screen-free moments with Amazon audio ads

Our audio ads are delivered between songs—across top playlists and thousands of stations—on Amazon Music’s free ad-supported tier. Amazon Music reaches more than 55 million customers globally4 and is accessible on Alexa-enabled devices, like Echo and Fire TV, mobile or desktop.

Since launching in 2019, we have seen our audio offering be an effective tool for helping brands achieve their advertising goals. From 2019 to 2020, Amazon audio campaigns outperformed Kantar Norms, with 126% higher aided awareness, 189% higher brand favorability, and 277% higher purchase intent, compared to the digital audio industry average.5

GroupM + Amazon Advertising

GroupM and Amazon Advertising are collaborating to help brands add Amazon audio ads to their media strategies. Now, clients of GroupM agencies can easily reach listeners based on streaming activities and shopping signals across Amazon, including apps and devices. They can also analyze their campaigns and evaluate performance with Amazon Advertising’s suite of full-funnel measurement solutions.

GroupM clients also receive differentiating benefits, including:

  • First-look access to new product features, beta opportunities and sponsorships
  • Opportunities to be involved in the development of innovative branded experiences and creative solutions, like voice actionable ads
  • Support from Amazon Advertising’s creative production services
  • Pricing efficiencies

“As more households embrace smart-home devices, like speakers, incorporating audio solutions into a brand’s media strategy will be important to help reach consumers in screenless moments throughout the day,” says Susan Schiekofer, Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM US. “We are excited to collaborate with Amazon Advertising in this capacity, to help brands reach connected-home audiences at scale through an emerging media opportunity like audio ads.”

GroupM, part of WPP, is a leading media investment company responsible for more than $60B in annual media investment, through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence, and m/SIX, as well as the outcome-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis.

Learn more about audio marketing.

1Voicebot.ai, 2020
2The Smart Audio Report, Edison Research, Spring 2020
3eMarketer, 2021
4Amazon Internal, January 2020
5Kantar Norms, 2019-2020