Donating creativity: how Brand Innovation Lab is supporting communities
Did you know that our Brand Innovation Lab (BIL) team is transforming the way that brands see Amazon? The internal creative agency for Amazon Ads works with brands to develop bespoke campaigns for advertisers, and it’s now applying this creativity to meaningful work that highlights key topics and themes in the world today. This dedicated work is even pro bono.
Love has no labels
Rob Alley, Head of US TelEnt
US-based Rob Alley, Head of US TelEnt (telecommunications and entertainment brands), came up with its first pro bono campaign—Alexa, what is Love?—in partnership with Ad Council’s Love Has No Labels movement.
This initiative was all about promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion by updating Alexa’s response to the question “What is love?”
Thousands of people ask Alexa about love, but back in 2022, Alexa was only able to give a standardized, dictionary-style response. Rob and his team partnered with Alexa to change this.
“For the campaign, we captured people’s stories in a short documentary and used their expressions of what love means to them in order to update Alexa’s response,” says Rob.
Alexa could now reply with stories from real people, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, individuals with disabilities, and immigrants, all sharing their unique interpretations of love.
For Rob and the team, this project wasn’t just another campaign; it was a powerful reflection of their own diversity. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and a board member of Glamazon in Los Angeles, Rob knew the campaign could bridge the gap between Amazon’s business and its many communities.
There were some initial complexities about the project. "We were venturing into new territory, and there wasn’t a precedent for this type of campaign," Rob admits. “However, it turned out to be a hit, with a three times increase in people asking ‘Alexa, what is love?’ and great engagement across Amazon platforms. Most importantly, the campaign gave a voice to Amazon customers and re-defined what loves means to our communities.”
Alexa, have your say
Hana Kovacevic, Head of EU Endemics in Italy
Another Amazonian on the team who suggested “donating creativity” more formally was Hana Kovacevic, Head of EU Endemics in Italy; she was inspired when she learned something troubling about Alexa.
Hana explains, “I learned that Alexa receives numerous insults such as ‘You're an idiot,’ ‘You're ugly,’ and ‘You're disgusting.’ These are just some of the insults Alexa receives in Italy.”
Hana believed this insight could be used to create something powerful and decided to partner with the Alexa team to shine a light on an important subject.
“Verbal violence is a form of psychological abuse and is often a first step toward escalation. A lot of people talk about physical violence, but not so much verbal. While Alexa is a virtual assistant, many people, especially women, experience verbal violence. I thought we could use Alexa to inform people about the issue.”
Hana continues, “We wanted to partner with an organization that is an expert in this space, so we collaborated with ActionAid Italy to create the campaign for International Women’s Day in March 2024. The goal was to educate people on the enormous impact of verbal violence on women’s lives.”
Alexa, Have Your Say, which ran in Italy, transformed Alexa’s responses to insults into educational messages. So if someone insulted Alexa, the voice would respond with facts and statistics.
“Alexa would reply, ‘Since I'm not a real person, I won't take your statement personally. Do you know that in Italy, many women are victims of verbal abuse every day, with serious consequences in various areas of their lives?’ or ‘Language is the means that defines the reality we live in, and the use of violent language is effectively a form of violence that can provoke feelings of fear, discomfort, and self-distrust,’” says Hana.
The campaign’s performance surpassed all expectations, and it received a 100% positive sentiment from the audience.
Bringing the “good” into good business
Duncan Mackie, Head of EU and Canada, BIL
The success of these two campaigns—and the enthusiasm that his team had for working on them—helped persuade Duncan Mackie, Head of EU and Canada, BIL, that pro bono work had the potential to combine creative innovation with a commitment to social good. He and his director, Kate McCagg (WW BIL) decided to formally make this work part of their team’s strategy for 2025 and beyond.
Duncan explains, “It just makes sense to donate our time and creativity. Technically, we lose money every time we do pro bono work, but from a brand perspective, employee positivity, and wider society, it’s what we want to do."
Each BIL team under Duncan’s leadership is now encouraged to work on one pro bono project every six months. There is a formalized pitching and selection process for each campaign, and the projects are a regular part of the annual planning cycle. This proactive approach allows the team to be more strategic in their pro bono initiatives.
“This ensures that we are using our creative and technical abilities to make sustained and meaningful contributions toward important issues in the world that align with Amazon’s values,” Duncan adds. “By integrating pro bono initiatives into our core strategy, I hope to show how businesses can use their resources and Amazon’s wide-ranging touchpoint to drive positive change.”