Every week I dive deep into Amazon strategy, advertising insights, and e-commerce trends—here’s a quick 5 min roundup of what caught my attention this week and what I wrote about.

Alex Cooper's Unwell hydration drink launches on Amazon

It was previously a Target exclusive, but Amazon was able to secure a deal to bring it to Amazon

They are not direct to consumer on Amazon (3P), Alex's team decided to pursue a vendor relationship

I expect Amazon's 1P buying team to continue to try and on-board celebrity-backed CPG businesses with the promise to buy inventory upfront as a vendor. The best celebrity CPG brands are omni-channel, and the vendor model fits the business model more effectively

Amazon DSP is so personal, it borders on invasive.

Just look at the targeting power baked into Amazon DSP 👇

You can build custom audiences from:
• Shoppers browsing specific products or brands on Amazon
• Prime Video streamers and IMDb users
• In-store Whole Foods shoppers

Launching a plant-based protein brand? Build an audience that have viewed plant-based products on Amazon, watched "New Day New Chef" on Prime Video, and then bought Orgain powder and Olipop at Whole Foods.

ESPN’s New $29.99 Streaming Package Just Squeezed YouTube TV—Here’s How

Right now, YouTube TV has a shared inventory model with cable networks. When a viewer watches ESPN on YouTube TV:
-Disney/ESPN sells the majority of ad inventory
-Google gets a small slice to sell programmatically—great for Google advertisers

But ESPN’s direct-to-consumer push also means they want full control.

Owning 100% of the ad inventory means:
-No more revenue split with platforms like YouTube TV
-A cleaner, more direct pitch to advertisers
-Higher margins and better audience targeting

Amazon says 130 million U.S. households are watching Prime Video with ads

Netflix said its ad tier now has 94 million monthly active users

Hulu reportedly has 115 million viewers on their ad-supported plan

I’m not going to include YouTube here, but ignoring any of these 3 platforms in your STV media mix means losing a significant amount of reach

Onwards!

I talk about Amazon, e-commerce, and advertising strategy in my weekly newsletter.

I also spent 7 years working at Amazon in Seattle under the most influential people at the company, now I consult for some of the largest Amazon brands in the world.