• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

 
Amazon is such a multi-tentacled beast that it's hard to believe it doesn't step on itself from time to time. The newest ads in the company's ongoing “It's on Prime” campaign find Amazon doing exactly that on purpose, with plucky delivery folk making doorstep drop-offs into heated action scenes during its shows “Reacher” (coming through with a much-needed massage gun) and “The Boys.” (Eye drops, naturally.)

The new ads are “seamlessly integrating Prime directly into the entertainment members already love,” says Jo Shoesmith, Amazon’s vice president of global brand and fixed marketing, in a statement. “It demonstrates how Prime membership weaves together world-class entertainment with the fast, free delivery that makes members feel special. This is what happens when great IP and inventive production come together to infuse our brand authentically within the content experience itself."

Amazon created the campaign in-house, working with Untold Studios and comedy director Brandt Lewis for the live-action production. They’ll be running in the U.S. and Canada, on TV, online video, social, audio and digital, including the World Cup, “The Boys” final season and the “Reacher” season premiere.

The new ads break as the ecommerce giant is wrapping up the results from the recent Prime Day events, first launched in 2015. The four-day period was a runaway success, at least according to Adobe Analytics, with online spending surging to $26.4 billion, a 9.3% gain. Heavy discounts in pricier categories -- like appliances and electronics -- drove some of that growth, which might signal to marketers that winning with consumers for the rest of the year may require similarly deep price cuts.

Other data paints a more concerning picture. Numerator’s analysis revealed a 10% decline in household spending, with fewer people (just 14%) buying electronics, focusing instead on household basics. It also detected a dissatisfaction with deals, with 60% describing themselves as extremely or very satisfied, down from 67%.

And Numerator found people were looking beyond Amazon for better deals, with 52% of shoppers comparing prices across retailers. Walmart was the most commonly checked (67%), followed by Target (41%) and club stores (28%).