Amazon is in a no-holds-barred war to grab every bit of attention possible from our lightning-fast content viewing, ADHD-laden society. Its latest acquisition represents another step in their marketing and content strategy.
Amazon is paying cash, $970,000 to be exact, to boost its attention-grabbing arsenal with the acquisition of Twitch, a service that allows people to stream live video of themselves or others playing video games. Despite the general public’s unfamiliarity concerning Twitch, it is currently 45 million users strong. Users and visitors go to the site with the ability to watch a huge selection of players. The streaming video content includes the gameplay, a smaller screen streaming video of the player, and also the player’s live commentary.
This concept may seem undistinguished, but it is becoming a popular activity for users on the Internet. Think of it as watching live-action sports, but instead of watching LeBron James play basketball, you’re watching Johnny Gamer play Halo. Users can now, at whim, have an equally entertaining experience compared to real life within seconds. Another huge part of Twitch’s growth is the fact that people want to watch the best players in the world. This idea carries over to why people love professional sports. People want to witness greatness and this desire is no less in the gaming community.
Twitch holds the key to growing a video streaming service rapidly and the potential audience to match. Amazon has struggled to get a firm foothold in the video content world. It is currently creating original TV series and purchasing rights to air older HBO series on its network. The Twitch acquisition is another key piece in this content pipeline, namely due its popularity as a user-generated content hub.
By acquiring Twitch, Amazon not only gains but also hopes to learn how to cultivate a strong video-streaming fan base. Not to mention bolstering its overall amount of attention-grabbing content. The more time Amazon has someone viewing its content, the more advertisements it can serve. Amazon is developing an advertising program to battle Google’s advertising head-on. Once in place, this advertising program gives marketers the ability to reach over 250 million active users. In addition to this, Twitch also has an established and engaged user base, composed of an often hard-to-target demographic. By aligning itself with a younger demographic and establishing itself as a brand-of-choice Amazon could gain lifelong customers.
Amazon’s actions are epitomizing how to be successful in the marketing world today. People will view ads if they are only a quick interruption before viewing content. The beauty of video content is that it is now available everywhere. People have their desktop, laptop, tablet, television, and smartphone. Amazon is trying to take over everything. The more time someone is spending on an Amazon service, the less time they are spending money anywhere else.
Automobile companies will benefit from Amazon’s efforts. Competition in the online-advertising world means lower prices for companies to conduct their marketing. Amazon is also offering more platforms for automobile companies to display their advertisements. Twitch is a portal for automobile companies to reach a demographic that has previously been a challenge for companies to communicate with. Overall, the auto industry will continue to see growth if the marketing being conducted is in agreement with the day and age we live in.
