Omnicom Makes Influencer-Driven First-Mover Deal with Amazon Posts API

Omnicom’s made it a mission of sorts during CES 24 to cement partnerships and arrangements with the major social and commerce platforms around better use and measurement of influencers and creators — and to empower those influencers to have more lower-funnel impact in their work with advertisers.

Digiday has learned that today, Omnicom will announce it’s the first holding company to strike a deal with Amazon to integrate creator content in Amazon’s Posts API — the commerce giant’s social media-like platform.

Basically, the deal brings influencer content to the biggest e-commerce platform in the world, and the arrangement will roll out in select markets globally, said an Omnicom representative. But it also enables measurement and tracking of that content to help gauge its effectiveness in driving sales.

Amazon Posts essentially are organic placements throughout Amazon that can come from any other platform; the company is in beta for paid placements to use in Sponsored Brands campaigns. By using Post performance reporting metrics, and unique Omnicom attribution capabilities, Omnicom clients will be able to generate deeper insights to better understand the impact creator assets have on Amazon retail product performance.

“We have the ability when we’re on TikTok or Instagram or any other platform to drive that influencer media to Amazon, and for the first time have the capability to measure the Amazon sale” from it, said Megan Pagliuca, Omnicom Media Group’s North American head of activation. “Historically, the capability that was allowed was essentially enabling an ad to cart but not actually tracking all the way to sale.”

Added Kevin Blazaitis, the head of OMG’s influencer practice: “By adding the influencer extension on Amazon posts, that gives us not only a purchase tied extension, but it gives us that tracking that is so, so key… It’s augmenting creative with data to give a much lower funnel approach.”

Omnicom clients haven’t yet started using this but Suhaila Hobba, chief media officer at OMD, said CPG, retail and commerce clients will likely be the first to make use of the ability, which has grown in importance across the media agency. “The influencer work that we’re doing is one of the top 10 products within all of OMD, so we’re excited to grow that business internally.”

One Omnicom client, Clorox Co., also pledged interest in the opportunity. “Social plays a significant role in influencing brand selection in our categories, particularly amongst millennials and Gen Z, so we’re optimistic about new commerce-enabled opportunities that enhance measurement and attribution across the funnel,” said Eric Schwartz, Clorox’s CMO.   

This where Omnicom’s recent acquisition of Flywheel comes into play, in that its commerce acumen helps optimize how to meld influencer strategy with execution on Amazon. “It’s exciting to hit the ground running at CES with this first-mover partnership with Amazon,” said Flywheel CEO Duncan Painter. “As we bring Flywheel Commerce Cloud and Omni [Omnicom’s open operating system] together, this will be an important step in how we can analyze and join up above-the-line activity through sales analysis.”