How Amazon Ads is reshaping the art, and the science, of connection…
When the most successful marketing campaigns are discussed, they’re rarely remembered for a single component. Not the creative, not the targeting, not even the media plan. They’re remembered for a feeling. That moment when everything aligns.
Amazon Ads calls this phenomenon media magic. It’s the intersection of aspiration and experimentation. Where human insight meets digital signal, and brands produce work that isn’t just seen but felt, shared, and acted upon. In a time where attention spans are fleeting and consumer journeys are evolving, the notion of magic might sound idealistic. But Amazon’s latest thinking suggests that the formula for modern magic is becoming far more tangible.
From instinct to intelligence
“Media magic is what happens when creativity meets the right media moment” says Kate, explaining that the process begins with curiosity about customers and their interests and ends with precision. “The magic doesn’t come from any one element, it’s the moment when data, technology, and storytelling all click into place.”
That philosophy has defined Amazon Ads’ evolution. Over the past few years, the company has expanded its advertising canvas across Prime Video, Twitch, Wondery, Amazon Music, and the retail environment, a landscape that allows brands to connect with consumers at every stage of their journey. The difference now lies in how those touchpoints connect.
By using first party browsing, streaming, and shopping signals, Amazon Ads is helping marketers reach audiences in meaningful moments, the instant when someone is open to discovery, influence, or purchase. Those same signals make it possible to measure performance across the full funnel, turning brand-building moments into quantifiable business impact – something that’s vital when every penny is scrutinised.
Beyond the generational divide
The brand’s latest global research report, Beyond the Generational Divide, challenges the long-standing assumptions that have shaped modern marketing. While generational theory once offered useful shortcuts for segmenting audiences, Amazon’s data reveals that consumers no longer fit neatly into those demographic boxes.
According to the study, 59 per cent of respondents believe society’s assumptions about their age group are inaccurate, and 72 per cent say their interests, hobbies, and passions define them more than their age. In short, audiences are more unified by shared values, communities, and behaviours than by the year they were born.
Those unifiers, e.g. passions, communities, and behaviours are the modern marketer’s compass. They’re the cues that reveal what people care about, who influences them, and where they devote their attention. Whether it’s an entrepreneurial audience tuning into a Wondery podcast, or millions of fans interacting live on Twitch, these shared spaces of passion are where authentic connection happens.
Meeting audiences where passion lives
Consider the role of live interaction. Twitch, for instance, has become one of the world’s most dynamic spaces for community-driven engagement. Streamers like Maya Higa have cultivated loyal followings by blending entertainment with authenticity. In Higa’s case, streaming wildlife conservation content that resonates deeply with her audience.
Twitch viewers understand that sponsorships support their favourite creators, and research shows they are 13 per cent more likely than average adults to see ads and brand partnerships as beneficial. It’s a community built on shared values. Creators gain sustainability, audiences gain free content, and brands gain trust through association.
“The best advertising moments don’t interrupt culture. In fact, they actively contribute to it,” Kate says. “When brands show up in spaces like Twitch or Prime Video, the context matters just as much as the creative.”
That contextual understanding extends beyond livestreaming. Podcasts, live sport, and co-viewing experiences on Prime Video all offer deep, intentional attention, the antidote to the scroll. These are places where brand messages can naturally align with audience passions, especially when underpinned by strong creative and first-party insight.
The new rules for connection
The Beyond the Generational Divide study introduces a simple but effective idea. Marketers can ultimately achieve more by focusing on what unites people than what separates them. Amazon’s data found that audiences are:
- 1.4× more unified by shared values than generation
- 2.2× more unified by shared communities
- 2.1× more unified by shared behaviours
Those insights point to a clear takeaway. Campaigns rooted in shared passions, whether through community-driven storytelling, values-based creative, or contextual alignment with entertainment, perform better because they feel more relevant. They reach people where they actually spend time, but more than that, they resonate with them.
That resonance is measurable. Across hundreds of campaigns run on Amazon DSP, advertisers using both age-based and interest-based audiences achieved up to 2.2× higher conversion rates than those relying on demographics alone. Campaigns like DiGiorno’s Deadpool & Wolverine activation and Booking.com’s set-jetting initiative show how cultural connection translates directly into commercial outcomes, driving significant lifts in awareness, consideration and sales.
Magic you can measure
For all the talk of ‘magic’, the underlying discipline is rigorous. Amazon Ads continues to invest in AI-driven creative tools that let brands scale messaging quickly and responsibly across formats, while preserving brand integrity. These solutions allow marketers to tailor creative to different contexts, from short-form video to audio, without losing craft.
The result is a new type of creative agility – one that’s needed in this evolving and interconnected multichannel landscape we navigate today. A brand can take a shared value, like inclusivity or sustainability, and express it across Prime Video, Twitch, and Amazon Music in complementary ways – each designed for the audience and moment, all united by consistent storytelling and insight.
“The holy grail will be when unique storytelling can scale without compromise,” Kate reflects. “When we can deliver relevance faster, adapt in real time, and still make the work feel human.”
A shared spark
If Make Media Magic defines the feeling and Beyond the Generational Divide provides the framework, the message for you is clear. Marketing’s future will depend on those who are capable of blending both, and seeing the nuances in their audiences, and the smartest solutions.
The task is to build campaigns that are equal parts emotional and empirical. Powered by data, guided by insight, and brought to life through creative courage.
The magic, after all, isn’t a mystery. It’s what happens when brands respect attention, understand community, and create something that people actually want to experience.
And when that happens, when the right message meets the right moment, advertising stops being background noise. It becomes a shared spark. Something remarkable. Something truly magical.
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