Amazon Ecosystem Continues to Grow

Amazon is not just a books, music, video, games and media retailer, it is the major online 'one stop shop' for many and one that has a cross merchandise offer that is very powerful and even threatens the likes of Walmart. If we take the latest UK news that they are increasing their take on of temporary UK staff for the Christmas run-up from 3,000 to 10,000 short-term packaging jobs in just three weeks, we see not only their commitment, but also their decisiveness to do business. How many retailers can you name who are taking on such numbers? Some 2,000 of the workers will also retain their roles after Christmas and join Amazon’s  growing 56,000 full-time worldwide workforce.

Amazon have also just announced that, Amazon Studios, has optioned its first novel, the Amazon-published, Southern horror 'Seed'. The book is a Southern gothic suspense tale of an "ordinary man with a demon on his back." It was authored  by Ania Ahlborn, under Amazon’s sci-fi, fantasy and horror imprint, 47North. The book is a self-published and a viral driven Amazon ebook bestseller. By developing Amazon Studios Amazon is now becoming a content developer with multiple channels to develop, promote and exploit content. This offers authors something that is truly unparalleled within the media market and could further fuel author deals that others will not be able to match.

 Amazon Studios already claims to have optioned 10,000 movie scripts and 1,800 series pilot scripts, and although this number will reduce to a mere handful of projects such as 'Seed', the process and momentum is there for all to aspire to.

But Amazon's growth is not just driven internally and by themselves. Marketplace is further fuelling its 'one stop shop' environment and building on the realisation that books are books, be they new, old or used and being able to compare and buy from within one trusted store offers more than any simple comparison sight. Again Amazon have thought out consumer behaviour and matched their service to fit it. Many now have feed their catalogues into Amazon’s marketplace and are happy to get new sales and pay a commission on price paid and the postage incurred. This is without the many 'agents' who simply refer their sales to Amazon to fulfil.

Amazon’s growth is also being fuelled by the likes of Pogoplug who have launched an Amazon-powered cloud backup service in the US and UK. Pogoplug allows users to stream photos, music or video from their home computer to wherever they are in the world. Pogoplug mobile is a new device that allows users to access unlimited media streams from their mobile device using Amazon’s new budget cloud Glacier service for offering users low price fast cloud storage with prices around £19.99 a year for 100GB of offsite storage. Building a further trusted layer to many consumer relationships.

As Amazon continue their path to dominate many markets, they do have another side to their business face. They are giving back to one community around its fulfilment centre in Spartanburg, US by donating some 40 Kindles to the local School for the Deaf and the Blind. The students will also received $2,500 in gift cards to download resources to the new devices. The Kindles have a number of disabled-friendly features such as text-to-speech and large print and thereby obviate the need for visually impaired students to have wait for the audio book or large print edition.

Amazon is developing and creating its own ecosystem which is fuelling growth and is the only giant who not only understands the consumer but marries technology, media, retail and a thriving marketplace under one roof.

Amazon is Becoming the True Publishing Vertical Business

So you think you know what Amazon is but think again as the global brand makes more media moves which although small show just how savvy the organisations.

The first announcement that Amazon.com is launching Amazon Studios.

The new Amazon Studio website lets users upload scripts and sample movies and then use community tools to evaluate and edit each others' work. Its like a film slush pile which will then enable works to judged by a panel of experts and Amazon executives. The best will be then taken to Warner Bros, who Amazon has signed a first-look deal with. If they succeed there then could be feature films under the Amazon Studios production label.

In making this move Amazon start to address that often broken link between the studios and the creators and its certainly a move that would appeal to many would be script writer and budding directors and technicians. The deal would give Amazon an 18 months exclusive "option" on the work and although filmmakers and screenwriters may not like the idea of now cash for their options it is bound to appeal to those aspiring ones who want to make that first rung of the ladder. However, the highest rated material will get monthly and yearly cash prizes which to the end of 2011, the prizes will total $2.7 million. Amazon take options to Warner Bros. and if they pass to other studios. Successful writers and directors whose option is turned into a theatrically released film by a studio would get paid $200,000 by Amazon.

Amazon claim that Amazon Studios is not a vanity publishing or a project to get low budget movies made to support Amazon’s businesses.

The second is Amazon's acquisition of small literary publisher ‘The Toby Press’.

Amazon in acquiring The Toby Press to secure publication rights of some 120 works of 61 authors. These will be republished as print editions under Amazon's own publishing imprints, AmazonEncore and AmazonCrossing and also publish Kindle editions for Kindle devices and Kindle apps.

So is the Toby Press a purchase to establish the issues involved in running a publishing operation so that they learn small with low risk. If so will their next move be more consolidation of smaller presses or to bite off a far bigger house with what will be chump change? Some would suggest the the move is more to do with posturing and showing the market that it is capable of moving swiftly and vertically very fast. Some suggest that it is genuine move to pick up small and attractive publishers such that they can offer exclusive content, after all you can’t see Apple or Google lining up to buy publishers.

It is interesting to look back at prosperous 18th century London booksellers such as Robert Dodsley who were all large copyright owners we quote from, The Life of Robert Dodsley, “… for the real money lay in ownership of copyrights, not in the retailing… booksellers were the entrepreneurs who purchased rights from authors, and, binding to others, merchandised and finished the product through advertisement and trade distribution.”

Amazon is certainly turning into a vertical force in publishing and one that is clearly capable of using its brand to do the same across 'media'.


To read the press release on the acquisition of Toby Press http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1498303&highlight=

To read about Amazon Studio from LA Times http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/11/amazoncom-going-into-movie-producing-with-new-website-first-look-deal-with-warner-bros.html