• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • SIGN IN
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Omnichannel Advertising
    A platform that connects all walled garden media for more effective campaigns
    Data Connectivity
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    Product Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Case Studies
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    Newsroom
    Check out our recent media mentions and announcements
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Omnichannel platform launch
    Read the press release to see how we're helping marketers win the walled gardens
    Cannes Lions 2023
    Don't miss your chance to meet with Skai leadership in Cannes
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Marketer Insights
    Read the latest blog posts and thought leadership from Skai and other industry experts
    Skai Research
    Explore our studies, reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    Quarterly Trends Report
    See the key digital marketing trends from Q1 2023
    The Breakthrough
    The only resource hub built for marketers in the new era of omnichannel
Back to Blog

May 2022 Retail Media Roundtable: Which Team Should Manage Amazon DSP?

Joshua Dreller, Sr. Director, Content Marketing @ Skai™

May  31, 2022

Whenever there is a new marketing channel, you can expect there to be blurred lines as to what function within an organization should lead the charge. If we look back at the early 2000s when social media was on the rise and brands began exploring strategy, some delegated ownership to their Comms team or PR firms. Eventually, social media became its own function that would continue to build expertise for this newer and unique channel.

Or when online video began taking off, the question was whether management should be led by the online programmatic team or the offline broadcast team. Again, brands decided to create a new, consolidated video team to bring both sides together.

And today, even though Amazon DSP is the youngest demand-side platform, it’s already become the second most popular DSP for US marketers. In this edition of Skai’s Retail Media Roundtable, we ask our expert panel which team they think should manage it.

Do you have any burning questions you’d like to ask our expert panel? Would you like to contribute to this series? If so, please reach out to our content director, Josh Dreller, at joshua.dreller@skai.io. 

– Ana Alicia Santaella (Product Marketing Director, Commerce @ Skai)


May 2022’s Retail Media Roundtable question

Which team should manage Amazon DSP and why? The Amazon Ads team? The programmatic team? The ecommerce team? Someone else?

Tara Lynne Ferguson (Senior Amazon Advertising Manager @ Media.Monks)

With Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP), brands and advertisers can leverage Amazon shopper data to target consumers with display advertising on and off of Amazon. This certainly shakes up the traditional advertising agency model that silos marketing efforts and budgets by channel, platform, or media type. As Amazon continues to add multi-channel funnel attribution tools, the lines between Amazon advertising, direct-to-consumer ads, and marketing channels off-Amazon continue to blur.

When Google Shopping first emerged, a similar debate surfaced—should the search team run the ads, or would the eCommerce team be better equipped to run with them? The answer and solution then were neither and both, and instead, a hybrid team emerged for eCommerce advertising that encompassed both traditional search expertise and marketplace product listing know-how.

Similarly, by combining Amazon advertiser expertise and programmatic display knowledge, brands and advertisers can use the Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) as a solution. This allows advertisers who are running both Amazon Sponsored Ads and DSP to track attribution across both Amazon platforms in a more powerful and holistic way. Advertisers can now gather full-funnel and cross-channel insights on their customer’s journey to run both programs even more successfully.

Kevin Weiss (Industry Lead, Retail Media @ Skai)

​​In my opinion, the programmatic team should run Amazon DSP. There are several reasons for this, the obvious of which being that Amazon DSP offers media that is bought programmatically, so it should be managed by the team that manages this media  

As someone who has cut his teeth in both all-things Amazon and many-things programmatic, I can attest that buying media through Amazon DSP is in a completely different wok than buying sponsored ads. The Amazon Ads team is often too attached to the convenience of 14-day click-attribution, the 0.5% to 3% CTR, and the tangible aspect of knowing exactly where ads will show up to appreciate the nuance of managing and scaling an Amazon DSP program. Contrast that with a programmatic team who has a broader and more holistic vantage, a better grasp of the audience and the customer buying journey, and more patience for the optimization cycles required for programmatic and you’re going to get a very different type of impact on the business from the investment in programmatic media. 

Ultimately each advertiser will have to find their own way so there’s no one size fits all. I should caveat that a lot of brands (and agencies) don’t have a programmatic team— including those who do the majority of their sales through retailers as well as others who are digitally native and like the DR-focused nature of sponsored ads. For these advertisers, the best option is to have the team responsible for Amazon-sponsored ads run their Amazon DSP ads.

Camille Agoncillo (Advantage’s Director of Amazon Advertising @ Advantage Solutions)

The Amazon Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP) is an exceptionally powerful programmatic advertising tool for retail media buyers, but because of its complexity, it demands sophisticated users who can harness its full potential.

Oftentimes, Amazon DSP ads are perceived as display banners only. However, there are other forms of ads accessible using the Amazon DSP console, including audio, out-stream video, in-stream video (also known as Streaming TV or Twitch Video), and many more. These are all available to brands selling on and off Amazon marketplaces and can be run through Amazon Managed Service or Amazon Ads Partner Self-Service Agencies.

With its functions and diversity of ads, it takes a high level of strategic insight and technical know-how to run one or a combination of these ads efficiently and effectively.

As one of the earliest agencies to adopt Amazon DSP self-service and among the few to receive the Amazon Ads Advanced Partner status, we recognize that it is essential to have skilled and knowledgeable subject matter experts—people who are dedicated to understanding the Amazon DSP offerings and buying media programmatically in order to maximize platform performance. We cultivate Amazon DSP power users with extensive practical knowledge who also benefit from access to training on product releases, key retail events, and account management thanks to our partnership status. This approach has delivered both strong engagement with our campaigns and business growth for our advertising clients.

Matt Strietelmeier (Director, Marketplace Advertising @ Stella Rising)

The answer to this question is not necessarily cut and dry, given that team structure and responsibilities can vary greatly from business to business. However, a specific skill set is required to successfully run Amazon DSP. Also, Amazon DSP traffic is going to impact Amazon Ads performance as well as Amazon topline revenue. As such, the strategy and reporting of Amazon DSP should be tightly aligned with the Amazon Sponsored Ads team as much as possible.

The team or individuals who run DSP should be demand-side platform specialists who actively work within the platform daily. This criterion is essential for maintaining a deep understanding of DSP audience targeting, creative, and placement options, many of which are unique to Amazon DSP. These options are constantly evolving, so consistent hands-on experience is essential to keep up to speed and craft a successful Amazon DSP strategy.

Additionally, navigating the UI is challenging for users who are not actively working in the platform on a regular basis. Projects such as launching campaigns, and optimizing and reporting, may take a DSP specialist hours to complete, while it could take the inexperienced user days to manage the same task.

If not directly part of the Amazon Ads team, the DSP manager should work closely with that team given that DSP investment will have a direct impact on Sponsored Ads performance and Amazon topline performance. Amazon Sponsored Ads and Amazon DSP should be thought of as two pieces of the overall Amazon strategy.

Allison Lewis (VP Commerce Media @ Gorilla Group) 

At Gorilla Group, we have a team dedicated to eRetail. Part of this team is a group of ecommerce media experts. We pair individuals that know both retail and media (search and display) together to create a holistic approach to their media goals. We ensure that our media team is 100% accredited on Amazon, not just programmatic experts.

By having individuals experienced in the nuances of Amazon DSP, we can differentiate our clients from their competitors. We use Amazon’s proprietary rich audience segments paired with customized audiences to drive efficiencies and create white space. Our media planners are trained to understand all the available offerings from OTT, mobile apps, desktop off and on-site, and beyond.

This enables them to build scalable full-funnel marketing strategies, as they can influence and optimize all stages of the funnel, and take full advantage of programmatic, search, and other media audience overlap.

Whichever team runs your Amazon DSP program, arm them with Skai

As part of Skai’s intelligent marketing platform, our Retail Media solution empowers brands to plan, execute, and measure digital campaigns that meet consumers when and where they shop. Built with best-in-class automation and optimization capabilities, our unified platform allows you to manage campaigns on 30+ retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Instacart all in one place.

Client results include:

  • 461% increase in Amazon Ads ROAS and 57% increase in page traffic for Bondi Sands
  • 92% increase in share of voice on Amazon for a Fortune 500 CPG brand
  • 72% increase in revenue for VTech
  • 1,390% year-over-year sales growth for Kamado Joe

Request a Demo of Skai

Related Posts

  • How Does Skai Use Amazon DSP and Amazon Attribution to Contribute to Client Success?
    Read More
  • Skai Offers Advertisers Expanded Reach on Amazon with Advanced DSP Campaign Management and Optimization
    Read More
  • Inside Amazon DSP: The 9 Types of Amazon DSP Audience Targeting
    Read More
  • Amazon DSP Mythbusting: Four Common Misconceptions
    Read More
  • [WATCH] What is the Potential of Amazon DSP for Brands?
    Read More
  • amazon ads advanced partner
    Skai Achieves Amazon Ads Advanced Partner Status 
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Amazon, Buy, Instacart, Measure, Optimize, Plan, Research, Retail Media, Retail Media Roundtable, Target, Walmart, xTLx

    Subscribe to Updates

    Media that matters.
    Marketing that works.
    © 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
    Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
    • Connected Data
      • Market Intelligence
      • Our Approach
      • By Need
      • By Solution
    • Connected Strategy
      • Dynamic Marketing Mix
      • Budget Forecasting
      • Strategic Consulting
    • Connected Media
      • Overview
      • Retail Media
      • Paid Search
      • Paid Social
      • App Marketing
      • Auditing
      • Expert Services
    • Measurement
      • Incrementality
      • Experiments
      • Cross-Channel Attribution
    • Resources
      • Blog
      • Glossary
      • Case Studies
      • Training & Enablement
      • Developer Hub
      • The Breakthrough
    Privacy Preference

    We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

    Privacy Preference

    Save All

    Save

    Accept Only Essential Cookies

    Manage Cookie Preferences

    Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

    Privacy Preference

    Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

    Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

    Back

    Privacy Preference

    Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website, Imprint
    PurposeSaves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
    Host(s).skai.io, skai.io
    Cookie Nameborlabs-cookie
    Cookie Expiry1 Year
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    PurposeThis cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
    Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
    Cookie NameacsbState, acsbReset
    Cookie Expiryn/a
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s)skai.io
    Cookie Namewordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year

    We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s).chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
    Cookie Namefs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s).comeet.co, www.comeet.co
    Cookie Namevisid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s)skai.io
    Cookie NamemoduleFormPardotDownload
    Cookie Expiry30 days

    Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
    Cookie Name_ga, _ga_*, _gat,_gat_*,_gid, GOOGLE_ABUSE_EXEMPTION, AEC, __Secure-ENID, SOCS, CONSENT
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderHotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
    PurposeHotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
    Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
    Host(s)*.hotjar.com
    Cookie Name_hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    PurposeVWO is AB Testing software that we'll use to test different elements of the website - form placement, nav, different page layouts, etc.
    Privacy Policy https://vwo.com/compliance/cookies-notice/
    Host(s).skai.io, dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com
    Cookie Name_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_goal_{GOALID}, _vis_opt_test_cookie, _vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_combi, _vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_exclude, _vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_split, _vis_opt_s, _vis_opt_out, _vwo_uuid, _vwo_uuid_{CAMPAIGNID}, _vwo_ds, _vwo_sn, _vwo_uuid_v2, _vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_combi_choose, _vwo_referrer, _vwo, _vwo_global_opt_out, _vwo_ssm, uuid
    Cookie ExpirySession / 10 Years

    Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderLinkedin
    Cookie Namelidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderSkai
    Cookie Nameken_gclid
    Accept
    Name
    Provider6sense
    Cookie Name_gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderPardot
    PurposeCookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
    Host(s).pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
    Cookie Namepardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 10 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
    Cookie NameIDE, 1P_JAR, NID, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Cookie NamePHPSESSID, sid, okto-autoposter-XXX, oktgid, oktsid, oktlogid-XXX, oktolead-XXX-Email, oktolead-XXX-Company, oktolead-XXX-FirstName, oktolead-XXX-LastName, oktolead-XXX-Phone, oktolead-XXX-Country, oktolead-XXX-Url, oktolead-XXX-State, oktolead-XXX-Comment, optout
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderMeta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
    Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
    Cookie Name_fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year

    Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderWistia
    Host(s).wistia.com
    Cookie Namecb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderMeta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock Instagram content.
    Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
    Host(s).instagram.com
    Cookie Namepigeon_state
    Cookie ExpirySession
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOpenstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
    PurposeUsed to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
    Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
    Host(s).openstreetmap.org
    Cookie Name_osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
    Cookie Expiry1-10 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderTwitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock Twitter content.
    Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
    Host(s).twimg.com, .twitter.com
    Cookie Name__widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
    Cookie ExpiryUnlimited
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderVimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
    PurposeUsed to unblock Vimeo content.
    Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
    Host(s)player.vimeo.com
    Cookie Namevuid
    Cookie Expiry2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock YouTube content.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
    Host(s)google.com
    Cookie NameCONSENT
    Cookie Expiry6 Month

    Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

    Privacy Policy Imprint