Industry Innovators 2023: Prime Video

"Industry Innovators 2023: 10 Brands Redefining Event Marketing" is sponsored by Gladiator Productions, a new kind of production company igniting magic in the arena of live events, entertainment, and experience. We consistently partner with our clients by providing high-touch service through every step of the production process. 

The Basics: Over the past several years, Amazon-owned streaming service Prime Video has really ramped up its experiential marketing efforts and activations tied to its original movies and TV shows, such as its recent takeover of Fifth Avenue in NYC for the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the “Forever Fab” 3D print shop at last year’s Comic-Con in New York to promote its sci-fi series The Peripheral.

Most Innovative Experiences: At this year’s SXSW in March, Prime Video expanded the usual festival footprint, moving across the river to Austin's trendy South Congress neighborhood. The streamer partnered with Bunkhouse Group to transform its properties—Hotel San José and Austin Motel—into “Prime, Texas” and “Swarm Mini Mart,” respectively. The faux city of Prime, Texas, featured stops themed to shows such as Daisy Jones & The Six, The Boys, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Harlem, and more, while Prime Video’s limited series Swarm took over the Austin Motel’s main lobby with a convenience store pop-up. Guests received custom cash to purchase their favorite snacks and refreshments, as well as screen-printed T-shirts.

To celebrate the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a mile-long stretch of New York’s Fifth Avenue was transformed into a retro portal, where guests could experience iconic moments from the series. Running from 46th to 56th streets, the "Marvelous Mile" included pop-ups, performances, and branded giveaways such as custom lipstick cases and curated cocktail kits.

To celebrate the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video hosted a mile-long takeover of Fifth Avenue from 46th Street to 56th Street with a pink carpet.Photo: Courtesy of Prime VideoEvent Philosophy: “We aim to build authentic experiences that our fans can entrench themselves in—in worlds they already know and love and new places they’re discovering for the first time,” said Jennifer Verdick, head of partnerships and consumer events at Prime Video. “We’re not afraid to take risks or place big bets on concepts that are unusual or unique to activate.”

Lesson Learned: “Now, more than ever, you have to take bigger risks and be innovative to get noticed and truly stand out,” Verdick said. “Stay flexible—the current landscape continues to shift at a rapid pace and it is important to design an experience to the current landscape. Not every idea works for every series or movie. The experiential idea has to be authentic to the story we are telling for that series or movie.”

At SXSW, Prime Video partnered with online thrift store Goodfair, offering guests the chance to personalize a denim jacket in collaboration with a local artist at the "Prime Denim Co." experience. In total, more than 2,000 secondhand jackets were styled.Photo: Courtesy of Prime Video

Prime Video celebrated its new sci-fi series The Peripheral with the “Forever Fab” 3D print shop experience at Comic-Con in New York in October. Fans were invited to step into the show’s 2032 setting via an unassuming print shop storefront on the show floor that invited them to “see the future printed before [their] eyes.”Photo: Clark Studios

Fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel posed at a vignette on the northwest corner of 54th Street.Photo: Laru Photography