Amazon and Conquest Advertising

A term I had not heard in a very long time.    Only Amazon and Google might be in place to do this.

Amazon Rewrites the Conquest Advertising Textbook  in ECOmmerce Times  By Alasdair McLean-Foreman

Amazon has powerful tools to help brands hold onto and acquire new customers

You've just come home from the gym and discovered that your teenager cleaned out your stash of energy bars. Drat. You grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to ease the hunger pangs, then decide to avoid future deprivation by ordering a new supply of bars online.

You usually buy Clif Bars, so you type the brand name into Amazon search and start to place an order -- but just as you're about to click the "Buy Now" button, you notice an ad for Quest Nutrition bars at the top of the search page, tempting you with a compelling alternative. The bars look appetizing, they get multiple-star customer reviews and -- best of all -- you can get them at a bargain price. One click later, Quest has acquired your business from the folks over at Clif Bar.

In a dynamic marketplace like Amazon, where an astonishing 50 percent of all e-commerce transactions now occur, this type of last-minute product switch is there for the taking. Amazon gives advertisers the ability to offer real-time promotions, targeted discounts, and highlighted customer reviews that can be highly effective in persuading shoppers to choose alternative products at the last phase of the purchase funnel.

Snatching a sale directly away from the competition is every marketer's dream. If the buyer goes on to make a long-term switch to the new brand, the company has pulled off a marketing coup. Multiply that by thousands of customers, and the result is a shift in actual market share.

This is what commonly is known as "conquest advertising." Amazon has developed uniquely powerful tools that brands can use toward that end -- and not just when customers are about to buy a particular product. These real-time advertising vehicles can encourage dramatic shifts toward established brands or aggressive newcomers alike. It all depends on who best takes advantage of Amazon's powerful ad capabilities.  .... "