Not a clickbait title. I think this might really be the best example of sponsored content I have seen. Amazon Prime Partnered with Vice News to do a series of videos promoting the new Jack Ryan series. My favorite of the series is entitled: Cheated Death with a Former CIA Operative – Inspired by Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
In this video, Vice News does it what it does best- tells stories in a real and gritty way through the video. They tell the life story of a former CIA Operative, Nic McKinley. I imagine their target audience for this campaign is men who like action, military, and adventure movies. So hearing from a CIA operative is a great way to catch their attention.
This video has a lot going for it:
1. Great production value. It has good quality and a variety of shots to help keep the viewer engaged.
2. It’s not overwhelming in its promotion of Jack Ryan. A few brief mentions but is very much about Nic McKinley.
3. Thrilling Stories. Nic does a great job sharing exciting stories from his career.
4. Behind the Scenes: Nic talks about his life as CIA and the bad side of his life as a CIA Operative.
4. The pivot. Near the end of the video, VICE News turns the story to talk about Nic’s current life in which he is fighting human trafficking.
The pivot at the end is what sealed the deal for me. Amazon allowed VICE to create a promotional piece that stayed true to who they were AND help promote a great mission that Nic is running in his post-CIA life. You can watch the piece below, let me know what you think about the brand integration:
