Case Study
Formosa Covers uses AI Image generator to save time and boost ad performance
Products used:
Goals
- Grow sales by reaching new audiences and elevating creative content
- Reduce time spent developing creatives
Approach
- Used Sponsored Brands campaigns to expand reach to new audiences
- Used AI Image generator (beta) to develop creative within seconds
Results
- Clicks grew on average 22%
- Orders grew on average 21%
- Detail page views grew on average 20%
- Return on ad spend grew on average 35%
It is imperative for advertisers to find new and interesting ways to engage with their viewers. At a time where viewership continues to fragment as the number of ways to consume ads grows, advertisers have focused their attention on leveling up their content to stand out from the crowd. However, for some businesses, overcoming this challenge with limited resources is no easy feat. Businesses are finding themselves forced with a decision: commit the time and effort to design their own creatives or use AI-infused solutions to generate creatives.
Formosa Covers is a 35-year-old family-owned business selling indoor and outdoor covers for patio furniture, vehicles, and shelving, among other items. Formosa uses digital advertising campaigns to help showcase lifestyle imagery of Formosa products and drive sales. Recently, they too, found themselves faced with this decision: commit the time or look for a new solution.
How Sponsored Brands helped Formosa reach new audiences
As a business with a regional customer base and a set of customers that may gravitate towards one-time purchases, Formosa was looking for new ways to expand the brand’s reach and increase sales. Coming into the summer of 2023, Formosa CEO Danielle Wu created an initial sales strategy that involved deploying Sponsored Brands campaigns to reach new customers on Amazon. Although this unlocked a new audience, Wu found herself bogged down by the creative process.
To produce high-quality creatives, Formosa relied on various design tools to place product images onto different backgrounds. Without the budget for a photographer or design staff, Wu estimated it took a minimum of an hour to manipulate a lifestyle image. However, as she put it, this was “better than not having lifestyle images.”
How AI unblocked creative development
In November 2023, Formosa Covers continued to refine their strategy by testing Amazon Ads AI Image generator to generate new lifestyle images for their Sponsored Brands campaign, which had been running since August 2023. In the months following, Formosa would find that this test paid off.
Looking back on her Amazon Ads AI Image generator usage, Wu says, “As a small business with limited resources, this technology has revolutionized our marketing efforts by efficiently creating stunning visuals of our products, from shelving unit covers to patio furniture covers, enhancing customer engagement and boosting ad performance. With Amazon Ads AI, we've saved valuable time and resources, all while delivering superior imagery that surpasses our previous attempts. We eagerly anticipate the continued advancements of this tool, confident it will further elevate our brand presence and customer experience.”
How AI Image generator helped to increase ad performance and brand recognition
The Sponsored Brands campaign was extended throughout the first quarter of 2024. From November 2024 through Q1 of 2024, the campaign observed a boost in ad performance thanks to the use of AI image generated creatives. With the introduction of AI generated images in November, Formosa observed an average uplift in ad performance across clicks (+22%), detail page views (+20%), orders (+21%) and return on ad spend (+35%).1
1 Amazon Internal, 2023-2024