Conversation with Raghu Kashyap, Co-Founder & CTO, Intentwise

Raghu Kashyap is the Co-Founder & CTO of Intentwise, an AI-based intuitive platform for optimizing Amazon Advertising. A unique blend of technical strength and business acumen defines him. He comes with strong domain knowledge in the field of Advertising, Hospitality & Travel, Telecommunication, and Health Care. Raghu Kashyap, with his experienced background in technology and analytics, helps build out an innovative suite of solutions to help clients in the areas of Marketing and Analytics.

Here are some edited excerpts from the conversation:

Q: How can AI-based platforms help brands/sellers maximize returns from their Amazon ad spend?

Amazon ads come with many targeting options: keywords, products, auto targets, and more. Paying the right CPCs (cost-per-click) across all these targeting options, while achieving the desired returns from advertising spend, is a complex problem. The AI-based system has a role to play here. With our platform, advertisers can set a desired target return on ad spend, and Intentwise does the rest. The platform also offers robust bid management capabilities to help brands stay competitive while achieving their target goals.

Q: What is the USP of Intentwise? How are you positioning it to your potential customers?

Our customers find Intentwise user-friendly and extremely powerful at the same time. This balance makes us different. Our objective is to simplify the lives of advertisers and help them compete effectively on Amazon. We have invested heavily in building a technology platform that simplifies the optimization of Amazon advertising. Advertisers working with us have seen improved advertising returns as well as savings on time and effort.

Q: How does Intentwise provide recommendations on Amazon advertising to the brands?

The Intentwise platform is continuously analyzing data and surfacing recommendations to optimize campaigns. Recommendations span areas such as bid management, keyword optimization, ASIN gap analysis, account structure design, etc. The platform’s deep domain expertise is its powerful recommendation engine. Clients leveraging these recommendations have seen an average of 30% improvement in the account performance.

Q: What kind of data and insights can Intentwise give to understand an ad’s performance?

At Intentwise, we are well-positioned to support brands or digital agencies in their operational and growth strategies. Intentwise’s optimization platform helps teams take advantage of all the strategies and techniques within Amazon advertising without the hassle of spending a lot of time learning and managing advertising. Intentwise’s AI platform enables effective bid management while also supporting the automation of routine tasks such as keyword expansion. Intentwise’s Share of Voice platform enables agencies to target their potential customers and help them grow.

As brand advertising becomes more and more sophisticated, it should aim to engage all the levers available on Amazon. Intentwise provides excellent customer support that complements the state-of-the-art technology platform.

Q: What do you think of brick and mortar retailers shifting to e-retailing during COVID and post-COVID times?

There has been a surplus demand for many of the categories in e-retail, during COVID and post-COVID times. Many of these brands have seen 3-5x growth in this period. The need is growing online, and many brick and mortar retailers are trying to catch up. Many retailers are taking advantage of Amazon advertising for brand awareness and positioning their brands post-COVID.

The spike in Amazon’s essentials category sales in the past few months is part of what would typically be offline demand shifting online. This shift is habit-forming, and a good chunk of that demand will likely stay online permanently. The move to digital will be accelerated.

Q: How do you think Amazon and the overall e-retail advertising space will grow in the next few years?

According to a recent Bain & Company study, the e-retail market will reach nearly 300-350 million shoppers over the next five years, propelling the online gross merchandise value to $100-120 billion by 2025. The consulting giant expects the e-commerce growth story to be an inclusive one that empowers both sellers and consumers.

Amazon’s ad revenue in 2019 was $14B, which is up ~ 40% from 2018. COVID-19 has accelerated e-commerce. Combine that with Amazon introducing new

ad formats for both endemic and non-endemic advertisers, and you have a recipe for massive growth!

Key Takeaways:

• Insights on solving the complex problem of achieving desired returns from advertising expenditure.
• AI-based systems and tools that brands can use to stay relevant in the market.

WRITTEN BY

Team Eela

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