Leveraging Amazon Ads for global expansion, with b.box

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to the E Commerce Made simple podcast. I'm Jerome Luguignier, your host. Today is a very special podcast because it was recorded live at the Amazon accelerate show in September 2025 in Seattle. And it's always very interesting to have those live podcasts and have one of our customers come live at such an event. On that occasion I sat down with Jason Mullen from bebox for Kids, one of our uh, customers and we were sitting in the Amazon Ads partner content studio at the show. In this session we'll be chatting about the story of bebox for Kids, which is an amazing brand. Just uh, Google it or Amazon it right, uh, bbox for Kids. And we talked about the founders, the story of why they started that incredible brand and how the brand has been leveraging the different Amazon ads capabilities to grow brand awareness, acquire new clients and expand internationally. So if you are um, uh, in love with brands and with uh, success stories about how they uh, their journey from starting inception to global expansion, this webinar is really for you. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Speaker B: So welcome everyone to E Commerce Made simple podcast. I am Jerome De Guignier, your host and today we are very excited because we are live at ah, Amazon Accelerate in Seattle. And I'm super happy to have Jason with me from uh, bebox for kids with a great water, uh, bottle in front of you. So on the podcast you won't see it but for the ones who are here will see beautiful water bottles. So Jason, let's get into it. We've got uh, 20 minutes of uh, learning about, you know, how, how to leverage basically Amazon Ads to expand your brand globally and we'll start about learning about you Jason, and about bebox, uh, for kids.

Speaker C: Wonderful, wonderful. Yeah. So Jason Mullen, I'm the E Commerce lead at BeeBox in the USA. Um, newer with the company been in since April, but uh, it's really an amazing, amazing company. Uh, founded by two moms in Australia back in 2007 and then they launched their first product in 2009. Um, but some very smart business women that have uh, grown a company significantly, ah and really impressively in, in, in the time that they've had it. It's uh, you know, it's really compelling and exciting to see. Um, first I would say you know, the company is founded on the idea of solving problems, of being a problem solver. You know. What compelled uh, the founders, Dan and Mon to you know, to create their first product was a challenge they had in, in travels as parents, as moms, so that was exciting and I think that is the foundation for sort of all of the products that we come out with as a company. And um, it's great products for kids um, that help parents solve problems and help make uh, their kids lives on a daily basis easier. So it's a really cool company and great products. It's exciting. As far as in the US we're playing in the sort of bento box lunchbox space, the, the water bottle space, um, you know all specifically for kids. But you know a lot of the product range um, is it works from you know, sort of toddler phase all through. Um, you know I use the bee box lunchbox and snack box on a, on a daily basis. So it's amazing. You know, I get to support the water bottle here. So it's great. We've got some amazing products.

Speaker B: Indeed. And I was in, in Europe at Colonial last week actually for a big uh, uh, baby uh show. Ah. And baby brand show. And I could, I met the whole family by bebox family distributors and all the founders and the tagline of BEBOX is problem solved.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And for me it was very interesting, like problem solved. Are uh, you consultants? No, but it was problem solved for parents, right? Yes. So it's problem solving for parents who've got, you know, who need to organize food, a lodge for the kids or travel is there and water bottle and different things. So I thought that was very interesting this thing of starting the story from. Okay, a problem I've had as a mom, as a parent and traveling and sort of developing a solution, uh, from it. And we work with a lot of brands, uh, worldwide. The ones which impress me most or which are really, uh, have got a good reason to be successful is starting from a real, real world problem.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Like it's not marketing, it's really moms who started from their garage basically and that, that grew up just as, and

Speaker C: they've taken Australia by storm really. I mean I think you know, that's what's amazing too to sort of see that this, you know, this mom founded family owned business, um, you know, just grew so significantly so quickly. And to see sort of the history of the company as I've come in and, and learned and got to grow, uh, that's amazing. You know, and in Australia it's a very, very well known brand and it uh, has amazing store placement and you know a great online presence and DTC site and all of this stuff that's really, really compelling. But that's a challenge. As you know we sort of are talking and taking that um, well founded brand with great recognition there and bringing it globally. So you know we're in the US now, very focused on this business, the EU business that you're familiar with. Well we don't have that brand recognition that they have in Australia. So we, we face an uphill struggle there and we have some very significant competitors in the space um, that we have to understand and find opportunities to take market share from. So yeah, it's exciting but a big challenge for sure.

Speaker B: Exactly. So I think it's a good segue into uh, our next part which is uh, okay, what are the challenges and how to overcome them to expand it. How does AMAZ play in that role? What's interesting first and why we spend some time in it getting to know the brand, uh, is because first it's very interesting to get to know you. But second is also because the, the, the DNA of the brand or like what's the story of the brand, where it's coming from. As an agency we're very specific uh, about it or we are very careful about it because as a brand which is not well known but great, great story or great like fundamentals, that problem solve kind of thing is for us super important and uh, to be successful. If you miss that part, if you're only like a marketing creation, it's much more difficult. So here you have a real story, you have real people and Monique, uh, and Danielle, you can meet them, you can see, you can talk about them. They're real people and it's a real story. And that's the first thing about being successful. You got tools, you've got great things. But it's the brand how and the quality of the products of story around the product and like the values and I'm amazed with the BeBox brand for those things. And that's why we believe that brand has a great potential. Now like you said, what's interesting and for the audience here is uh, when you're expanding globally, usually you're coming from your home country where you're well known and you're expanding, expanding into territories where you're less well known. So what's interesting is that uh, bebox for Kids work was created in Australia, uh, and become very successful in Australia. Then it moved into Europe where Monique and Daniel had studied in the UK so they were more familiar with uh, Europe with, through distributors. So that was the second step. And then they're moving or they've moved since a few years but it's still new in the US So As a learning point is when you're, when you're growing, it's like from your hometown or your home, uh, country, there's one thing, but then it's like how do you expand into places, a different culture. So like the lunch boxes, the food inside is different.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: We were talking about it in Italy, in the US or in Australia first. So there's lots of differences and people don't know you, so there's a lot of work about that. So maybe the first question for you is like how, when, when you've, you've joined the, the, the, the company not so long ago, but how do you approach this thing about being less well known in a country and how do you look about building a bit awareness of the brand?

Speaker C: Yeah, there, I mean, I think it's, you know, I always go back to the product. You really have to understand the product, the benefits we have, the features that we can talk about. But then, you know, that's one understanding the customer then. And those nuances, um, of the customer between Australia, US Euro, um, even the various countries in the eu, so really focusing in honing on that customer experience and how they're going to perceive the product, how they're going to sort of understand it. And again, going back to that mission, how can we solve a problem for that parent? That's what's really important and key to our storytelling and what we're doing as a brand. So uh, and then from there I think, you know, we dive into the aspects of we've got amazing product, how do we get it in front of that consumer that we want to talk to. And that's where the ad platform on Amazon makes it so, uh, opportunistic. And there's so much potential there to dive into understanding the consumer and how they're going to experience the product, find it, uh, and then you get them simmer.

Speaker B: So I was thinking next one would be, okay, how do you, how do you got started? Like what, what's the process? Uh, where do you start? What's it, you know, moving into Amazon, for example. Yeah. Contents, you know, content, making sure the content is great. It's not it. And then Amazon ads. And then we can start to go on ads and sponsored products and blah, blah, blah. And then I'll, I'll try to dive into the AMC thing.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: We good?

Speaker B: Um, okay, start again. Okay, great. Thank you very much for, for that. The one question I was, uh, I think is interesting for the audience is, you know, you, you've got that new brand in in, to launch in the market. Amazon, uh, and, and E commerce is super important because of the branding aspect and the availability and all the like the promises. Which is behind uh, uh, which carries. Amazon carries. What, uh, how, how do you get started? Like what, what's, how did BBOX look at? Okay, I need to build that, you know, customer journey, customer experience. I understand my customer too, but how. So how did you go about it?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean I think for me starting with the company, you know, sort of just digesting you know, the great content and assets that they had for Australia and then, and then understanding sort of what it started with, uh, on the platform already, uh, you know, but base level for any brand, I mean I think you really need to do a hard, hard look at uh, your imagery. Um, that's the key, most important decider for the customer to engage them quickly. Most of us are visual shoppers these days. If you're online that's when it's going to get you. The other thing, um, very important is understanding your keywords. And this is kind of across everything but the keywords where customers are going to find you. Um, because integrating those into your title, into your bullet points, that's going to help the search algorithm on Amazon and all the AI of bubble you up in the findings. But those same keywords that are important for your content are going to be very important in your advertising, uh, as well. So that's what's really important. And then you know, completing that storytelling, the, the, you know, the uh, a enhanced content, the brand store, the brand stories, Amazon, uh, posts all of this stuff that just helps complete the brand experience on the platform. It all ties together. Uh, I think that's the biggest thing. I mean on Amazon you can find just about anything but how comfortable are you as a customer not knowing anything about the brand to make that click to add it to your cart to convert. Um, and the more beautiful storytelling and an understanding of the brand that the customer has, um, that lowers that barrier of entry for them and makes it easier to band with.

Speaker B: Yeah, great. So, and the work around, uh, that efficiency let's say of the content is really the conversion rate. It's like how much uh, like anyone going on the page, is he convinced by what he's seeing? Are you reaching the right audience? And what's amazing with brands like uh, Ebox is that ah, it's such, it's very nice products. It's really sold by moms for moms, uh, and dads to be open. Uh, but at the beginning in that Story, it's really um, and you could see that the conversion rates of brands with such a story are much higher now. It's a competitive landscape. Like the kids categories is a competitive uh, one. Uh, there's lots of players like in hydration, like there's lots of players in the baby categories and the launch boxes also. So it's um. You need to win your space, right? You need to win the attention. Uh, once you have that attention it's really working well. But right, so you need to get that, you need to get the people, the products in front of the eyes of the customers and then they decide uh, if the product is good for them. So how did you get, what was your approach looking at uh, Amazon ads for example, to make sure that that product was pushed forward and fueling the growth.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean I think that's what's, what's a unique challenge in the USA specifically to what I'm dealing with. Um, you know, the spaces we play in with bento box lunch boxes, with our snack container, snack box, uh, the water bottles. Uh, we have some very, very big companies, some very, very established companies in the spaces that have really tremendous market share, um, and that have really big brands as well that we have to compete against. So understanding that in the space, um, is invaluable. Uh, but it also means that we have to be more nimble, uh, we have to be more adaptive in the competition. Uh, we have to make our ad spend go further because we're not able to trade punches with those big brands. They're going to be able to outspend us day in, day out. So you know, finding the unique opportunities or you know, one of the key learnings I think we recently had was that, you know, the Amazon sponsored brand, top of page placement that is premium and so important. Uh, it's also really challenging when you're up against big, big companies because they have the dollars to make that a very, very expensive placement. So uh, you know, we've been able to adjust to that, adapt to the hut, maybe spend a little bit less on that placement that's still successful. Um, but we've been able to lower our CPCs, uh, and focus on ah, some other page placements that have also been giving us good conversion and making our ad spend go a bit further so that you know, those are the kind of insights and tests that you need to do. You have to be constantly testing on the platform, constantly learning and adapting and using that data that you get from the platform to make refinement and uh, be able to make your budget go further than it would when you're competing against these massive players.

Speaker B: And it's true that um, that's a great learning which is. Okay, you have a strategy. Let's say you say oh I'll go in placements or I'll put my ads where you know, that's where the most people are likely to look at which are the most expensive ones. And you say oh, that's the right strategy. Well in some cases when you're a challenger brand and when you're speaking about expansion, you're always usually a challenger.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: Uh, so the point is about say okay, you need to be smart and to be quick to action sometimes. Oh wow, my spend is just growing insanely and my results are not. So it's all about being smart about the spending. So uh, and, and sometimes you could, uh, you've got different products into Amazon and sometimes you, sometimes you have to go up a funnel. And we've made tests for example where DSP ads, so demand side platform ads have actually a better CPC than, than sponsored uh, products sometimes for, for whatever, for, for some reason because in you're going to reach a specific audience which you've probably enriched with other signals, uh, or insights from customers. And the whole thing about expansion uh, is being uh, trying to outsmart the other brands. And I've always said that Amazon actually is a, it's a great place for challenger brands. Yeah, it's actually not always great to be the number one because you need to be careful for. Okay. Competitors could come north and south and you know, west and west and as east and it's all about protecting. That is super complicated actually. When you're a challenger you're trying to find the loopholes.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: There's so many placements, so many combinations, so many things that uh, it's possible if you have a great product and a great brand. You just need to consistently do a great job, great execution. But be smart about finding the right loops. Right? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: And that's what, you know, that's what makes Amazon as a platform so exciting, you know, because uh, you know, it's always evolving. Um, you know we've got an amazing conference that we're here for. Accelerate. It's, it's, you know, there's always something new to learn. Um, there's always a way to take that customer data that you find out about and test um, it in a different way, find a new solution. Again it goes back to our mission, you know, problem solve. How can we take that ethos and bring it into the platform in our content, in our advertising, um, to be unique, to stand out and you know, and be. Yeah, we're underdogs. But that's what, what makes the platform great too is that the underdogs can play with the big guys and, and find their own space, find their own niche.

Speaker B: So I'll, I'll disagree with you on that. I say you're, you're big guys but the people don't know it. Yes, this is true. That's true. Leveraging Amazon's uh, name to make sure that that is happening. One thing I wanted to share so Amazon Marketing Cloud. So amc, we talk a lot about it and we, we're extensively using it to find those loopholes we were talking about, especially when you're a challenger. And I think there is news coming about Amazon Marketing Cloud and lots of things are happening on that space. You need to be listening. But typically we've seen uh, looking um, the new to brand gateway ASIN report where we can find which, which is the best ASIN to get people to get started with a brand and finding which is the best gateway new to brand asin, uh, is focusing on that one and only that, that was that report. We managed to increase a 21% conversion rate in uh, July and August, uh, of this year for example. So AMC is giving you that insight to really double down and maybe you can hope that the competitors are spending less time or less nimble or so big they've got other things you can win those kind of uh, market share. Another example is we've looked at the path to conversion. So pass to conversion is like how many touch points do you need before the customer buys? And we found out that you need to have it activate two to three different ad types before getting the most optimal conversion, uh, rate. And typically that has had an increase in 20% of the conversion rate on, on the, on the ASINs we focused on. And it's all about being smart with the dollars you have because when you're a smaller brand you can't spend like the percentage of sales is obviously, uh, lower. So it's always about being smart and problem solving to, to your point and to the tagline of the brand of so finding the right solutions. Right. So finding. Let's, let's, so let's wrap up because I think we are on time now. It's about what we've learned today is like you need to have a great brand, uh, you need to uh, make sure you have great content which speaks to the local audience you need to have then start to understand better your audience and use ads for that and start to be like nimble, smart and agile. Right. Does that summarize?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think that sums it up. And know thyself, understand your product and then you can make those inroads. You know, I think Amazon, um, is amazing because of those opportunities in the advertising. You know, we have the sponsored products, the sponsored brand ads, uh, you know, some of the things that we've been talking about on the sponsored display ads, you know, where you can target specific competition and really go after market share in that way. Um, that just, you know, all of it together, you know, a holistic approach really, really offers up that opportunity to make the path, make a difference. Uh, and it's exciting or, you know, we're growing and that's, that's really what's cool.

Speaker B: Yeah. And having an eye on the global business of Beatbox, it's growing in, in different areas with different tactics. And uh, one of the learnings for me is like when you sort of cross, it's tough to have all teams work together because it's different time zones, uh, and so on, but that work together and for us to connect the different points of the globe to make sure it's delivering success and applying the learnings from one place to another is amazing. And I'll finish up with like all the mom and dads of listening to that. Have a look at bbox for kids. That's B box for kids. The products are really amazing and you can, you, you'll see it for yourselves. But we really recommend that we are in love with the brand and we're sure you watch that space. It will be very successful very soon.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's exciting. Thanks. Thanks. Shakes, your partnership.

Speaker B: Thanks a lot.