Old brand seeks revamp

Web retail giant Amazon.com has chosen Doner to produce fresh marketing for its brand, reports Advertising Age.

Doner was founded in 1937 in Southfield, Michigan. It is the largest privately-owned ad agency in the United States. Agencies chosen to assist Doner include WPP's Cole & Weber United, Publicis/Seattle — owned by Publicis Groupe — and McKinney, which recently repurchased its liberty from Havas.

Amazon is historically conservative with campaign ad spend. TNS Media Intelligence reports it burned a mere $25 million on measured media in the US last year.

But its popular wireless ebook product, Kindle, may raise the stakes. Kindle went live in November at the retail price of $399 — a steep price that nonetheless did not prevent Amazon from selling out in just five and a half hours.

Amazon is rumored to be preparing an updated version of Kindle. It recently also purchased interest in several book-oriented social networking sites, including Shelfari and Abebooks.

Agencies were reportedly solicited for ideas about how best to position Kindle in the future.