'They Gave Us All the Free Stuff': A Look Inside Amazon's Lavish Mexican Retreat for InfluencersThe company treated influencers to a three-day trip that they called the Amazon Resort.
ByEmily Rella•
Social media influencers are known to promote lavish lifestyles, whether it's modeling designer clothing, unboxing free items they were gifted, or documenting tropical vacations.
But there's usually a catch, of course, and the essence of theinfluencer marketingindustry is that these free items get posted to social media channels with a large base of followers. These tactics have helped businesses large and small, and evenAmazonis no exception.
Last month, the company flew a dozen of the top Amazon Influencers to a private retreat in Mexico aptly dubbed theAmazon Resort.
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The e-commerce giant took over theParadero luxury resortin Todos Santos for a three-day, all-expenses-paid trip where even themost inexpensive suitesrange from $400 to $800 per night.
On the trip, influencers were treated to spa treatments, gourmet dinners, and cocktail hours; they took leisurely dips in the pool, shot content from the ocean (cheekily called the "Kindle Beach Oasis"), and took advantage of complimentary surf lessons, yoga and kickboxing classes, and farm-to-table activities.
Amazon Influencer Program
"The goal of the Amazon Resort trip, and all [Amazon Influencer Program] events, is to provide educational and networking opportunities for creators," an Amazon spokesperson told狗万官方. "AIP takes pride in being part of the creator community, not just as an opportunity for creators to earn revenue, but also as a facilitator of networking opportunities, sharing best practices, and supporting the growth of creators small and large. The Amazon Resort event in Todos Santos, Mexico was part of an ongoing event series AIP is hosting this year to bring creators together to network with each other, and provide educational opportunities."
Amazon also set up a pop-up shop with sections such as "Internet's Most Famous" and "Most Loved" where guests could pick and choose their favorite items and take them home for free.
"They gave us all the free stuff in this bag, we didn't have to ask for it," one influencer, Kirsten Titus, said during her vlog of the experience on her YouTube channel.
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Titus, who boasts 6.8 million followers on her Hawaii-basedTikTok account, documented the three-day trip with her sister in tow and featured other popular Amazon Influencers likeLauren Wolfe(768K followers on TikTok) andHannah Harrell(3.3M followers.)
"I've never touched water in a foreign country in my entire life," Titus toldher viewerson the second day of the trip. "Anyway, I know I always say this because I always mean it, especially when I'm doing things that I literally would have never done without you guys … it's just really awesome that I have the opportunity to do these things because of you guys so thank you."
However, creators were not required to post on the Amazon Resort trip.
Through Amazon's Influencer Program, content creators can earn commission by building out an Amazon Storefront and linking their URL and affiliate links to their respective social media pages.
"The Amazon Influencer Program is always innovating on behalf of creators to make our program better," said Meredith Silver, director, creator growth at Amazon in an email. "We provide tools, support, education, and inspiration so they can build successful and rewarding content creation businesses with us, promoting the Amazon products and services they love.Events specifically are a chance for us to connect in person, and facilitate a sense of community among our creators, to educate and inspire them, and to thank them for being part of our program."
@laurenwolfeThere was a beach!#todossantos♬ original sound - Lauren Wolfe
The Amazon Resort trip took place in mid-May, just days after the retail giantreported its less-than-stellarQ1 2022 earnings and saw a single-day 12% plummet in valuation. The company also reported a $3.8 billion quarterly profit loss, compared with an $8.1 billion profit gain in Q1 of 2021.
"We've received positive feedback from attendees, who let us know they had a great time, learned a lot about the program, fostered relationships with other creators, and would love to attend again," the Amazon spokesperson said.
Amazonwas down just over39% year over year as of late Tuesday morning.
