25. Amazon Brand Advantages (If You Know About Them) with Andrew Morgans, Founder & CEO of Marknology

Andrew Morgans is the Founder and CEO of Marknology, an Amazon consulting company. He was drawn to e-commerce with a hunger for creative work, and he definitely found it. Having now worked and consulted with brands as big as Adidas and Marvel, when he started his own firm seven years ago he was primed with his own clear goals and a little more.

Andrew describes e-commerce as “marketing and technology combined.” His early work focused on identifying the hurdles brands face in e-commerce and paving a new path forward for them with technology. Now, through Markology he works with 300 brands worldwide to help them with operational efficiencies and also help tell their stories.

What to listen for:

• Andrew acknowledges how much work it takes to reach goals in e-commerce. He describes how much he loves simple conversations at the gym because they’re so relaxed. In his day-to-day work, in contrast, he puts every bit of energy into creative work discussions with clients. “Working with millions of dollars in ads can be stressful,” he admits. Listen to the full episode to learn how he balances responsibility with “goofing off.”
• Setting goals is how Andrew stays motivated. He’s been that way since he was a kid growing up as the son of missionaries in the Congo. If he wanted anything—to have, experience, or be—then he had to make his own plans to get it. He’s carried this into his adult life and structures everything he does around his personal and professional goals.
• Andrew got into e-commerce by joining a start-up as the third member of the team. He was hungry for a more creative opportunity, and he found it. He was overtaken by ideas. He describes it as the time he redirected “passion, sadness, everything” into innovation.
• Another thing Andrew loves about e-commerce is how “if you’re good at [it], results speak for themselves.” The industry is so new that there isn’t a status quo or “boys’ club” to fight against, meaning he gets to collaborate with all types of creative professionals.
• In the second half of the interview, Andrew digs into the Amazon sales models, specifically 1P versus 3P. 1P was the original Amazon model (still popular today) where manufacturers sell their products in bulk to the e-commerce marketplace, then let Amazon handle everything from advertising to pricing to logistics. This model is still the best for brands just getting into e-marketplace sales for the first time.
• Once Amazon as a business “graduated” from a growth mode to a lean one, they introduced the 3P model. This is where brands and manufacturers determine their own prices, create their own bundles, handle shipping themselves, etc. The trade-off? Brands have full control of their products and pricing, customer journey, and customer data. Listen to the full episode to hear how Andrew describes choosing one Amazon model over the other.
• Andrew describes brands that prefer the 3P model as those equally interested in direct-to-consumer (DTC) commerce. These are the brands focused on their brand image, their social media strategy, and influencer marketing. These brands want to use customer data to “tell their story more effectively” to their target audience.
• For brands just starting on Amazon, Andrew describes how to set realistic goals. “Consider that first phase an initial investment phase,” he says. After the investment, there will be a growth phase, and then come optimizations. The first phase will take longer, too, while brands build momentum. “I can take a brand way faster from one to two million than from $200,000 to $500,000.”