I had a conversation with a someone today about the different ways marketers will have to rethink advertising, since the old ways don’t seem to fit –when it comes to online content– on devices that are smaller than PCs and TV screens.

Then I came across Amazon’s Fishbowl, something I had commented on last year. It’s intriguing that Amazon is doing this, but then again, every marketer that does not experiment with new formats around their content, will be left in the dust. Fishbowl features interviews; there is one patently branded piece that looked like a great marriage between three essential parts of the Amazon service: the author, the customer and the delivery method. In this case it was a UPS ‘spot’ that did not look like a commercial at all, even with the big brown truck in the background.

Essentially it is a way for Amazon to spring a surprise on a customer who has ordered Mitch Albom’s book "The five people you meet in heaven." Albom personally delivers the box, getting an opportunity to plug the theme of the book about how we never know how much we could impact the world when we connect with someone. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the title: UPS Special Delivery. The idea was strong enough to not need such heavy handed branding. And it does not need to be watched on a TV screen either.