The rise of networks like Tumblr — a magnet for for ironic, self-created, animated Gifs — has given the short-form, quirky video a new place in our hearts. Amazon is now capitalizing on that with the creation of a new gift card format: video gift cards, a customizable gift card selection created in partnership with JibJab, the online humor and video site that has raised nearly $18 million to date that recently added a focus on children’s content with StoryBots.
Playing on the numerous e-cards that people can make online today, Amazon’s video gift cards let users upload their own pictures and choose from a selection of templates to create their own little videos that accompany the company’s gift cards.
Taking a page from the many sites that also let you create quick gifs on the fly and then post them to social networks, you can do the same here by sharing a received gift card video on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. You can also send them around by email. (The gift card details remain private.)
Launched for holiday shopping, Amazon says the 50 templates cover some 12 different occasions, including Christmas and other winter holidays, birthdays and more. The gift cards themselves are basically the same thing Amazon has always offered, which can be loaded with a value up to $2,000. (But if you go that high, better make the video extra special.)
“We think customers will love uploading a family photo to one of our entertaining holiday-themed video gift cards and enjoy the engaging gift-giving experience of the new Amazon Video Gift Cards this season,” said Max Bardon, General Manager, Amazon Gift Cards, in a statement.
With senders also given the option of posting the gift card to the recipient’s Facebook wall as a way of presenting it, Amazon is hoping for a bit of viral spin around these cards. It’s a clever way of marketing what has otherwise become a pretty pedestrian product, thought of as what you give when you have no inspiration to think of an actual gift.