AWS — BOUNDLESS JOURNEY
Before launching db clay’s AI advisory practice, Garett Stenson served as Head of Strategy and Executive Creative Director at Revery—a global storytelling studio he co-founded in Portland, Oregon. There, he led a year-long engagement with AWS Retail. The brief? Reposition AWS from a perceived competitor to a trusted partner—transforming a complex, often misunderstood platform into a story-led brand built to inspire, educate, and drive adoption of emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, and computer vision.
What happens when the world's largest retailer hands you the tools?
Back in 2019, during my time as Head of Strategy and Executive Creative Director at Revery (a storytelling studio I co-founded in Portland), Amazon Web Services approached us with a bold challenge: reposition AWS Retail from a perceived industry threat to a trusted partner. The brief was ambitious, the context complex—but provided a great opportunity to lead.
It’s hard to picture now, but Amazon has startup roots: it began in 1995 as an online bookseller, operating out of the garage of a rented home. Today, Amazon is not only one of the world’s largest retailers, but also the operator of the cloud computing powerhouse known as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Though AWS has several business verticals, their flagship category is, of course, Retail—after all, Amazon spent the past 25 years learning, expanding, and revolutionizing the way we shop.
In doing so, they’d accrued a wealth of resources that could help both small and large retailers streamline and scale their business—now that the AWS platform was made available to all. The problem? After leading such a massive transformation of the marketplace, the rest of the retail industry didn’t see Amazon as a collaborator, but as their most formidable competition.
Rebranding the AWS Retail Engine: From Industry Threat to Trusted Partner
Our task was to reposition AWS Retail—to help the company move from competition to collaboration in the minds of its customers. At the time, AWS Retail was without a brand voice. For such a complex set of offerings—and an equally complex perception problem—this left the category feeling rudderless.
AWS asked us to reimagine the division’s communications and aesthetic from the ground up, with a focus on branded content, storytelling, and experiences. What kicked off was a year-long partnership that not only built a powerful brand presence for Retail, but also set a new standard for industry marketing within AWS as a whole.
From Complexity to Clarity: Crafting a Story-First Strategy for AWS Retail
Because AWS Retail offered software solutions that any retailer in the world could leverage, I knew we needed to tell a story that was both aspirational and deeply practical. My role was to bridge that gap—to make the complex simple, the abstract tangible, and the platform feel human.
We focused on translating highly technical language into clear, campaign-ready messaging. We developed a strategic foundation that allowed us to inspire, engage, and educate across multiple platforms—digital and experiential alike. From there, the momentum built quickly.
A Brand Anthem for the Future of Retail—and the Leaders Bold Enough to Shape It.
We launched our campaign with a Brand Anthem: a film that captured the vision and purpose of AWS Retail. Our title: LEAD, NEVER FOLLOW. We began with the insight that “Retail Never Sleeps,” and built a story around the aspirations and journeys of the future-minded retailer.
I helped shape this narrative around three key personas: the Builder, the Pathfinder, and the Wanderer—C-suite decision makers navigating an ever-evolving industry. The film became our emotional anchor, helping retailers see AWS not as an abstract platform, but as a partner in their progress.
Where Story Meets Strategy: Building the Sales and Digital Ecosystem for AWS Retail
Knowing that much of AWS’ enterprise sales happened in one-on-one meetings, we followed the anthem with a “first-call” sales deck—a 50-page presentation AWS executives could use to introduce the platform to prospective clients. I worked closely with internal teams to simplify complex offerings into clear, persuasive narratives that spoke to real business outcomes.
From there, we extended the messaging across a broader ecosystem. We developed a dedicated AWS Retail microsite, wrote all content and messaging, and created a suite of motion graphic explainers to demystify services like AI, machine learning, and computer vision—bringing invisible technologies into view.
Shaping What’s Next: AWS Retail Takes the Spotlight at NRF Activation.
Our work culminated in a fully immersive experience at the National Retail Federation show, held at the Javits Center in New York in January 2020. I led strategy and content for AWS’ 1,800-square-foot booth—an interactive, three-zone installation built in collaboration with Amazon’s fabrication partner.
Our concept: show how the warehouse of the future, the store of the future, and the home of the future could all be seamlessly connected through AWS technology. The result was a tangible, walkable expression of AWS’ capabilities—a space that helped attendees experience what is usually invisible.
At the Heart of Innovation Is a Story Anyone Can Relate To.
This project remains one of the most meaningful brand transformations I’ve led. It was a study in translation—of turning systems into stories, and skepticism into trust. It blended narrative craft with operational clarity. And it offered a glimpse of how emerging technologies—when framed with care—can help shape a better, more collaborative future for business.
