K – I – S – S – ING… First comes LOVE, then comes MARRIAGE…  (then, a whole bunch of legal jargon) But what comes next?

For $800 million, Amazon gets the opportunity to plug their Teflon-esque business model in to the Gen-Y Juggernaut that is Zappos. (AdAge article here)

My question – Will Amazon take ques from Zappos’ incredibly engaging (and successful) social media strategy and start working in a system for creating conversation around the products THEY sell?

• reviews of books with “live” discussions?
• conversations on service?
• community-building around the Amazon name… ?
• engagement as a tour-de-force in social media circles?

And Zappos – talk about a distribution partner.  I’m sure that the $1 Billion they’re expected to do in 2010 will be adjusted accordingly, knowing the incredible power that’s now at their disposal.  Remember, it says “Powered by service™” right beneath their logo…  How, besides distribution and the INCREDIBLE influx of cash and public relations can Zappos take advantage of the union?

Not a bad deal at $800 Million…  For either party.

I’m interested to see how this changes things.  I see Amazon, although the bigger entity, benefiting from this more than Zappos.  What do you think???

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

P.S. – this would be The Brand Chef’s 100th Post…  Although I had something else planned for this momenous milestone, I thought this conversation would be more interesting…  Be watching for my 101st post!