Ebay: LET'S MAKE A DAILY DEAL

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Launch or Re-launch

Advertiser: EBAY

Product/Service: BRAND AWARENESS

Chair, Global Consumer Marketing Practice: Christina Smedley (Edelman)

Senior Vice President, Global Communications: Alan Marks (eBay)

Senior Vice President: John Pluhowski (eBay)

Senior Vice President: Karmen Johnson (Edelman)

Senior Vice President: Jennifer Babbit Bodner (Edelman)

Senior Manager: Jina Jin (eBay)

Senior Manager: Andy Feierfeil (eBay)

Senior PR Specialist: Karen Bard (eBay)

Senior Vice President: Theresa McDonnell (Edelman)

Senior Account Supervisor: Lindsay Garrison (Edelman)

Media Services: Lisa Kovitz (Edelman)

Digital: Rick Murray (Edelman)

Digital: Steve Rubel (Edelman)

MATTER: Amanda Fusco (Edelman)

Editorial: Joe Tropiano (Edelman)

Brand Experience: Amy Bortz (Edelman)

Production: Sarah Walker (Edelman)

Media placement: Experiential: Street Teams - 600,000+ Street Team Impressions And Nearly 250,000 Pieces Of Branded Collateral - 20 June 2009

Media placement: Experiential: EBay’s “Let’s Make A Daily Deal” Took Over The GMA Studio In Time - Maximum Attendance Of 250 Players Per Day, 750 Total - 22 June 2009

Media placement: Experiential: EBay’s “Let’s Make A Daily Deal” Took Over The ABC, NASDAQ And Re - 5 Million Impressions - 22 June 2009

Media placement: Print/Online Coverage - NY Times Media Decoder Blog/New York Daily News Event Listing/MyFoxNewYork.co - 19 June 2009

Media placement: Television Coverage - The View/TODAY/Good Day New York - 22 June 2009

Media placement: Radio Coverage - ANR Garners/CBS Radio Interviews/ABC News - 19 June 2009

Media placement: Social Media Buys - DailyCandy/Meetup/Facebook/Thrillist - 22 June 2009

Media placement: Social Media Outreach - 237 Twitter Posts/14% Increase In Twitter Followers/3,000 Facebook Guests - 22 June 2009



Summary of the Campaign

Considered by many the original 'social network' eBay experienced tremendous success in its first 14 years pioneering the way people shop online, but as competition loomed, public perception shifted and the economy went south, eBay became less relevant. Consumers no longer recognised eBay as a site where they could browse at their leisure and purchase at their own perceived value in three different ways: auction, Buy It Now (fixed-price purchase) and Daily Deal (selected daily fixed-priced bargains).
Our agency conceived and implemented Let’s Make a Daily Deal, a three-day, integrated campaign featuring a high-profile event in Times Square. The event came to life in person as a series of price-guessing games for consumers and online as a new feature on www.ebay.com. More importantly, it served as a platform for articulating the great variety and deals available on eBay in multiple channels, including:

-In person, as street teams blanketed Manhattan.
-Online through both paid placements and organic conversation.
-In traditional media such as New York Times, TODAY, The View and others.

Ultimately, the program increased first-time eBay buyers (260%) first-time Daily Deal buyers (136%) during the week of the event.



The Goal

In mid-May, just a few months into their new relationship, eBay asked our firm to 'make eBay hot this summer', to essentially revitalise the brand. The team had just one month to conceive, plan, and execute Let’s Make a Daily Deal (LMADD) - driving awareness of eBay’s new fixed-price buying formats and reminding shoppers of the amazing range of merchandise available on the site.



Results

Create a moment in time with a multi-channel campaign:
- 750 participants in game show.
- 600,000+ street team impressions.
- 3,000 participants in mobile game.
- 5 million impressions from Reuters, ABC and NASDAQ billboards.

Drive awareness about eBay’s great deals, diverse merchandise and fixed price buying formats:
- 30+ million media impressions, including...
- Interviews with eBay’s Alan Marks in NY Times and CBS Radio News.
- Mario Cantone appearances on Good Day NY and TODAY, Kathie Lee and Hoda recreating the game show in-studio
- Monty Hall interviews on ABC News Radio.
- 7 million social media impressions.
- 3,000 Facebook guest responses.

Reinvigorate passion for eBay during June sales period:
- 10 percent increase in Daily Deal e-newsletter subscriptions.
- 260 percent increase in first-time eBay buyers and 136 percent increase in first-time Daily Deal buyers the week of the promotion.
- 14 percent increase in ebaydailydeal Twitter following.



Execution

LMADD Event: Actor-comedian Mario Cantone hosted the June 22-24 price-guessing games in Times Square Studio (transformed daily from the home of GMA to an authentic game show set).

Media Outreach:
-The media team targeted national and local media for interviews with eBay and celebrity spokespersons, focusing on the business story of eBay’s re-emergence (25%) and the consumer story of eBay’s deals and selection (75%).
-Online paid placements on Daily Candy, Thrillist and MeetUp drove consumers to Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere, where celebrity hosts contributed content and drove conversation.

Experiential Marketing:
-Street teams blanketed Manhattan’s high-traffic locations and key shopping hubs with branded visuals and collateral.
-For the half-million who visit Times Square daily, the NASDAQ, Reuters and ABC electronic billboards were populated with eBay imagery and a text-to-win game.
-An online version of LMADD served as a call-to-action for consumers outside of New York.



The Situation

eBay experienced tremendous success in its first 14 years pioneering the way people shop online. The brand quickly achieved iconic status, but as competition loomed and public perception shifted from 'new' to 'stale', awareness of eBay’s evolving business format waned.

In spring of 2009, spending was on the rebound…but the game had changed. Shoppers were savvier, and impulse buying was a thing of the past. This new climate created a tremendous opportunity for eBay, where shoppers can browse at their leisure and purchase at their own perceived value in three different ways: auction, Buy It Now and Daily Deal.



The Strategy

Time constraints precluded primary research. However, extensive secondary research included an audit of recent eBay media coverage and online conversation, both as a brand and specific to the Daily Deal; review of eBay’s extensive audience segmentation research; analysis of eBay’s existing online properties (Twitter, Facebook, etc.); and review of relevant third-party (e.g., National Retail Federation) data on consumer spending and economic outlook shifts. The research suggested that in a climate of 'spending fear', potential eBay shoppers would respond to a program built on the idea of a "great deal" and led to the following strategies:

-Create and host a high-profile event in Times Square, the headquarters of shopping, as a platform to articulate great deals.
-Leverage the eBay Daily Deal as a proof point for great deals and fixed-price messages.
-Partner with relevant, influential personalities to maximize interest and excitement for the media.