Continuing on their theme of being a colourful place to shop, New York become a little more vibrant as eBay held a summer block party last week. They invited sellers from around the world bring summer to life in celebration of the new brand platform.
Whilst those in New York could visit in person, eBay also made a 360° shoppable virtual block party tour which you can view online. Visitors to the event could shop on mobile phone and tablets and those unable to attend can still take a virtual walk through the block and shop online.
The aim of the event is to inspire shoppers with the idea that eBay is not only an exciting place to shop, but that the marketplace is differentiated from competitors by the broader range of exciting and often colourful products that they offer.
It’s a seismic shift for eBay, moving away from trying to compete with box shifter site. They want shoppers to come to eBay and be excited to shop – you’re not buying a boring box of dishwasher tablets to be delivered next day or desperate for bog roll to be delivered within the hour because you’ve just run out – eBay aren’t a retailer so can’t and don’t provide this type of service. What eBay do provide is the unique, quirky, charming colourful items that you want rather than simply need (although by the time you’ve seen them eBay want to convert your aspirations to ‘need’ or maybe even ‘greed’ and have you buying ever more on their marketplace.
eBay’s new brand campaign is all about consumers’ individual tastes and interests, emphasising that they’re not a brown box shifter but a place where you’ll find colourful desirable must have items that match your personal tastes and lifestyle.
“The unique global perspective and exceptional merchandise curation offered by eBay sellers are core differentiators that drive a more personalized marketplace experience. “Coupled with the introduction of our new Price Match Guarantee, the Block Party is yet another way that eBay empowers shoppers to access the best selection of must-have and one-of-a-kind items for the summer and beyond.”
– Hal Lawton, Senior Vice President of eBay North America
Rob Hattrell, the new Vice President for eBay UK, has confirmed that we’ll see an anglicised version of the #FillYourCartWithColor campaign in the UK later this year. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the UK, but eBay are betting big with TV adverts confirmed and doubtless a ton of other marketing to support them.
