What is “it”?

"it" can turn on a dime... and "it" doesn't lose suction

On October 17th, 2005 millions of primetime television viewers were intrigued to watch a commercial showing a well-dressed man introducing a mysterious product referred to as only “it.” The man extolled some of the virtues of “it” – it had “sleek design and incredible handling,” it could “cook anything from succulent chicken to Chateaubriand”, it was developed in Sweden by “renowned Japanese scientists,” it had “over 1700 lines of resolution,” and perhaps most mysteriously, it “never lost suction.”

“it” is everything you can get on eBay
Sharp-eyed viewers noted that the model “it” shown in the ad had some of the colors in the eBay logo, and concluded that it was a new eBay advertising campaign.

They were proved right after the initial teaser commercial, which ran for three days, was replaced by more ads which showed that “it” is whatever you wanted it to be – because whatever “it” is, you can get it on eBay.

The eBay Brand team’s challenge was to develop a very iconic idea that people would really understand and remember. In the new campaign, “it” portrays the breadth of what’s available on the eBay site. The new tagline, “Whatever it is, you can get it on eBay” uniquely positions eBay.com as a place to find unique, interesting, and rare items, as well as easy-to-find, new, and practical everyday products in a range of categories ranging from clothing to industrial items.

eBay has always been a leading online shopping destination with strong brand awareness and site traffic. But research by Kevin McSpadden, Director, Brand Marketing and his team indicated that most top buyers only shop in one or two categories.

“The goal of the campaign is to show what frequent buyers love most about eBay and to introduce online shoppers to new categories and buying opportunities on eBay,” explains McSpadden. “One of the things frequent buyers love most is that eBay is not only great for hard-to-find items, but for fun, new, in-season items as well.”

“it” on TV, in magazines, and on city streets

"it" is whatever you're looking for...

Focused on surrounding existing users and online shoppers with the message, “You can get it on eBay,” the television ads have run in primetime shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order, Will & Grace, MLB and NFL. Consumers are also seeing the advertising during daytime television on Oprah and The Ellen Show and in popular cable programming on HGTV and Comedy Central.

“The campaign serves as a single, unifying point of focus across a variety of media touch-points,” said Lori Goler, Senior Director, Merchandising. The television campaign is being reinforced by the simultaneous launch of a print campaign that reaches across a wide spectrum of print publications catering to a variety of interests. This coordinated launch is eBay North America’s first fully-integrated creative effort and the largest media reach in eBay history.

The integrated print advertising appears in broad reach publications like People, Lucky, Time, Sports Illustrated, Wired and Martha Stewart Living. The print campaign depicts various visual representations of the all-encompassing “it”. For example, a picture of an “it” made of leather appears in print ads catering to people looking for anything from golfing gloves and designer handbags to wallets and watchbands. And a fluffy pink “it” appears in magazines to show that people can find anything from baby blankets and steering wheel covers to throw pillows and fiberglass insulation.

To kick off the campaign, eBay's Public Relations team also swung into action to increase the visibility of the campaign, by installing gigantic teaser posters at strategic locations in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and inserting advertorials in popular magazines like Rolling Stone.

To view all the ads in eBay’s “it” campaign, visit www.whatis-it.com.

 

...you'll find "it" on eBay

 

“it”-- a big marketing idea
Brad Williams, Vice President, Corporate Communications, says that in only three months since the launch of the campaign, "it" may have already achieved iconic status among the eBay Community and even in popular culture. A song by rising music star Josh Kelley called “Get with it” references all kinds of things that the musician bought on eBay – a direct nod to the campaign’s message. The creative advertising ideas used in the campaign also earned BBDO, eBay’s advertising agency, kudos in the advertising world.

The campaign also seems to have caught the fancy of Community members posting on eBay’s discussion boards, where people have fun posting their own creative versions of the not-so-mysterious “it.”

Williams is convinced that the “it” campaign isn’t just a clever ad slogan, but a long-term “big marketing idea” that has the potential to build on the eBay brand for a long time to come. “As we create new ads in the same vein, we have a great opportunity to engage the Community’s attention and keep surprising them with the breadth and depth of items that they can find on eBay.”