Just in time for the holidays, online auctioneer eBay has made an intense marketing push to let people know where they can get “it.” What is it? It’s a domain name, WhatIs-It.com, for starters. And, it’s viral marketing, an area where we haven’t seen eBay play in before now.
Are you a buyer or a seller? Or ready to learn about being an affiliate? Tell us how “It” impacts your thoughts on marketing online in WebProWorld.
The site delivers eBay’s it’ logo in Flash format, where users can change its size and style. They’ve gone for the humorous angle with their efforts; users can render the logo in wood, steel, or a bound-to-be-controversial pink furry look.
Videos on the site follow the garage creation of it’, evoking the memory of tech legends like Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs putting together the first Apple computer. Two unnamed guys rejoice when one comes up with it’ on a sketchpad.
The videos follow the duo through appearances on faux talk shows in Japan, Mexico, the U.K., and the US. Site visitors can forward the link to others, which is the point of a viral marketing campaign: it comes to users from other users.
EBay has gone beyond the computer monitor with the campaign. An eBay spokesperson said the main advertisement is running during the World Series and Monday Night Football. They have also placed the spot on ABC ratings leaders “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost.”
“With a marketplace as broad and deep as ours, it can be a challenge to communicate everything consumers can find. The word “it” accomplishes this – “it” represents whatever a consumer desires at the moment, and provides a rich creative foundation for advertising and other marketing communications,” eBay said.
Most importantly on the whatis-it.com site, eBay placed a search box that brings users straight to what they want to find, whatever it is. EBay told me the it’ campaign also “reinforces the joy people experience when they find on eBay exactly what they want – their personal it.'”
The approach by eBay, arguably one of the best recognized brands in online businesses today, shows how even the biggest players see a need to maintain their brand awareness. Even if, as has been rumored hundreds of times, Google enters the online classifieds field in some manner, will users really forget eBay exists?
It’s a question eBay would rather know the answer to than have to guess. The quirky ads from the company offer a lesson to other online businesses, big and small: take a little chance on making one’s business more memorable.
MediaPost has published articles in the wake of OMMA East suggesting that search advertising doesn’t make a long-lasting impression on viewers. One columnist whose work appears regularly in trade emails challenged readers to recall the ad that appeared at the top of his article without scrolling back up to see it.
Quick hits from ads bring visitors, but the conversion process that turns visitors into customers takes time. During that time, which can span days or longer, companies need to stay in the visitor’s mind. Persistent marketing helps, but it’s even more successful when users do the marketing.
EBay wants to convert more than just consumers, though. The company has high hopes for its affiliate program, where user can profit from developing applications that work with eBay or from simply sending new buyers to the auction site. Greater brand awareness can help lift eBay beyond the buyer and seller transaction.
That’s what eBay hopes to achieve with It. Name reinforcement and converting curiosity into purchases, with customers laughing all the way, and telling all their friends what they found on eBay.
David Utter is a staff writer for webproworld covering technology and business. Email him here.