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Whatever it is, I love it and eBay has
it
Friday - November 18, 2005
This is
it.
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The campaign began several weeks ago with
teaser ads promoting a mysterious 
that was, quite literally, the letters "i" and "t" in the eBay
brand colors and font. The ad features a male spokesman who
introduces
with the tone and fawning-interest that could only be described
as... subtly
aroused. It's as if he is channeling every
spokesman and woman that has ever pitched everything from cars
and jewelry to electronics and lingerie. Without wavering, he
describes and
its myriad features as if it was the greatest product ever
devised.
"With sleek design and
incredible handling, it can turn on a dime and hold 2500 of
your favorite songs, can cook anything from succulent chicken
to Chateau Brion. It doesn't lose suction. It was designed by
German engineers and developed in Sweden by renowned Japanese
scientists."
The ad concluded by directing the now
aroused and curious viewers to the website www.whatis-it.com.
Shortly thereafter a new ad,Making
of IT launched. This one evoked the excitement and
optimism of the late 90's, when the companies that now shape
our online world, like eBay itself, often sprang from the
humble garage of a couple of college dropouts. So too,
does . We
watch, in a fast-paced 60 seconds, as
goes from crude sketch, to rough prototype, to product launch,
to taking the world by storm.
works because it is everything we always wanted or longed for -
maybe something we'd forgotten about. is
the tech gadget we've been drooling over. is
the designer dress we could never afford. is
the latest toy, or maybe even a long-lost toy from
childhood. is
more than something literal; just a colorful "i" and
"t". is
an intangible, vague thing to everyone, yet clear and precise
to us as individuals. Finding and creating a metaphor for that
intangible, tangible, vague, precisething is wherein lies the
campaign's genius.
The follow-up toMaking
of IT entitled Anthemfurther builds upon
the ubiquitous .
This ad unfolds to the Monkees tune Daydream
Believer while we are treated to all the
things
might be depending on who we are. The ad opens with a family
posing for a photo while a shiny new camera in the shape
of
snaps a few pictures. Later, a stamp collector examines
an -shaped
stamp. A group of kids with a baseball bat and gloves flee the
scene where a window has just been broken with an
-shaped
object.
A viewer can't help but smile. The music is
a perfect choice for a campaign that is trying to sell
to
everyone, every demographic. The Monkees tune is one of those
rare songs that has massively broad appeal. Regardless of who
you are, how old you are or what your musical tastes are, it's
a happy song. It evokes the same nostalgia that might send one
to eBay looking for relic from their childhood (or even a Davy
Jones poster).
When I first saw the
Making of IT ad, I found it
highly entertaining, but I scratched my head wondering why eBay
would create a campaign that makes the company appear to be an
online retailer like Amazon. eBay is the place to get used
stuff at auction, right? We've been to the site, gotten a deal
on a ColecoVision or old 45's, and know that it
is
I
was the winning
(and only) bidder
for my it
.
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the place to go for auctions. But eBay has
become so much more over the years. It has become a community
of sellers and buyers dealing in used and vintage goods a well
as brand new items; even cars. Entire online stores, run by
users, exist in this community. That is is what eBay wants us
to know. With the holidays approaching, eBay wants us to know
that it is a place where we can shop for
newthings.
eBay has not been successful in getting that
idea across in the past. The
campaign changes that by changing the message. No need to
explain the difference between the traditional auctions and the
virtual retailers. No need to pitch the "community" concept.
They have everything we want and they want us to
know.
Their new mantra is: "You want
?
Look for it here first." The
campaign could very well have worked for a company like Google:
"Searching for it? You'll find it with
Google."
Maybe this is what eBay has needed - a solid
identity that establishes them as the "search engine" for stuff
new and used. What better way than with an ad campaign that
plays to our need to have that special something that was
designed by German engineers and developed in Sweden by
renowned Japanese scientists, that can turn on a dime and hold
2500 of our favorite songs? Our .
Maybe we'll even have some Monkees on
there.
Posted at 01:32 PM < Just Another Brick in the Blog
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