eBay Marketing Communication Mix

eBay marketing communication mix integrates various forms of print and media advertising, sales promotions, events and experiences, public relations and direct marketing.

Advertising

Advertising expense of the company totaled USD1.0 billion, USD1.0 billion and USD844 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.[1] eBay engages in print and media advertising in an occasional manner to increase the level of brand awareness among the target customer segment. eBay advertising strategy primarily focuses on the use of online platforms such as paid search advertising, online banner advertising and viral marketing.

As it is illustrated in figure below, eBay marketing message stresses the wide range of products available in its Marketplace and accordingly, the company’s target customer segment is vast.

Patterns of eBay print and media advertising

Sales Promotion

EBay rarely engages in sales promotions in order to attract more sellers in its Marketplace. Nevertheless, there are many sales promotions going on at any time in eBay marketplace and these are conducted by sellers, not eBay Inc.  Specific types of sales promotion techniques employed by eBay sellers include order discounts, codeless coupons, shipping discounts, sale events, accessory discounts and others.

Various forms of sales promotions techniques are applied frequently to promote StubHub and gifts cards are adopted as the most effective tool for this purpose. Specifically, StubHub offers eGift Cards and Plastic Gift Cards that can be used to treat friends, relatives or employees to a night out on the town for a discounted price. Additionally, there are many discount websites such as www.couponcabin.com, www.retailmenot.com, www.groupon.com and others that offer StubHub coupons.

The company does not engage in frequent sales promotions in order to sell its Classified services…

eBay Inc. Report contains more detailed discussion of eBay marketing communication mix and marketing strategy. The report also illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on eBay. Moreover, the report contains analysis of eBay’s leadership and organizational structure and discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility.

[1] Annual Report (2015) eBay Inc.