Whoo Hoo! Ebay Says Community Counts! and if you believe that crap...

[bargainbloodhound]

***A Message from Gary Briggs – Community Counts!*** 


Hi everyone...I'm eBay’s Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer. As you may have read in my post last month, eBay is supporting your holiday sales with a variety of marketing campaigns and other ways to generate buyer demand. I'd like to tell you about a new promotion that will celebrate eBay's incredible Community. Plus, I'm going to talk a bit about new eBay.com TV ads that are starting to air.

Community Counts -- Stand up and be counted!
If you listened in to the Town Hall meeting earlier today, you heard Bill Cobb talk about a new promotion starting November 1 called "Community Counts." Community Counts will put the spotlight on what makes eBay so special – our Community. We'll be inviting you – and others in your local community – to stand up and be counted in the first-ever local "census" of eBay members and their activity on eBay.com. We'll track activity on the site and sort it by ZIP code – so every community in America will have the equal opportunity to join in with their neighbors and compete in "Community Counts."

Curious which community in America is the most sports-oriented? Interested in who the most generous communities in America are, based on activity through eBay Giving Works? We'll be offering these kinds of insights into the eBay activity happening at the local level for the first time.

But here's where it gets good – just by being active on eBay, you and other members in your neighborhood gain the chance to benefit your local community!

Here's how it works: For three weeks, starting on November 1, we'll be giving points to various types of eBay activities, including listing-related transaction activity (on eBay.com, eBay Express and eBay Motors), contributions to the Community Forums, and charitable buying and selling activity through eBay Giving Works. We'll be tabulating the points earned for each activity to the ZIP code to which the member is registered. There's no registration required, so just by being active on the site, you'll be helping your community’s chances of winning.

After the promotion ends on November 21, the local community with the most points will be named the #1 eBay Community in America for 2006. They will also receive a $10,000 donation from eBay, Inc. to the approved charity of their choice – PLUS eBay will host a big party in their town to celebrate.

If you live in a small town and are wondering about your chance of competing with big cities, don't worry. We felt it was important to tabulate points in such a way that we adjust for population. We'll base our calculations on population per ZIP code, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. This preserves the "level playing field" so that people all over the country have a fair shot at winning.

On November 1, we'll be sharing many more details about Community Counts on our website at www.ebay.com/communitycounts (we will update this announcement when this page is available). So spread the word – and stay tuned!

Six new TV ads
Last weekend, we launched a fun campaign designed to drive top-of-mind awareness for eBay. A whopping 15 million people saw the debut of the new eBay TV campaign last Saturday during World Series Game 1. Throughout the end of the year, six new TV ads will build upon the core message that "whatever IT is, you can get IT on eBay" by showcasing people's unique connections with their "ITs" in unexpected ways.

These first ads are just the start of an integrated holiday marketing campaign that will roll out in the upcoming weeks. By the end of the year, we'll have reached 85% of our target audience an average of 13 times each.

I'll be talking more about our holiday marketing plans next time, so stay tuned.

[stardust]

Anything to keep the sellers' minds off making no sales.  Just like the best match carp, blogs, MyWorld, all that rot...  >  stoopid maroons.......

[BellisimaJ.]

I am touched beyond mere words.

They are so generous and care so deeply for their community of buyers and sellers, just considering the possiblities makes  my heart beat ever faster.

[cranky_hippie]

I am happy to say that I am a member of their friggin' community IN NAME ONLY. 

[campinglady]

I'm so annoyed.

[DecorativeDishes]

I couldn't even read the whole thing. They are about 5 years too late  . Kim

[Anita]

Pfft! on Community Counts ... they need to go with Karma Points instead. 

[cranky_hippie]

I've done my good deed for the community today. I told some numptie to forget about a store. 

[sneakymagenta]

Ebay Says Community Counts!

ign025:

[mandy]

New Jersey is number 1 

The announcement - nap time 

***Community Counts Winner Announced*** 

November 29, 2006 | 04:33PM PST/PT

Gary Briggs
Hi everyone...It's been a fun three weeks watching the numbers grow during our Community Counts promotion. We've been giving points to the regional communities in our first-ever local "census" of our eBay members' activity on eBay.com.

The final scores have all been tabulated, and I'm proud to award the title of #1 eBay Community in America to...drumroll, please...Lumberton, New Jersey!

Communities all over the country earned points by doing various types of eBay activities, such as buying, selling, participating in our Community forums, and using eBay Giving Works to sell and buy for charity. After using ZIP Codes to define local communities, and adjusting all the scores on a per capita basis, Zip Code 08048 in Lumberton took the winning spot with 234,580 points. They narrowly edged out the people in Zip Code 37201 in Nashville, Tennessee, who had 217,969 points.

We'll be heading to Lumberton in person to celebrate their accomplishment with them sometime over the next several months. Lumberton will also receive a $10,000 donation to an approved charity of their choice on behalf of eBay, Inc. What’s more, our number two community of Nashville, TN will receive a $2,500 donation, and each of the 8 runners up will receive a $1,000 donation!

Here are the top 10 communities (based on ZIP Code):

  1. Lumberton, NJ 08048
  2. Nashville, TN 37201
  3. Henderson, NV 89011
  4. Las Vegas, NV 89141
  5. Talpa, TX 76882
  6. Graton, CA 95444
  7. Farmington, KY 42040
  8. Coaldale, CO 81222
  9. Indian Trail, NC 28079
  10. Walnut, IA 51577

As mentioned previously, in December, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly will begin his journey to document the people who live in these most active eBay communities. Kennerly is a veteran photographer who has captured poignant moments in history for four decades, including portraits of every American president since Richard Nixon. Kennerly's photos of eBay members, and a collection of corresponding essays, will be donated to the Center of American History at the University of Texas.

If you are registered on eBay.com in one of these communities, you'll be able to vote for the charity to receive the donation soon at www.ebaycommunitycounts.com. You can also check this site to see where your community finished, and to learn more fun facts about Community Counts.

Sincerely,