McCann London

Client: eBay UK
Product: eBay
Title: Pre-Loved Island
Media: Digital, Online, TV
Country: UK
Date Of Campaign: 6 June 2022

Background: eBay wanted people to re-think their relationship with toxic fast fashion. So, we partnered with the UK’s biggest reality TV show, Love Island. Flipping their fast fashion sponsorship model on its head, turning the Love Island contestants into living, walking, talking, kissing billboards for eBay’s pre-loved fashion offerings. Love Island for the past 7 years has been culturally iconic in defining fashion yet have always partnered with notoriously unsustainable fast fashion brands in the process. With 61.6 % of viewers averaging between the ages of 16 and 34, this was the perfect place for eBay to reach a younger fashion-led audience and convince them that they had the trendiest pre-loved clothes on the platform. Our brief was to come up with a creative idea and a PR strategy that that will not only turn the heads of young Love Island fans but also our harshest critics’; the authorities in fashion like; Vogues, stylists, influencers…We set out to drive awareness, consideration and positive talkability around pre-loved fashion with the partnership. And maximise cultural engagement and hype around eBay’s pre-loved fashion credentials; making eBay the first port of call, for whenever they were on the hunt for pre-loved fashion.

Idea: In a quest to change shopping and the world of fashion for the better, instead of preaching a sustainability message, we went straight after fast-fashion’s heartland: Love Island. eBay had a dazzling pre-loved fashion range from vintage luxury to trendy pieces, yet it was still considered a bit dated and unappealing by the Gen Z/Millennial audience. While this audience wanted to be more environmentally conscious, when it came to fashion, they were still resorting to fast fashion for trendier and more accessible options. To change their shopping habits and perceptions of eBay, we coupled up with Love Island to become their first ever pre-loved fashion partner. By kicking 7 years of fast-fashion sponsorships into the recycling bin and turning heads to pre-loved fashion every night during the showWe turned the Love Island contestants into living, walking, talking, kissing billboards for eBay’s pre-loved fashion offerings. An endless flow of fresh fits and hidden gems specially sourced from eBay had people’s heads turning to eBay, as well as eco-conscious fashion.As well as Season 8 of Love Island, the work ran as TV, digital and social. With Islander edits available on eBay, plus an auction on ITV hub.By tapping into the channels and the way our target audience engaged with the show in a relevant way, we successfully hijacked into this audience. Repositioning second hand as not just sustainable, but desirable.

Results: Our campaign landed in culture like a bombshell. With 1707 PR coverages throughout the show, with coverage from big national publishers, 93 of them featured eBay in the headlines. We turned the heads of the big guys; Guardian, BBC News … And the fashion specialists like Vogue, Marie Claire…And earned TV viewing figures of 66.5 million.We received high praise from sustainability advocates who learnt of the partnership through our earned coverage, including Pandora Sykes, Laura Tobin, Deborah Meaden, Stacey Dooley and ex Islanders Amy Hart and Faye Winter. We reached 2.6 million followers from media and influencers in the room at our fashion preview.Above all else, through a meticulous launch strategy, we dominated the news agenda, with coverage in all UK national newspapers on the day of launch. Our tactics ignited a conversation which put into question the future of fast fashion and heralded a new era to normalise pre-loved, with eBay at the heart. “Love Island’s partnership with eBay is proof that sustainability has cracked the mainstream.” Sophie Laughton, Metro. Our campaign didn’t only dominate the news and cultural conversation but also turned heads to eBay’s pre-loved fashion. We saw a +1600% uplift in searches for “pre-loved fashion” on eBay through our campaign activity (May-July). We’ve seen more people talking about pre-loved fashion than ever with 935% more mentions of ‘pre-loved fashion’ across all online platforms than during the same time last year, and media mentions of eBay fashion up by 74%. 53% of Love Island viewers admitted that they would consider buying pre-loved over new items since watching the show and 23% making their first ever pre-loved purchase this summer.