Client

eBay x Notting Hill Carnival

→ STRATegic advisory
→ RESEARCH
→ media relations
→ CONTENT creation
→ Experiential
→ Partnerships
→ Social Media
→ Influencer Relations

Campaign

Carnival Crep Check

THE RESULTS

The campaign performed above benchmark and was the best-performing eBay content that year (2023), with over 1 million views on the hero content.

Website page views more than doubled in August 2023 compared to August 2022.

Search data revealed that following the campaign, searches for a selection of the sneakers that were promoted increased, including the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Onyx, by 435% from August 2022 to August 2023.

Notting Hill Carnival said the collaboration “significantly outperformed all results” from previous partnerships. 

“Collaborating with eBay brought a new and exciting dimension to our efforts. Partnering with Coldr proved crucial to the campaign's success, underscoring the significance of brands aligning with the essence of Notting Hill Carnival and our vision. Together, we successfully projected a campaign that authentically captured the cultural connection and vibrancy of the event.” 

– A Hudson, Events & Engagement Lead, Notting Hill Carnival

BRIEF

eBay's Authenticity Guarantee help buyers shop for luxury or collectable items confidently. However, many sneakerheads are concerned about the authenticity of the online marketplace’s inventory. In addition, many collectors don’t wear their kicks. eBay tasked us with building trust and credibility within the sneaker community and activating collectors to wear their kicks over the summer period.

APPROACH

We undertook qualitative research to reveal an untapped audience—sneakerheads who love Notting Hill Carnival (NHC). Many carnival-loving sneakerheads shop on eBay for carnival items - think sequins, t-shirts, and merch - but never for sneakers for fear of being caught out with a fake. What’s more, NHC is rooted in authenticity, freedom of expression, vibes, and everything that matters to sneakerheads.

Our approach was to challenge sneakerheads to step into Carnival in box fresh, authenticity-guaranteed kicks (creps) and celebrate their collections as part of a cultural moment with a social-first campaign.

We created a four-tiered campaign to drive hype, talkability and impact:

1. Forging credible partnerships: We brokered a partnership with Notting Hill Carnival and sponsored the Mangrove Mas Band. We also collaborated with known sneaker communities to drive awareness of the campaign and eBay’s authenticity guarantee offering.

2. A community-first approach: We partnered with three well-known carnival-loving sneakerheads who became the pillars of our campaign. Nicole, Renaldo, and Tremaine (mas band players, DJs and masqueraders) shared their stories on the culture of carnival and what carnival means to the community.

3. Driving purchases on eBay: We used carnival-goer insights to help eBay build the sneakerhead Carnival Hub. Nicole, Renaldo and Tremaine each shared their stories behind each of their favourite carnival trainers, from best for style, best for comfort and classic choices. We used earned media, with a focus on style and fashion editors, to drive traffic to the hub and position eBay as the go-to retailer for sneakerheads.

4. Creating hype: At Notting Hill Carnival, the main event, we created a Carnival Crep Check competition, which sneaker-loving influencers promoted and urged carnival goers to meet us at our Carnival Crep Check pop-up on All Saints Road for a chance to win big. Our Carnival Crep Check mural was designed and painted by high-profile Jamaican artist Carleen De Sozer, creating the backdrop for all our Carnival activities and the perfect social media moment for attendees. This also provided a storytelling moment to help communities understand why eBay was stepping out at Carnival.