eBay Brings The March Madness with Sneaker Showdown

Blake Marquis | Mar. 21 2022

March Madness is here and eBay is shifting the attention from the hoops to the kicks. The Sneaker Showdown, eBay’s annual March-Madness style bracket, is where fans vote across social platforms for their favorite rare and coveted sneakers. The winning sneaker will be available for purchase at a discounted price only on eBay.

Going into the campaign’s third year, our integrated teams focused on ways to build upon the established success of prior Showdowns as last year’s bracket had two million votes across platforms.

We identified a three-point focus to alley-oop this year’s Sneaker Showdown:

Position @eBaysneakers as the curator of the most coveted sneakers of the year by incorporating storytelling around why they were included in this year’s bracket and why fans should vote for their favorites.
Maximize paid and organic social innovations across platforms to maximize voting, e.g. Instagram, TikTok and Twitter polls (both paid and organic). eBay was the first global brand to do TikTok polls for last year’s Sneaker Showdown!
Tap into key sneaker influencers and community leaders to act as emcees for this year’s Showdown, establishing storytelling around this year’s sneakers and driving urgency to vote.

“This year’s bracket is a celebration of the sneakerhead community’s past, present, and future,” said Azwani Monroe (junior art director) and Juan Pablo Delgado (junior copywriter). “Much like March Madness, we hope that people become invested in the narrative within each one of the matchups. Which side will they take? Team Classics or Team New Heat?”

With a community that is constantly fueled by always-on conversations, we chose to bring the passion to the forefront of the bracket. This year’s Sneaker Showdown has a narrative within that incites people to pitch in, share their opinions, and drive a sense of finality into the debates.

We also implemented elements of March Madness culture. Make sure you follow the bracket to the very end because you never know what may happen in the spirit of the Cinderella team (i.e., a team that has outperformed everyone’s expectations).

“The Many completely evolved the look and feel for this year’s Sneaker Showdown content,” said Thaxton Scott, associate brand director. “From the brackets to the sneaker match-ups, the intentionality and authenticity of the sneakerhead community are rooted throughout our work and truly highlight eBay as a trusted OG in the sneaker community.”

The eBay Sneaker Showdown is live so cast your vote across social and keep an eye out for the content coming from our influencer partners:

CREDITS

Client: eBay
Director of Creative, Maryann Bell
Head of Social Media, North America, Jen Haley
Sneakers Mastermind, Ryan Corpuz
Creative Director, Nina Louie
Head of Operations and Production, Kira Moller
Visual Designer, Daryl Domingo
Sneakers Copywriter, Briin Bernstein
Marketing Manager, MiRon Leveston
Social Media Community Manager, J.R Wideman

Agency: The Many
Group Brand Director, John Line
Senior Brand Director, Rediate Tekeste
Associate Brand Director, Thaxton Scott
Project Manager, Kristina Sison
Group Strategy Director, Andy Craig
Senior Social Strategist, Alex Boothe
Social Strategist, Destiny Modeste
Creative Director, Marisa “Mars” Milisic
Associate Creative Director, Gerald “G” Jimenez
Junior Art Director, Azwani Monroe
Junior Copywriter, Juan Delgado
Senior Designer, Chris Ruppelt
Junior Designer, Jesiah Atkinson
Designer, John Duch
Motion Graphic Designer, Darleen Ralota
Motion Graphic Designer, Spencer Wainacht
Media Director, Anthony Rocker

Talent Management: Edelman
Talent, Harrison Nevel
Talent, Briana Green
Talent, Qias Omar
Talent, Kayce Kirihara
Talent, Ralph Romeo
Talent, Tamara Dhia

eBay Seller, Solestage