eBay

eBay is best known for hosting the world’s largest online auction website, but did you know it also runs several marketing companies? Nine of them, actually (Don’t worry, we won’t list them all). For a brand like eBay, which is best known for C2C activity, branding these marketing companies to other businesses (B2B) presents a unique challenge.

It started in 2011, when eBay acquired GSI Commerce. As the original parent of those nine marketing agencies, GSI was known for being an all-in-one shop. Businesses came to GSI when they needed marketing, e-commerce, and/or customer service solutions. For the past two years, eBay has successfully run GSI as a subsidiary.

But this month, eBay announced it would rebrand GSI Commerce as eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions. The new organization will offer the same services as before, but the nine subsidiary brands will work as a more cohesive unit.

This is essentially a brand extension for eBay: they have offered marketing solutions in the past, but only now are they using the eBay name. While a brand extension is a solid strategy to build brand equity, the eBay name is still most associated with its C2C business.

Because the connection to marketing isn’t immediately clear (after all, most products on eBay are marketed and sold individuals, not eBay!), the company must work to help the target market see eBay as a superior provider of marketing solutions. Making the target market see how your superior service/product in one industry is transferable to another—that’s the key to a successful brand extension.