eBay Taps Axicom As Lead Corporate Communications Agency For North America
eBay is shaking up their corporate communications strategy with Axicom replacing Hotwire as the company's agency of record on December 1st, following a competitive RFP process that ran from September through October.
Axicom Americas president Lisa Sullivan told PRWeek the agency will lead corporate, product and technology communications, seller engagement, advertiser communications and support for the eBay Foundation as well as help eBay prepare to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2025.
Diana Bradley
Axicom will be helping position eBay as a “global commerce leader,” powered by a technology platform that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world, Sullivan explained.
“The brand is arguably more relevant today than ever: Small businesses are being founded at historic rates, and the concept of a side hustle has become the cultural norm,” she said.
“EBay’s tools and products — most notably its redesigned global advertising platform and AI-powered seller tools — are creating economic opportunities for buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world, enabling more than $73 billion of gross merchandise volume in 2023.”
Sullivan added that Axicom’s work will “shine a light on those stories of innovation.”
The move comes on the heels of naming Nordstrom alum Gigi Ganatra Duff as eBay's new Chief Communications Officer in September.
Liz Morton
eBay has been stepping up their media game over the last year with key executives gaining positive coverage across a variety of initiatives.
Liz Morton
Of course, that's not a coincidence as eBay has been specifically hiring for roles with the explicit aim to "protect eBay's reputation" by "leveraging media relationships to elevate eBay’s brand and reputation...fostering relationships with key media... [and] placing executive profiles, bylines & speaking ops that further the company narrative."
Liz Morton
VP Global Customer Experience Derek Allgood has also been making the podcast rounds touting eBay's "phenomenal" customer experience - though oddly many of his talking points seemed aimed at eBay's front line support employees rather than their actual buyer and seller customers.
Liz Morton
That focus on putting a positive public face on how eBay treats employees started to make more sense in light of ongoing contract bargaining battle with unionized workers at subsidiary TCGPlayer, investigation of alleged employee rights violations related to 401(k) benefits, an investor recommended Values Assessment, and claims of Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law - all of which have received surprisingly little to no coverage from major tech, business, and financial media.
Liz Morton
eBay also recently inked an exclusive sports collectibles content deal with New York Times-owned The Athletic, raising troubling media ethics and integrity concerns.
Liz Morton
Ganatra Duff and Axicom are going to have their hands full managing eBay's corporate comms strategy given the growing labor issues at the company; newly appealeed litigation brought by the EPA due to sales of certain pesticides, chemicals, and emissions-control cheat devices; and the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition's efforts to urge an FTC investigation into eBay's anticompetitive business practices.
Liz Morton
And of course any conversation about eBay's media relations would not be complete without mentioning the 2019 cyberstalking scandal which targeted Ina and David Steiner of EcommerceBytes, seeking to change the tone and content of their reporting and to unmask the identity of unsuckEBAY, a frequent commenter and source who also sparked the ire of top executives at the company.
Sr Director Security Jim Baugh, Director of Global Resiliency David Harville, Security Manager Philip Cooke, Sr Manager Special Operations Brian Gilbert, Sr Manager Global Intelligence Stephanie Popp, Global Intelligence Manager Stephanie Stockwell, and Security Analyst Veronica Zea all pleaded guilty and have been sentenced for their roles in multiple federal felonies.
But there is also an ongoing civil lawsuit which names the criminal defendants plus eBay Inc., ex-CEO Devin Wenig, ex-Communications Chief Steve Wymer, ex-SVP Global Operations Wendy Jones, and security company Progressive F.O.R.C.E Concepts (PFC), claiming direction and support for the harassment came from the very top of eBay's c-suite with the victims pursuing potential ~$700 Million in punitive and compensatory damages.
Liz Morton
Documents in the case revealed a shocking disdain for the media, particularly amongst Wenig and Wymer as they discussed promoting a list of "Best eBay Seller Blogs" that excluded EcommerceBytes to "diminish" & "eff with" Ina Steiner.
Wenig, who previously served as CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets before joining eBay was also apparently no fan of the Wall Street Journal, with comments in this case showing a stark contrast to his pro-free speech public persona.
Liz Morton
At Code Conference 2016 hosted by Recode, Wenig was asked for his thoughts on the controversy then brewing between Gawker Media and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, coming down very clearly on the side of press freedom against billionaire tech interests saying "I side with a free media & a free press...we've got to be really careful that powerful voices don't knock down what I call divergent points of view."
But knocking down divergent points of view is exactly what Wenig had in mind for dealing with reporting he didn't like, even going so far as to engage with a media consulting firm who suggested, among other strategies, that eBay could work with friendly outlets to flood the internet with positive stories that would drive EcommerceBytes further down in search results.
While eBay says they did not act on the suggestion, court documents reveal Wenig reacted positively to the idea and at least wanted to consider moving forward with that plan.
With all that in mind, as eBay moves forward with a new corporate communications agency and leadership, savvy readers who encounter media coverage of the company would be wise to ask themselves what message eBay is really trying to send and to whom is that message directed?
