Comments on: eBay to retire the Kijiji brand? http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html eBay & ecommerce made easy Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:10:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David Merit http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46388 David Merit Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:33:17 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46388 I think Kijiji is a pretty crappy name but "eBay Classifieds" is not much better. (Then again, craigslist is a pretty silly name but it sure took off; then again, those were early days.) I list a rental property on Kijiji and get a fair amount of response (more than craigslist, but then again I often forget that every 7 days I have to repost on craislist whereas I do not have to on Kijiji) so it's clear to me that despite the awkward name a lot of people know about and use Kijiji. I would think that an eBay branding could hurt Kijiji since users could have a preconceived notion that it's not free and that they'll be nickle-and-dimed for everything like with eBay (unless that's ultimately how things will end up if eBay is not able to monetize the classifies sufficiently with ads and maybe something not-to-offensive like premium placement fees). Also, I think it would be a real leap for users to think of eBay classifies as offering housing and services all the non-product kind of stuff that they would not associate with eBay. Surely eBay has the talent to come up with a great new brand and the money and cross-marketing to make people aware of it. "eBay Classifieds" sounds like a pretty lame cop-out that will result in the opposite of what eBay is trying to accomplish with a rebrand. A branding consultant wold probably say it should be two syllables, preferably with an "o" sound (Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, Mobil, Exxon, Jonas) or not (eBay, Gumtree) and not have "list" in it to not be seen as the copycat that it is. Why not hold a competition for great names among both Kijiji and eBay users and get them vote for their favorites? The publicity for that exercise alone would raise awareness of a rebrand with Kijiji users and of the classified service with eBay users and create an emotional investment with both to see what results. Kijiji could during that time be rebranded with a provocative question mark that would link to contest rules and such. I think Kijiji is a pretty crappy name but “eBay Classifieds” is not much better. (Then again, craigslist is a pretty silly name but it sure took off; then again, those were early days.) I list a rental property on Kijiji and get a fair amount of response (more than craigslist, but then again I often forget that every 7 days I have to repost on craislist whereas I do not have to on Kijiji) so it’s clear to me that despite the awkward name a lot of people know about and use Kijiji.

I would think that an eBay branding could hurt Kijiji since users could have a preconceived notion that it’s not free and that they’ll be nickle-and-dimed for everything like with eBay (unless that’s ultimately how things will end up if eBay is not able to monetize the classifies sufficiently with ads and maybe something not-to-offensive like premium placement fees). Also, I think it would be a real leap for users to think of eBay classifies as offering housing and services all the non-product kind of stuff that they would not associate with eBay.

Surely eBay has the talent to come up with a great new brand and the money and cross-marketing to make people aware of it. “eBay Classifieds” sounds like a pretty lame cop-out that will result in the opposite of what eBay is trying to accomplish with a rebrand.

A branding consultant wold probably say it should be two syllables, preferably with an “o” sound (Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, Mobil, Exxon, Jonas) or not (eBay, Gumtree) and not have “list” in it to not be seen as the copycat that it is.

Why not hold a competition for great names among both Kijiji and eBay users and get them vote for their favorites? The publicity for that exercise alone would raise awareness of a rebrand with Kijiji users and of the classified service with eBay users and create an emotional investment with both to see what results. Kijiji could during that time be rebranded with a provocative question mark that would link to contest rules and such.

]]> By: Morocco Mole http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46319 Morocco Mole Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:37:46 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46319 Kijiji always reminds me of that bit in 'Witches Abroad' - <blockquote>Anywey one good thing is the drink here is v. cheap theres this one called a Bananana dakry which is basicly Rum with a banananana in it. [Footnote: Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling "banana," but didn't know how you stopped.] </blockquote> Kijiji always reminds me of that bit in ‘Witches Abroad’ –

Anywey one good thing is the drink here is v. cheap theres this one called a Bananana dakry which is basicly Rum with a banananana in it.

[Footnote: Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling "banana," but didn't know how you stopped.]

]]> By: John Melchiot http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46318 John Melchiot Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:57:40 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46318 How is Kijiji difficult to spell? How is Kijiji difficult to spell?

]]> By: John Rathert http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46242 John Rathert Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:20:41 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46242 Hi Jose Mallabo, Great to see you out posting and twittering! Let me ask you a question - are you still making it a practice to haunt industry blogs and finance boards with anonymous IDs pumping eBay and dissing dissenters? Gosh, there are some great examples of your work out there! John Hi Jose Mallabo,

Great to see you out posting and twittering! Let me ask you a question – are you still making it a practice to haunt industry blogs and finance boards with anonymous IDs pumping eBay and dissing dissenters? Gosh, there are some great examples of your work out there!

John

]]> By: Chris Dawson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46190 Chris Dawson Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:07:43 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46190 Ohh no I hadn't! Thanks so much for letting us know - very interesting Ohh no I hadn’t! Thanks so much for letting us know – very interesting

]]> By: Anuncios http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46179 Anuncios Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:46:48 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46179 have you seen the new www.eBay.es homepage? new classified sites under eBay brand: www.eBayPisos.es (housing), www.eBayCoches.es (cars), www.eBayAnuncios.es (goods) have you seen the new http://www.eBay.es homepage? new classified sites under eBay brand: http://www.eBayPisos.es (housing), http://www.eBayCoches.es (cars), http://www.eBayAnuncios.es (goods)

]]> By: Jose Mallabo http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46172 Jose Mallabo Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:40:33 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46172 Yes. They provide a lot of great learnings from which to build on. The eBay Classifieds Group as it is today really is a pretty "young" group as it started with the launch of Kijiji in '05. You'll see a lot more in the way of best practice / synergy work this year across the group now that it's a bit further along. From a global PR perspective, that's something I'm tasked with. While those companies obviously have great grass roots / community building lessons to teach we actually entered the U.S. on the strength and success of Kijiji in Canada -- demographically and geographically the closest to the U.S. market. But as you saw with these upcoming tests in Pittsburgh and San Antonio, we're not afraid to keep tweaking it to get it right for the local market, for the customer...and drive growth. I wasn't around for the Marktplaats acquisition so I can't really comment on that deal. (And, the other half of my job is to look after M&A communications globally.) But having been to the Netherlands many times and working closing with that team...there's no question about how strong that business is there. It is the number 2 web site in the country behind Google. Yes. They provide a lot of great learnings from which to build on. The eBay Classifieds Group as it is today really is a pretty “young” group as it started with the launch of Kijiji in ’05. You’ll see a lot more in the way of best practice / synergy work this year across the group now that it’s a bit further along. From a global PR perspective, that’s something I’m tasked with. While those companies obviously have great grass roots / community building lessons to teach we actually entered the U.S. on the strength and success of Kijiji in Canada — demographically and geographically the closest to the U.S. market. But as you saw with these upcoming tests in Pittsburgh and San Antonio, we’re not afraid to keep tweaking it to get it right for the local market, for the customer…and drive growth.

I wasn’t around for the Marktplaats acquisition so I can’t really comment on that deal. (And, the other half of my job is to look after M&A communications globally.) But having been to the Netherlands many times and working closing with that team…there’s no question about how strong that business is there. It is the number 2 web site in the country behind Google.

]]> By: Dan Wilson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46166 Dan Wilson Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:28:34 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46166 Jose, I take the point. I personally think that motors is a bit different from other general classifieds. Mobile was a very effective business and remained so after acquisition. That said, many key personnel made the leap from Hamburg to Berlin. Marktplatz was bought, as I recall, because it effectively trounced eBay in NL. It's a great business with enviable cut-through in Holland. Gumtree, however, offers the english-speaking playbook for the US. With grassroots community building and clever execution it remains strong. My mum uses Gumtree but not eBay. I assume the eBay Classifieds team are getting a good dose of 'best practice' from veterans and experts in Germany, UK and Holland? dw Jose,

I take the point. I personally think that motors is a bit different from other general classifieds. Mobile was a very effective business and remained so after acquisition. That said, many key personnel made the leap from Hamburg to Berlin.

Marktplatz was bought, as I recall, because it effectively trounced eBay in NL. It’s a great business with enviable cut-through in Holland.

Gumtree, however, offers the english-speaking playbook for the US. With grassroots community building and clever execution it remains strong. My mum uses Gumtree but not eBay.

I assume the eBay Classifieds team are getting a good dose of ‘best practice’ from veterans and experts in Germany, UK and Holland?

dw

]]> By: Jose Mallabo http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46165 Jose Mallabo Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:56:37 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46165 Completely agreed. Pretty solid playbook for classifieds PR/marketing sitting in Germany at Mobile.de and in the Netherlands with Marktplaats. Cheers, Jose Completely agreed. Pretty solid playbook for classifieds PR/marketing sitting in Germany at Mobile.de and in the Netherlands with Marktplaats.

Cheers,
Jose

]]> By: Dan Wilson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46164 Dan Wilson Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:38:43 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46164 Jose, It's not just strong brand. Gumtree is the playbook. dw Jose,

It’s not just strong brand. Gumtree is the playbook.

dw

]]> By: Jose Mallabo http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46163 Jose Mallabo Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:33:37 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46163 @Dan - I oversee corporate PR for eBay Inc. and communications for the Classifieds Group. I sit in San Jose but also work closely with the regional classifieds PR teams in the UK and Europe -- so I'm happy to chime in where appropriate. Keeps me waking up early :-) But, Gumtree will continue to manage its local PR/marketing in the UK because as Chris intimated it's one of the strongest brands we have. Best, Jose @Dan – I oversee corporate PR for eBay Inc. and communications for the Classifieds Group. I sit in San Jose but also work closely with the regional classifieds PR teams in the UK and Europe — so I’m happy to chime in where appropriate. Keeps me waking up early :-)

But, Gumtree will continue to manage its local PR/marketing in the UK because as Chris intimated it’s one of the strongest brands we have.

Best, Jose

]]> By: Dan Wilson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46160 Dan Wilson Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:17:42 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46160 I think it's really great to see Jose from eBay interacting on this thread. It's testament to Tamebay's importance in the eBay ecosystem and hopefully a sign of a renewed commitment to openness from eBay. ;o) I think it’s really great to see Jose from eBay interacting on this thread. It’s testament to Tamebay’s importance in the eBay ecosystem and hopefully a sign of a renewed commitment to openness from eBay. ;o)

]]> By: Chris Dawson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46133 Chris Dawson Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:28:57 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46133 Hi Jose, thanks for the clarification. Good to know Gumtree isn't going to change in the UK at the moment as the one and only complaint I ever hear about them is that there isn't a site for every town/city in the UK. Apart from not being big enough yet outside London people almost without exception love Gumtree :-) Hi Jose, thanks for the clarification. Good to know Gumtree isn’t going to change in the UK at the moment as the one and only complaint I ever hear about them is that there isn’t a site for every town/city in the UK.

Apart from not being big enough yet outside London people almost without exception love Gumtree :-)

]]> By: Jose Mallabo http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46129 Jose Mallabo Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:14:38 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46129 Jose Mallabo from eBay Classifieds Group and eBay Inc. corporate communications here. The U.S. tests are just that and are part of our ongoing efforts to compete in the U.S. market. (See more at www.ebayinkblog.com). As you mentioned, we tested Gumtree for ex-patriot communities last year. It didn't get much traction so we backed off it. The beauty of being online :-) And we also launched Spanish language sites in U.S. Kijiji cities where it is a dominant language (e.g., in Texas and Florida). To compete and win you have to be willing to disrupt your own business in an effort to get the customer experience right at the grass roots level... ...Which is why we operate Kijiji, Marktplaats, Gumtree, LoQUo, Mobile.de, Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen with local management, in local language and with category and monetization strategies specific to those countries, counties and cities. Not, with a cookie cutter strategy. These U.S. tests are not a retirement of any name whatsoever. And, they do not impact Gumtree. They are tests of the ebayclassifieds.com name in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and San Antonio, Texas. eBay Classifieds Group is the undisputed leader of the online classifieds market globally with more than 80 million unique visitors on a monthly basis and nearly 19 million live ads up at any moment in time. In terms of revenue, ECG is 3 to 4 times larger than the next closest competitor. It is the fastest growing business unit within eBay Inc. and very much a part of our long-term growth strategy as evidenced by the addition of Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen in Q3 of 2008. You can expect that we will continue to evolve this business unit and our properties over time. Cheers, Jose Mallabo Jose Mallabo from eBay Classifieds Group and eBay Inc. corporate communications here. The U.S. tests are just that and are part of our ongoing efforts to compete in the U.S. market. (See more at http://www.ebayinkblog.com).

As you mentioned, we tested Gumtree for ex-patriot communities last year. It didn’t get much traction so we backed off it. The beauty of being online :-)

And we also launched Spanish language sites in U.S. Kijiji cities where it is a dominant language (e.g., in Texas and Florida). To compete and win you have to be willing to disrupt your own business in an effort to get the customer experience right at the grass roots level…

…Which is why we operate Kijiji, Marktplaats, Gumtree, LoQUo, Mobile.de, Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen with local management, in local language and with category and monetization strategies specific to those countries, counties and cities. Not, with a cookie cutter strategy.

These U.S. tests are not a retirement of any name whatsoever. And, they do not impact Gumtree. They are tests of the ebayclassifieds.com name in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and San Antonio, Texas.

eBay Classifieds Group is the undisputed leader of the online classifieds market globally with more than 80 million unique visitors on a monthly basis and nearly 19 million live ads up at any moment in time. In terms of revenue, ECG is 3 to 4 times larger than the next closest competitor. It is the fastest growing business unit within eBay Inc. and very much a part of our long-term growth strategy as evidenced by the addition of Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen in Q3 of 2008.

You can expect that we will continue to evolve this business unit and our properties over time.

Cheers,
Jose Mallabo

]]> By: ebuyerfb http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46127 ebuyerfb Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:37:59 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46127 Does this mean they are going to start charging us $9.95 per ad, give no way to purchase the item through the listing, and then email our users telling them not to buy outside of eBay? The good news is when I post an item I can actually tell them where to look for it. I have no idea how to pronounce Kijiji. Does this mean they are going to start charging us $9.95 per ad, give no way to purchase the item through the listing, and then email our users telling them not to buy outside of eBay?

The good news is when I post an item I can actually tell them where to look for it. I have no idea how to pronounce Kijiji.

]]> By: Hanafi_H http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46126 Hanafi_H Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:43:47 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46126 #4 It's named after norf's mullet. #4

It’s named after norf’s mullet.

]]> By: board_surfer http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46124 board_surfer Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:18:05 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46124 Kijiji ?? what kind of name is that for anything? sounds like a very bad 80's pop group! Kijiji ?? what kind of name is that for anything?

sounds like a very bad 80′s pop group!

]]> By: Sachin Agarwal http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46120 Sachin Agarwal Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:24:55 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46120 Right, but they didn't force it down our throats the way they decided to with Kijiji. Either way, I wish - for their sake - that they'd just pick one. Right, but they didn’t force it down our throats the way they decided to with Kijiji. Either way, I wish – for their sake – that they’d just pick one.

]]> By: Chris Dawson http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46117 Chris Dawson Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:44:43 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46117 eBay *did* take the Gumtree brand to the US, they had three sites in <a href="Chicago, New York and Boston" rel="nofollow">Chicago, New York and Boston which were launched in August 2007</a>. That appears to have been a failed experiment and they were closed in an unannounced move at some point and diverted to Kijiji. eBay *did* take the Gumtree brand to the US, they had three sites in Chicago, New York and Boston which were launched in August 2007.

That appears to have been a failed experiment and they were closed in an unannounced move at some point and diverted to Kijiji.

]]> By: Sachin Agarwal http://tamebay.com/2009/03/ebay-to-retire-the-kijiji-brand.html#comment-46115 Sachin Agarwal Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:04:09 +0000 http://www.tamebay.com/?p=6279#comment-46115 This is where the country-autonomous management hurts: branding. eBay should bring over the Gumtree brand to the States. eBay will never work as a brand for classifieds - it's already hard enough for fixed price. This is where the country-autonomous management hurts: branding. eBay should bring over the Gumtree brand to the States. eBay will never work as a brand for classifieds – it’s already hard enough for fixed price.

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