Latest chatter on our eBay cause marketing and branding campaigns

It is an interesting time to say the least on eBay. There have been a lot of changes coming down the pipe there, with more of an emphasis on fixed price offerings than the traditional auction format. We continue to run campaigns in both formats and each has its benefits.

Our current fixed price offering is for The Larry King Cardiac Foundation and a heart stent surgery. The winner will get a personal phone call from Larry King to thank them for their donation and let them know more about his personal work and experience with cardiovascular disease. We are not allowed to auction medical treatments on eBay so the $2500 buy it now fixed price is techinically for the phone call. The foundation is also promoting its party in a box concept on their Larry King & Friends site. Soon to launch will be the chance to visit Larry on the set of Larry King Live and win his famous suspenders. Visit the page now to learn more.

More traditional auctions which are live now include:

Allen Houston basketball experience - learn from one of the all time Knicks greats, play some horse, chat about the NBA, and then hit the Garden with him to see the Knicks take on the Hawks from behind the Knicks bench. Proceeds to benefit Allen's own foundation too. We love the way the experience has a personal connection to the charity - a crucial aspect to authentic cause marketing campaigns for celebrities as well as brands!

L'Oreal Paris keeps the fun going with their amethyst and rhodalite compact, in honor of the Academy Awards. As a sponsor of numerous award shows, and supporter of women's health at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, L'Oreal Paris has made sure their name is front and center and in the minds of consumers who are shopping with the 4th awards show themed compact. See this beautiful piece here and visit the listing to bid.

Celine Dion and her spiral staircase from her hit Las Vegas show at Caesar's is perhaps one of the larges items we have had the pleasure of listing on eBay. 15 feet high, it is a showpiece that can take on the marketing tasks for the restaurant, bar, museum, or club which purchases it. Yes, we do have someone who can ship it!

Right to Play helps bring sports to the lives of children in some of the most challenging places on earth. We often forget that beind the famine and wars, there are kids who may not know what it feels like to just partake in sports. You can help change that along with hockey greats. Starting with a Harley-Davidson donated by Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference, a Poker Table from Steve Montador, a game used hockey stick from Daniel Alfredsson and many other NHL items. Visit now to see a video from Andrew Ference and bid.

We love this one - interact in a very personal way with some of the best known and loved celebrities in the world and raise funds for International Medical Corpos. Winners get to have their outgoing voicemail or answering machine message recorded by stars such as: Ben Affleck, Courteney Cox & David Arquette, Hank Azaria, Elizabeth Banks, Matt Cassel, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cindy Crawford, Billy Crystal, Marshall Faulk, Isla Fisher, Jennifer Garner, and Felicity Huffman. Plus, bid on a walk-on role in Jerry Bruckheimer's hit show CSI: NY, a House of Blues Foundation Room gold membership, or a makeover by Stylist to the Stars Anya Sarre. Visit the auction here.




The power of celebrity to draw attention to a cause or brand and at the same time allow a fan to obtain the item or experience of a lifetime is extremely powerful as we have seen.


Universal Music is a client that has been committed to causes such as City of Hope, VH1 Save The Music, and TJ Martell through various high profile experience and product auctions around the music industry.

Here are the current music memorabilia auctions

Autographed Jon Bon Jovi Fender Stratocaster Guitar
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Autographed Maroon 5 Fender Squire Stratocaster Guitar
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Fender Stratocaster Guitar Signed by 3 Doors Down
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Autographed Nickelback Fender Stratocaster Guitar
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Kelly Clarkson autographed "My December" CD
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Kings of Leon autographed "Youth & Young Manhood" CD
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Leona Lewis Autographed "Bleeding Love" CD
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Sarah McLachlan Autographed "Afterglow" CD
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Avril Lavigne Autographed 5x7 Photo
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Katherine McPhee Autographed 8x10 Photo
All proceeds benefit The T.J. Martell Foundation

Visit http://stores.ebay.com/Universal-Music-Store to see them all.

Last but not least, Evangeline Lilly of Lost has come up with a great way to support the work to end Brazilian Favelas and share her luxury lingerie with consumers. Visit http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=evangeline-lilly-r*favela-lingerie

Be sure to visit us at Facebook to learn more about Auction Cause and alerts on the latest cause marketing campaigns

I think I Could, I Think I Could.....

Two fun cause marketing campaigns on eBay to feature this week:

Universal Pictures has teamed up with Starlight to offer a really unique opportunity - you or a child can get to do a voiceover for the film The Little Engine That Could in Los Angeles coming up in March. You will be forever part of film history and even get a framed illustration of the character you did the voice over for!

Keeping it in the Universal family, Universal Music Store is at it again with some amazing music related auctions to support The City of Hope and their medical services:

2008 Grammys Gift Bag: Jacket, Cap, CDs, Program +More!

Rock Star for a Day! Recording Session w/ Elliot Mazer
Airfare to/from NYC included! Charity Auction

Taylor Swift Autographed Photo & "Fearless" CD + More!

We like to see campaigns with various price points on eBay so that fans and supporters can take part at whatever level they can afford. Traffic to our eBay auctions shows that these campaigns resonate far and wide, with bloggers, the media, and the Twitter world taking it upon themselves to promote for the cause, the brand, and of course the item/experience being offered.

Starlight continues to run their campaign for Coraline now too, with fans driving key props from the movie now to over $6500. Even Teri Hatcher's purse which she generously donated has been receiving a lot of attention.

Next week - how does International Medical Corps tap their celebrity supporters for a feel good auction that allows personal interaction with their fans?

Magic, Movies & Hello Kitty on eBay

I always enjoyed magic as a kid. Like everyone, the fun was trying to guess how they did it, but the good magicians were so adept at deception, their tricks never seemed to be revealed. Danny Gans, of Las Vegas fame, is one of the world's greatest magicians year after year. He was a guest on the Bonnie Hunt Show recently and offered up a great charity auction package - r/t air from anywhere in the U.S. to go 2/6 to Las Vegas, 2 nights in a luxury suite at Steve Wynn's Encore, plus tickets to his gala and party. They gave us only 3 days' time to have it on eBay, so someone is going to get a great deal as this is only at $2000 so far as I write this. Click here to see the auction and watch a Danny Gans video clip from the show.

In case you have not been watching TV, or paying attention to billboard ads, Neil Gaiman's hit book Coraline is a new movie that is causing quite a buzz. Staring Teri Hatcher and Dakota Fanning, it is the story of a girl wishing for a different family. Proceeds from the auction to benefit Starlight, a children's charity that everyone should know about. We have a number of items from the film, including key props (this puppet is amazing!) and some artwork of serious collector value. Here is a raw list of the items and current prices at time of writing the blog:

Coraline Handcrafted Animation Puppet Prop Used in Film

400029122359

Coraline Handcrafted Other Mr. Bobinsky’s Circus Mouse

400029122988

Coraline Handcrafted Other Mr. Bobinsky’s Circus Mouse

400029123224

Coraline Handcrafted Other Mr. Bobinsky’s Circus Mouse

400029124265

Original 11" Resin-cast Maquette (Statue) of Coraline

400029125417

Original Maquette (Statue) of Mother from Coraline

400029125881

Original Maquette (Statue) of Father from Coraline

400029127245

Tadahiro Uesugi Framed Coraline Ghost Children Print
400029127721

Tadahiro Uesugi Framed Coraline "Pink Palace" Print

400029130826

Coraline Box #41/50 with Handcrafted Collectible Relics

400029203778

Teri Hatcher Juicy Couture Purse Package w/ Autographs!

As one can see, just some one of a kind/hard to find pieces which fans are going to love. Check it out at the above links or see all the auctions by clicking here.

Here is an early alert to an auction we expect a lot of buzz(or at least purring!) around. MAC Cosmetics has teamed up with Hello Kitty around a line of cosmetics. To help kick it off, MAC got 30 of the top fashion designers in the world to create Hello Kitty themed dresses. These will be shown durng Fashion Week n NYC 2/6, and then put up for auction on eBay starting February 9th. I got a sneak peak at the designs last week and could not believe how creative and exciting they were. This is coming from a guy whose last interaction with Hello Kitty was puffy stickers in the 4th grade way too long ago! This auction is not to be missed. We cannot post the photos of the dresses quite yet, but click here to see the preview page and remember the URL http://www.ebay.com/machellokitty for access to them 2/9 - 2/19.

Lots of exciting campaigns for brands and causes coming up. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter at http://www.auctioncause.com. You can also find us Twittering about eBay and auctions at http://www.twitter.com/auctioncause and on our Facebook fan page.

To learn more about using Auction Cause for your cause marketing campaigns, please call (323) 655-0554.