EssenceMediacom: eBay's Pre-Loved Island

Three women and a man sitting on a sofa

EssenceMediacom: eBay's Pre-Loved Island

A new campaign to make second-hand clothes desirable

Many clothes are cheap; often worn only a few times, then binned. eBay, which has been selling pre-loved clothes since 1995, offers the perfect antidote to clothing waste. How could EssenceMediacom ignite a second-hand revolution, showing that used clothes could be on-trend and desirable?

ITV’s Love Island. One of the UK’s biggest and most talked-about fashion influencers, this show makes and breaks fashion trends amongst the Gen Z and Millennial audience eBay wanted to target. The items islanders were wearing were selling out in minutes.

A cozy lounge area in the WPP Toronto office. Two plush orange couches face each other, flanked by wooden chairs and small tables. Two pieces of colorful abstract art hang on the wall in the background.
A cozy lounge area in the WPP Toronto office. Two plush orange couches face each other, flanked by wooden chairs and small tables. Two pieces of colorful abstract art hang on the wall in the background.
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Using product placement throughout the show, islanders were dressed in stylish pre-loved clothes, with viewers able to bid on shoppable edits of the looks seen on screen.

Co-branded TV and video ads and X (Twitter) content celebrated the looks and embedded pre-loved fashion into the conversation of the moment.

The result was over 1,700 pieces of positive press coverage, and a significant increase in searches for ‘pre-loved fashion’ on eBay.