First digital GTM
Built the first integrated digital go-to-market approach for the relaunched Motors experience.
EBAY MOTORS · 2019–2024
From marketplace
to automotive culture.
Promoted to rebuild and lead eBay Motors marketing, I built the strategy around a simple idea: the brand should not just advertise to enthusiasts. It should participate in the culture with them. That became a repeatable model for turning participation into community, loyalty, customer intelligence, and growth.
THE STRATEGY
Connect the digital world, the real world, and the marketplace into one owned ecosystem.
The work went well beyond media buying. I connected original programming, influencer relationships, social publishing, communications, live automotive events, on-site experiences, paid amplification, owned-and-operated placements, and the eBay product journey.
Each piece created fuel for the next: events generated content and community; creators added credibility; social and PR expanded the story; programmatic found high-intent audiences; owned channels and product experiences turned attention into participation and commerce.
FIRST-PARTY FAN RESEARCH
Real enthusiasts helped make the product better.
- 01Listen
I created surveys and field-feedback loops to capture real fan behaviors, needs, purchase motivations, channel preferences, and pain points.
- 02Translate
Insights informed site and app experiences, product priorities, content planning, targeting, and marketing decisions.
- 03Grow
Research connected customer voice to adoption, conversion, retention, loyalty, and broader business growth.
PRODUCT + GROWTH
The ecosystem had to end in a better customer journey.
Culture created attention, but product marketing, lifecycle, and measurement converted that attention into adoption and commerce.
Checkout CRO
Used customer friction and performance data to help increase checkout conversion by 50%.
Adoption + engagement
Connected positioning, education, journeys, and optimization to +35% product adoption and +35% weekly active users.
Lifecycle + measurement
Built retention and win-back programs while improving SKAN postbacks, campaign tracking, and owned-channel measurement.
ORIGINAL CONTENT PLATFORM
Between 2 Rides
An episodic YouTube franchise comparing stock and heavily modified vehicles, featuring creators and racers embedded in automotive culture. I directed the overarching strategy connecting the series to influencers, social, PR, paid promotion, owned channels, live experiences, and commerce.
36M+views across two seasons
222Knew YouTube subscribers in Season 2
+4.6 ptsbrand-awareness lift
THE CHAPTER BEFORE MOTORS · 2018–2019
Rebuilding eBay's social and programmatic performance foundation.
As Social & Programmatic Innovation Manager, I rebuilt audience hygiene, ROAS measurement, platform migrations, testing, agency execution, and senior-leadership reporting across the broader eBay portfolio. That operating discipline became part of the foundation I later brought to eBay Motors.
$360Mfull-funnel investment leadership+75%campaign conversion3×digital reach
EVENTS + BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
Turning automotive culture into an always-on ecosystem.
Across brands and events, I connected creators, social, PR, paid media, owned channels, video, marketplace experiences, and physical activations. Fans could move from watching a build online to experiencing it in the real world.
MOTORTRENDHOT RODHOLLEYSEMAMASON OFF ROADCARLISLE EVENTS
THE PARTICIPATION LOOPFrom digital build
From digital build
to real-world ride.
Influencer campaigns made fans part of the story, not just an audience. The same model traveled across partner programs and major events.
- 01Help shape it
Fans influenced builds through digital participation, social conversation, and creator communities.
- 02Follow the build
Creators turned work-in-progress into episodic video, social content, and anticipation.
- 03Meet it IRL
Completed vehicles moved from the feed to SEMA, LS Fest, Power Tour, and other live moments.
- 04Experience it
Fans saw, touched, and, in select programs, rode in the finished builds they helped bring to life.
MOTORTREND × HOT ROD × EBAY MOTORS
HOT ROD Power Tour
eBay Motors presented the five-city 2022 road tour, with more than 4,500 vehicles moving through live venues, vendor experiences, racing, entertainment, content, and community.
MOTORTREND × HOT ROD × EBAY MOTORS
HOT ROD Drag Week
Five days, four tracks, and 1,000+ road miles extended through livestreams, platform-native social, creator stories, and real-time event coverage.
HOLLEY × EBAY MOTORS
LS Fest: East, West & Texas
A multi-event brand partnership spanning drag racing, autocross, drifting, car shows, creator participation, media coverage, and an inaugural Texas event built with eBay Motors.
SEMA 2022
100,000+ sq. ft. of live brand experience
Indoor and outdoor activations, platform education, ride-alongs, standout builds, Hoonigan Burnyard action, social coverage, creator content, and PR aligned around one audience journey.
2023 FIELD NETWORK
A national community engine, not a handful of sponsorships.
The model traveled across off-road, oval racing, motocross, car shows, drag racing, street performance, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and industry events while staying specific to each community.
13,524 direct engagements
One of the event's largest interactive displays connected race vehicles, games, live viewing, giveaways, QR participation, and social sharing. The report estimated 359K direct brand awareness.
5,000 direct engagements
Fan and pit displays, street teams, race-team access, a truck giveaway, and FloRacing visibility. The report identified eBay Motors as the only on-site brand with fan and racer activation.
4,830 leads and registrations
Presenting sponsorship, show vehicles, games, giveaways, street teams, QR signage, iPad capture, PA, and digital promotion. LS Fest West attendance was reported up 25% year over year.
1,267 leads
A 60-by-30-foot interactive stage, live race viewing, games, daily giveaways, signage, digital media, PA support, and opening-ceremony integration.
Primary P&A information source
Among survey respondents, eBay Motors ranked ahead of Amazon and AutoZone. Sixty-nine percent said the sponsorship encouraged them to use eBay Motors.
A national enthusiast network
King of the Hammers, LS Fest East, West and Texas, Sturgis, Crandon, Carlisle, Iola, HayDays, Sand Sports, Pro Motocross, World Series of Asphalt, SEMA, and more.
CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE
Field participation became an always-on research channel.
Surveys, conversations, QR journeys, registrations, and observed behavior showed what enthusiasts bought, why they bought it, where they discovered ideas, and what they expected from eBay Motors.
Event attendance, engagement, awareness, and lead figures are estimates reported in supplied 2023 post-event materials. Survey results represent respondents at those events and should not be read as causal lift.
THE MODEL WE BUILT
Most brands bought visibility.
We built belonging.
This was not a booth strategy or a sponsorship calendar. It was a connected operating system for showing up with something useful, inviting enthusiasts to participate, learning from them, and turning every interaction into better content, product experiences, commerce, and the next community moment.
Across multiple 2023 post-event reports, eBay Motors was documented as the only brand, or one of very few brands, creating real fan and racer engagement while many competitors relied on signage or product sales. That difference created a model others could follow, but few executed end to end.
Show up with utility
Useful experiences, live viewing, vehicles, experts, entertainment, tools, and access instead of passive logo placement.
Invite participation
Fans shaped builds, joined challenges, met creators and racers, experienced finished vehicles, and became part of the story.
Capture customer truth
Surveys, conversations, QR journeys, registrations, and behavioral signals revealed needs, barriers, and opportunities.
Turn moments into media
Livestreams, creators, social, PR, video, event media, and owned channels extended every physical moment.
Improve product + commerce
Insights fed site, app, targeting, lifecycle, merchandising, conversion, retention, and win-back decisions.
Repeat without becoming generic
The operating model traveled across different communities while each activation stayed authentic to its culture.
King of the HammersWorld Series of AsphaltLS Fest EastLS Fest WestLS Fest TexasPro MotocrossSturgisCrandonCarlisleIolaHayDaysSEMA
Source: 2023 combined event surveys and post-event reports supplied for this portfolio. Survey responses indicate reported perception or intent, not causal brand lift. Attendance, engagement, and awareness figures are event-report estimates.
THE OPERATING MODEL
One idea, built to travel.
A repeatable system for turning attention into participation, commerce, and learning.
Live + culture
Events, sponsorships, builds, talent, and community access.
Creators + PR
Credible voices and earned stories extend relevance.
Social + video
Long-form series and modular content create continuity.
Paid amplification
Programmatic and social scale the strongest signals.
Owned ecosystem
Editorial, CRM, platform placements, and merchandising.
Research + product
Fan surveys informed site, app, adoption, and conversion improvements.
BUSINESS + BRAND IMPACT
$7.6B → $9.0Bbroader business growth, approx. 18 months
$360Mbroader eBay full-funnel investment leadership
+50%checkout conversion
+35%product adoption
~$1Bgrowth in the first year+200%priority-segment market share+35%weekly active users
BRAND EQUITYAttention → Memory → Meaning → Advocacy
Engagement + reach
Creators, events, video, social, PR, and paid media expanded participation, share of voice, and market presence.
Brand recall
Connected, always-on storytelling increased aided and unaided awareness.
Relevance + sentiment
Culturally credible partnerships and useful experiences improved customer perception.
Loyalty + NPS
Fan-shaped builds, creator relationships, IRL rides, and better products deepened loyalty and advocacy.
Directional historical outcomes; exact deltas are intentionally omitted until source documentation is confirmed.
Connecting customer voice, brand equity, and product growth.
The broader eBay Motors business grew from approximately $7.6B to $9.0B over an 18-month period, including roughly $1B in the first year. Marketing, product strategy, and first-party fan research helped capitalize on the opportunity: survey insights from real enthusiasts informed site and app improvements while integrated campaigns built engagement, awareness, relevance, loyalty, and conversion. Significant COVID-era market tailwinds also contributed.
SELECTED PUBLIC WORK