eBay: Old School Meets New School
A cross-generational watch campaign that earned Rolling Stone coverage and proved eBay's credibility at the intersection of fashion, culture, and horology.
MY ROLE
Watches Social Lead — Strategy, Casting Direction, Execution
PLATFORM
@ebaywatches — Instagram, X (Formerly Twitter) Paid and Organic Social
OUTCOME
Co-branded product, launched 2020, still on shelves in 2026
$1M+
Estimated first-year sales for the co-branded product
6yrs
Years on shelves since launch, still selling in 2026
0
Dollars spent to generate the original consumer insight
1
Tweet that started a multi-year brand partnership
THE INSIGHT
Luxury watch culture had a gatekeeping problem. We saw it as an opportunity.
The luxury watch category had long been dominated by a narrow definition of who a collector is: typically older, typically male, typically tied to "old world" exclusivity. That definition was already changing in culture. It just hadn't changed yet in brand marketing.
The insight was simple: watches have always been about connection, personal expression, and finding common ground with people who share your obsession. What if we made that the story? What if we paired people from completely different worlds and let the watch be the conversation?
Consumer behavior, observed organically
Real Instagram posts of consumers combining Outshine bars with Tajín, unprompted, well before any brand involvement.
@thischicmayra
Organic post celebrating the flavor combination, part of the earned cultural momentum that validated the insight in the Hispanic market.
THE ACTION
Two episodes. Four cultural icons. Zero expected combinations.
The casting was designed to challenge assumptions about who belongs in luxury watch culture. Each pairing brought two people from contrasting walks of life whose shared passion for watches became the bridge between entirely different worlds and generations.
Episode 1 Iris Apfel & Lil Yachty
Fashion icon and cultural institution meets rapper and style disruptor. A 100-year age gap, a shared obsession with bold personal expression, and a conversation so genuine they exchanged phone numbers after filming. | Episode 2 — Featured in Ad Age Law Roach & Teyana Taylor
Legendary fashion stylist and celebrated singer-songwriter in conversation about gender norms, Black culture, and the future of fashion, anchored by their shared passion for luxury timepieces. |
Each episode centered on one long-form hero video designed to capture the intimacy and authenticity of the conversation. Bespoke Reels and Stories surrounding the hero content mixed talent soundbites with cinematic watch imagery. Episode 2 introduced Instagram Shop Collections with shoppable posts tying the narrative back to eBay's inventory.
THE RESULT
Culture work that moved brand health metrics.
Top-of-mind awareness among target audiences increased episode over episode, with Episode 2 driving results 1.5 points above benchmark. Both episodes generated nearly 100% positive sentiment and sparked conversation among both existing and new audiences. The female followership growth was a direct signal that the campaign's more inclusive framing of watch culture was landing with an audience the category had historically ignored.
The campaign gave back, too.
Episode 2 partnered with GLAAD to auction two of the luxury timepieces featured in the campaign. The auction raised over $60,000 that went directly to GLAAD to support the LGBTQ+ community, connecting the episode's message about breaking down norms to a tangible real-world impact.
COMMUNITY RECEPTION
The work earned its own audience beyond the paid media plan.
WHY IT MATTERED
A campaign built to expand who belongs in watch culture.
Old School Meets New School was not just a content series. It was a strategic repositioning of what eBay Watches stood for: a place where watch culture belongs to everyone, regardless of age, gender, background, or how much you already know. The campaigns that came after it built on the same foundation: real people, real expertise, real conversations that invited new audiences into a category that had kept them out for too long.
