In a marketing gimmick to bolster its campaign to position itself as a place for people to shop for gifts, Etsy named actress and talkshow host Drew Barrymore an honorary “Chief Gifting Officer” on Monday.
The celebrity will be tasked with sharing her best tips, tricks and inspiration for finding the perfect gifts, Etsy said in its announcement, “as well as revealing her favorite gift recommendations of Etsy items from our global makers.”
Etsy recently launched a Gift Mode feature that it said combines AI with human curation and “transforms a typically stressful task into an easy and delightful experience, helping shoppers seamlessly discover extraordinary gifts for every occasion, including holidays, birthdays, graduations, housewarmings and much more.”
Chief Operating and Marketing Officer Raina Moskowitz said last week that Etsy plans to share a sneak peek of a TV commercial on February1st that will air during the Super Bowl as part of its year-long marketing campaign focused on gifting. And, she said, Etsy will introduce a “special perk” to help sellers make the most of the moment.
That perk could be another coupon funded by Etsy – it had run several during the holiday shopping season last fall that proved popular with buyers and sellers. CEO Josh Silverman said they helped reactivate lapsed buyers and increased average order value.
Etsy didn’t disclose details about its relationship with Barrymore (presumably it’s compensating her). It linked to the actress’s favorite Etsy items at etsy.com/drewbarrymore.
Here’s an ad for Gift Mode Etsy is sharing on social media (via YouTube):
What a waste of money! Of course, this comes at the expense of Etsy sellers and never out of the pockets of the corporate bigwigs. Look for another fee hike soon!
Etsy is going to be running an ad during the Super Bowl. I REALLY hope the agency that did this awful ad isn’t the one doing the big bucks Super Bowl ad! This ad is terrible, what a waste of sellers money!