Since 2007, the Help for Heroes charity and The Sun have worked together to raise money for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. They needed to ramp up activity to help fund seven rehabilitation centres where injured soldiers can rebuild their lives, retrain for new jobs and adapt to civilian life. The aim was to leverage eBay's huge reach and advertising capabilities to drive brand awareness of the campaign; to create an engaging & branded experience on eBay and to raise money by mobilising eBay's millions of users.

To drive brand awareness of the campaign and to create an engaging and branded experience on eBay with creative that flowed through from advertising placements to charity auction pages.

'Auction for Heroes' allowed the eBay community and The Sun readership to show their support by buying and selling on eBay. We created a branded hub and celebrity auction listings. We linked to Help for Heroes charity listings. We used advertising, on-site marketing, eBay for Charity and free c2c pricing to increase awareness and drive traffic to the campaign through the following initiatives: a branded microsite and eBay shop, engaging users by encouraging them to sell items and donate a % of proceeds plus maximum exposure through a mix of high profile banner ads.

- 100 million media impressions averaged 1.10% CTR in the first 10 days - The co-branded homepage placement received 7 million impressions on launch day with a 2.19% CTR - 1 million visits to site and 500,000 UK unique visitors - 712,000 page views of celebrity donated items, with The Stig's signed helmet and suit reaching 110,000 views in 5 days - over 10,000 eBay items listed with at least 10% of final sale price donated . More than £80,000 raised on www.ebay.co.uk from auctions and donations.

Results demonstrated that co-branded placements on eBay's homepage supported with targeted and relevant display advertising can deliver huge brand awareness and engagement. "We're delighted with the results of the campaign. They prove how two huge brands can come together to maximise their own reach and visibility, and engage with their audiences online to make a real difference." Ben Hughes, Head of Marketing, News Group.