eBay Enterprise Marketing Rebrands As Pepperjam

eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions rebrands Wednesday operating under the name Pepperjam, resurrecting a brand name from the early 2000s synonymous with performance marketing.

"It wasn't an absolute no brainer from the beginning," said Michael Jones, Pepperjam CEO. "We explored building the company under a new name, including doing a cost benefit analysis to determine whether to go with a new name or bring the old name back."

How do you determine brand value from a name when it hasn’t been actively used in the market for about five years?

Jones said the company spent "several hundred thousand dollars and four months" running through processes to determine whether rebranding as Pepperjam would prove the most successful. The company owns the legal rights to the name and the trademarks. Marketers also know the brand name, Pepperjam.

"It's more than a name, but rather a collection of concepts, ideas and energy that creates an emotional and intellectual response from individuals that interact with the company and its employees," Jones said. "It's important to create an attachment."

Pepperjam, founded in 1999 as an ecommerce company, quickly grew into one of the largest affiliate networks and performance marketing agencies before being acquired by eBay in 2011. Jones, who served as GM, has led as CEO since eBay spun and sold off its enterprise division in pieces last year.

Less than one week after eBay Enterprise broke free from its former parent company it announced the acquisition of performance digital agency Digital Net Agency. Now, under the new name of Pepperjam, Jones hopes the rebrand will continue to build as much equity in the name as it had in the past.

Sheela Battu, director of Web Marketing at Calvin Klein, believes Pepperjam's investments demonstrate a commitment to helping clients solve tough marketing challenges.

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