A look at how brands use Pinterest to create a new consumer touch point for social commerce, raise brand awareness, and shape brand positioning.

1. Pinterest
for Brands
March 2012

2. 2 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
Table of Contents
The Purpose of this POV 3
What You Need to Know about Pinterest 4
What You Use Pinterest 5
How Pinterest Can Be Utilized by Brands 8
Brands on Pinterest 10
FAQ 11
About Social@Ogilvy 12

3. 3 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
The Purpose of this POV
T
he purpose of this POV is to inform Pinterest enables users to “pin” images found
brands how they can use Pinterest to around the Web into categorized collections,
create a new consumer touch point for or boards. Think of it like an interactive,
social commerce, to raise brand awareness, shareable scrapbook. Pinterest can capture
and shape brand positioning. the brand essence, personality, inspiration
for product design, or company culture
Summary through visual boards. It could also be used to
organically grow your brand’s reach through
The #1 driver of consumer purchases is word an influencer re-pinning strategy, to further
of mouth recommendations from friends, and engage with fans through themed boards,
Pinterest holds the power to drive authentic and to inspire consumers to action, perhaps
“word of eye” recommendations in a way through a “best board” or a “most pins”
that is changing the landscape of social contest.
commerce. The landing page for Pinterest is
an endless visual stream of subtle product Currently availably stats show the average
recommendations from the very people Pinterest user spends 98 minutes per month
who influence your purchasing decisions – on the site, compared to 2.5 hours on Tumblr,
friends and strangers with good taste. This and 7 hours on Facebook 2. Pinterest is most
means that there is an endless opportunity popular in North Eastern states, among
for your brand and its products to be seen by females (estimates range from 58% to 70%
Pinterest’s 11.7 million unique monthly users1 female), and with visitors ages 25-44 (59% of
as endorsements from friends in the form of visitors)3 .
repins.
2 Id at Tech Crunch
1 Tech Crunch, “Pinterest Hits 10 Million Monthly Uniques,” February 7, 2012, 3 Heather Dougherty, “Pinteresting Trend in Social Media,” Hotwise, December
http://tcrn.ch/z59HNt 22, 2011, http://bit.ly/sdFHNt

4. 4 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
What You Need to Know
about Pinterest
The basics The rules Creating
brand boards
ƒƒ To join, you must request ƒƒ Pin images from various
an invite or be invited sources – not just one site ƒƒ Brand pages created
curated by individuals
ƒƒ Pin Images, repin others’ ƒƒ Be nice and courteous to
images, follow a person or other pinners ƒƒ Brands must pin form
a board various sources, not just
ƒƒ Credit your sources (link ecommerce site!
ƒƒ Pinterest is an open back when applicable)
network, so anyone can ƒƒ Creatte boards that reflect
follow you ƒƒ Avoid self promotion brand’s essence, design,
insipiration for products
and services or acompany
culture

5. 5 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
What You Use Pinterest
When you visit or use Pinterest, there are five main touch points for the experience. Please see
images below each description. The touch points are:
ƒƒ The Landing Page: The landing page for Pinterest is a stream of visual images from people
and boards you follow, so the default state of Pinterest is social. To find other pinners, click
the Everything drop-down menu and leave a filter Boards by category. When you see a pin
you like, you can Like it, leave a comment, or Repin it to one of your own boards (remember
to give credit to the original Pinner). If you find a board you particularly like, you can follow
its updates or visit the Pinner’s profile and follow all of his or her boards. Like Twitter, it’s an
open network, so users don’t require permission and you don’t have to follow people back.

6. 6 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
ƒƒ Pinterest Boards: Pinterest users create boards around various themes, and pin images
they see online or re-pin images from other users on Pinterest. Pinning can also be a really
valuable tool for people with a specific purpose in mind. For example, new homeowners are
turning to Pinterest to find inspiration for home décor and furnishings, and many brides-to-be
are replacing their three-ring binders with Pinterest boards filled with hairstyles, dresses,
and flowers.
ƒƒ Pinning Images: To pin items to a board, users must add the official Pin It Button, a simple
drag-and-drop browser extension from the Pinterest website. When users come across an
image they like, they simply click the Pin It Button and select the corresponding picture. Then,
they assign the pin to a board and add a text line, such as, “This is the perfect everyday red
bag.” Once pinned, the images hyperlink back to their original online source.

7. 7 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
ƒƒ Social Sharing Features:
There are multiple social
networking opportunities on
Pinterest. You can tweet or
share your pins to Facebook
to help expand your network
across all three platforms.
You can also tweet and “Like”
other users’ pins, which shares
the item as a tweet or as an
image in your timeline. This
also helps increase online WOM
recommendations for specific
products, and maximizes the
potential for getting in front
of a new audience in a more
authentic way.
ƒƒ The Everything Page:
The Everything Page
is a constant visual
stream of literally every
up-to-the-minute pin.

8. 8 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
How Pinterest Can
Be Utilized by Brands
1. Create a social commerce 3. Identify and engage
touch point super fans
With 11.7 million UMVs and counting, Pinterest Pinterest may also be a way to identify natural
presents an opportunity for brands to expand brand advocates or “super fans.” You can
their audiences by going where the masses search for your brand’s products and discover
are. Consumers are always a step ahead who is most frequently pinning about your
of brands and its important for brands to products and engage with those people.
follow behavior rather than dictate it. Your Surprise and delight super fans by rewarding
brand’s presence on Pinterest will create them with products they pin to their boards.
another consumer touch point and a way Eventually you may create a fan-curated board
to be discovered by new people. The visual that allows super fans to add their pins.
Pinterest boards would help invite new people
into the fabric of your brand by setting a mood 4. Increase brand loyalty by
or encapsulating a lifestyle, helping users to sharing your brand’s culture
imagine how your brand’s products, services
or culture fit their lives. Pinterest is a fun, inspirational and highly
visual atmosphere and your brand has an
2. Grow influencer networks opportunity to engage fans in new and creative
ways. Consider creating boards that align with
Brands can leverage Pinterest to find product or service themes, for example, West
influencers with whom to engage. You can Elm categorizes its boards by colors from
expand your influencer networks by following its design palette, such as “Aquamarine.” Or
influential Pinterest users and boards, and create a board that reflects your company’s
repinning items to our own Pinterest boards, dedication to a CSR initiative. Or, compile
giving credit to the influencer. Brands may also pictures of everyday fans and influencers
choose to engage with influential bloggers and engaging with your brand, such as a board
have them curate a board on their Pinterest that features pins of people across the globe
page. Ask Ogilvy for advice on who to follow wearing a retail brand’s clothing.
and repin, and who might be right to engage
offline or on another brand platform.

9. 9 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
5. Host contests for further 7. Promote your culture first,
engagement products and services second
Perhaps you can host a contest for fans to The trick with Pinterest is to leverage the “soft
create the best Pinterest board with your sell” and promote your brand culture over the
products, and reward the winning fan with products or services themselves. Pinterest is
items from her board. Or, invite other users to committed to maintaining a non-promotional
co-create boards on your page around certain atmosphere, and the hard sell could get you
themes, and reward the winning team with kicked off the platform. So to create the right
product or a brand experience. For example, atmosphere, think about what your brand has
a travel brand can ask Pinners to create to offer and what the images say to people and
mood boards that reflect a destination like the what you want to ask, for example:
French Riviera, and then reward the winning
board with a trip. ƒƒ A cable brand: “Do you like innovation?
We’re innovative too, and here’s a photo of
6. Inspire repins (and our engineers making the first-ever live-
purchases) through bold streaming television app for iPhone we
visuals made.”
As mentioned earlier, the #1 driver of ƒƒ A fashion brand: “Do you like bold, basic
consumer purchases is word of mouth colors? We love everything bright and bold,
recommendations from friends, and Pinterest and this painting by Matisse captures our
holds the power to drive authentic “word upcoming line’s color scheme.”
of eye” recommendations through a repin
endorsement. To accomplish this, you’ll want ƒƒ A home furnishings brand: “Do you enjoy a
to make sure that you have high resolution, clutter-free living space? So do we, and here
professional quality, close-up photos to are three books that talk about a clutter-
leverage. Photos of products should be taken free home.”
in a way that enables the viewer to imagine
herself wearing the product, engaging with ƒƒ A credit card company or bank: “Do you
an item, or taking part in the setting. Photos imagine yourself living a lifestyle of luxury?
should taken in a way that makes them stand Here’s a picture from the beach in the Virgin
out in the visual stream that is Pinterest. For Islands where you could be right now.”
example, a bold-colored photo or a gray-scale
photo might set itself apart from the photo Through play and inspiration, Pinterest might
stream. just empower you to become the architect of
your brand’s culture.

10. 10 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
Brands on Pinterest
Nordstrom West Elm Gap Williams-
Sonoma
Business type: Business type: Home Business type: Online
Fashion specialty furnishing company Retailer Business type:
retailer of clothing, that designs products Retailer of
shoes and for modern living. Gap has a few gourmet foods and
accessories. different Pinterest professional-quality
West Elm uses boards including cookware.
Nordstrom has a Pinterest to curate products from their
dedicated social design inspiration current like, a board Williams-Sonoma’s
team that curates around specific featuring denim boards focus on ways
its Pinterest boards. trends, like icons (think Michael to use its various
The boards showcase modernist, color Jackson circa 1985 in products.
seasonal trends and blocking, stripes, etc. stone washed jeans),
different product This is a great way to and “Everybody in
categories. It also visualize trends for Gap” – a board that
just started a board customers, who can allows anybody to pin
dedicated to its in- then click through to images of themselves
house spa and salon, the West Elm site and or others wearing
as well as a board purchase products Gap.
with photos from that fit their chosen
inside various stores. aesthetic.
“Real Simple” magazine Whole Foods Shop It To Me
Business type: Print Living up to its name, Business type: Business type: Online
publication that Real Simple’s boards Grocer personal shopping
provides creative, focus on making portal/flash sale site.
practical and readers’ lives easier. Whole Foods’
inspiring solutions It provides easy hair Pinterest boards Shop It To Me uses
that make life easier. ideas, a month’s provide inspiration for Pinterest to post
worth of meals, etc. all things food, such curated-style
as seasonal cooking, inspiration from
hot kitchen decor, and around the Web. It
food as art. also has a board
dedicated to its flash
sales.

11. 11 PINTEREST FOR BRANDS
MARCH 2012
FAQ
Can I create a brand profile on Does Pinterest cost anything?
Pinterest?
No, joining Pinterest is 100% free. You
You need to request an invite first, and see if may want to invest hours and money into
Pinterest accepts your invite. If you decide to developing a Pinterest strategy, time for
create a brand page, there will likely be an collecting visual assets, and time for pinning.
approval process from Pinterest. Also note
that you will not likely be able to post your I want to get started today. What
products if you join as a brand, but rather, will do I do?
be limited to posting items that speak to your
brand’s essence. Your Ogilvy team can set up time with you
to brainstorm ideas, strategize with you
What if I want to use an and walk you through the steps to develop a
employee as the Pinterest timeline and execute an action plan. The social
profile? team at Ogilvy can set up time to brainstorm
application ideas, strategize about action
That’s fine too. If you select someone from engagement and walk you through the steps to
within your company to host the account, develop the application.
try to find someone who has an eye for the
brand aesthetic or culture to share images I heard that there are potential
and photos that reflect the brand’s essence. copyright infringements with
This person would also have the flexibility to Pinterest, are those rumors
post photos or images of the brand’s product
true?
themselves. Consult your Ogilvy rep to
determine the best approach. On March 24, 2012, Pinterest announced
new Terms of Service that further define
user rights with respect to images and other
aspects of Pinterest, which will be effective
as of April 6, 2012. Please consult your Ogilvy
representative to learn about how these terms
apply to your brand.

12. About Social@Ogilvy
S
ocial@Ogilvy is the largest social media marketing communications
network in the world. Named 2011 Global Digital/Social
Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report, the practice
leverages social media expertise across all Ogilvy Mather disciplines,
offering an extensive list of services within the foundational business
solutions – Listening and Analytics; Social Business Solutions; Social
Media Marketing and Communications; Social Shopping; Social CRM;
Social Care; and Conversation Impact.
For more information, visit social.ogilvy.com and connect with
us at www.facebook.com/socialogilvy, www.twitter.com/
socialogilvy, www.slideshare.com/socialogilvy.
Contact: john.bell@ogilvy.com