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Ben Silbermann, Pinterest’s Chief Executive Officer has confirmed that the company will be launching its first major advertising campaign in the United States this summer. The San Francisco-based company is launching the campaign to attract new users as other larger sites are starting to offer features similar to those you can find on Pinterest. Alphabet Inc.’s Google recently added a new shoppable photos feature to their image search, while Instagram started testing a shoppable photos tag feature last year. Instagram have also recently announced another Pinterest-like feature that allows users to create collections of pictures posted by others, which can then be saved and viewed later.
In an interview on Bloomberg’s podcast Decrypted, Silberman emphasized that people shouldn’t write the platform off as “just another” social media platform, and said that it instead was best used as a “visual search engine.” He stated, “The No. 1 challenge is getting people to understand that Pinterest isn’t a social network. The hope is that you’ll get ideas for your real life, and you’ll close the app, get off your phone and try those ideas.” Pinterest has over 100 million users on their platform and they want to highlight that their users don’t post photos and videos on there for likes or comments as they do on social media sites. According to Pinterest, the drive for users to post content on its site is so they can remember what they found inspirational. Last month, the company announced a beta feature that allows users to search for items they like by simply snapping a picture. The CEO also stated that the best way to attract new users is by improving the product, not just simply by advertising, although they have stepped up advertising campaigns internationally and are not just focusing their efforts in the US.
Pinterest started their first ever advertising campaign in the UK in April last year. This campaign saw adverts placed on all forms of public transport, and they also partnered with Channel 4 to run TV adverts during certain types of programs. These included parenting, style, and food shows. The new US campaign is still in the early planning stages and the visual bookmarking platform have not yet confirmed how much they plan to spend, or whether this campaign will include TV adverts. They are currently considering options to place adverts in magazines and newspapers, as well as on billboards and websites, and are working with a well-known creative director from Nike campaigns, Janet Champ, to produce the advert.