Gen-Z & B2B Opps Update: Pinterest to soon launch first brand campaign

Update: In 2021, Pinterest will reportedly debut its first brand campaign, an effort to reintroduce the company in a new way. Pinterest boasts 450m monthly users, and it's starting to focus on growing platform audiences men and Gen-Z. Male users created 13m Pinterest boards and saved an average of 20 pins for each in 2020, pinning areas from fashion, music, technology and DIY to travel.

Reportedly, Pinterest users watch around 1b videos each day. Since video uploads have surged (by ~800%) within the past year, Pinterest debuted Pinterest Premiere, a marketing tool. This service provides advertisers with the freedom to own exclusive video placements in the app's home feed, targeting specific demographic, interests and/or categories. Advertisers can use this information to inform their organic and paid campaigns instead of letting Pinterest manually pull the data, as it had in the past.

Read more details regarding the company's recent spend, targeting and agency roster opportunities in the article below; sellers should reach out soon to secure last-minute ad dollars for its upcoming campaign.

The article below was originally published on February 18:

Microsoft is reportedly in talks to acquire image- and DIY project-sharing site Pinterest for $51b. This deal, which would be Microsoft's largest-ever acquisition, would reflect that the tech giant is pursuing an acquisition strategy designed to grow its portfolio of active online communities. Pinterest, which currently boasts 320m+ active users, has signaled a preference to remain an independent company. However, we will certainly keep you updated.

Execs reported in Pinterest's Q4 2020 earnings call that the ad spend it deferred in 2020 will be rolled out in 2021.

Pinterest only spent approximately $2.8m on digital ads in 2020, around a quarter of the approximately $13m it spent last year. Last year, according to Pathmatics, the company earned ~352.2m digital impressions through Facebook (39%), Instagram (28%), desktop video (17%), Twitter (7%), desktop display (7%) and mobile display (1%) ads.

Remember, Pinterest's leaders are planning for the company's ad spend to pick back up this year; reach out soon to determine details regarding their 2021 plans. Pinterest has a traditional target demographic of women, and its reliance on Facebook and Instagram advertising signals a strong Gen-Z skew. The company also targets content creators of all kinds and ages. It holds planning conversations in Q3 and buying conversations in Q2.

Agency & martech readers - If Microsoft does acquire Pinterest, it may seek new Pinterest-specific agency partners; however, I'd prospect elsewhere until then. Pinterest currently works with creative AOR 72andSunny and media buying/planning AOR Mediahub Boston. It also receives creative assistance from Twenty-First Century Brand.