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Pinterest, the photo sharing website, is 2012's Social Media pin-up. Its growth has been phenomenal with 103m visitors in February according to Hitwise. Dwell times are second only to Facebook and with referral traffic second to none it's got everybody talking. But is Pinterest just another flash in the digital pan? Or has this simple idea got what it takes to become a significant business tool? We all love something new, fun and easy to use and Pinterest ticks all these boxes admirably. The ability to post pictures that interest you and to follow the posts of likeminded people is great – particularly for generation Twitter for whom a picture is worth a thousand words.

We've been playing with Pinterest for while now and the more we see the more potential we see – and not just for obvious B2C brands such as Wholefoods and Ikea. We can see real benefits for B2B too such as: Engaging with prospects and customers Driving traffic to your site Advertising products by showing real people using them in real life situations Disseminating brochures, whitepapers and other brand literature Aiding new product launches For us it's the first two that are really exciting. For many brands – particularly those in B2B – gaining engagement can be difficult through pictures engagement barriers can be broken down. Take insurance for instance. Even the most devout insurance advocate will admit that getting people to engage with it is like nailing water to a wall. But what if you framed it in the context of an image? Rescue insurance at work at the side of rain-soaked byway. Pet insurance sold by pictures of cats (a Pinterest staple) saved by insurance-financed care. A board dedicated to wrecked family homes restored to their former glory by insurance payouts. It can be done. And if it can be done for insurance then what could it do for a brand that naturally enjoys more mainstream engagement? Add to this Pinterest's impressive capacity to drive traffic – it's currently neck and neck with the mighty Twitter – and you have a potentially potent marketing force.


30 Second Interview

David Franks

My favourite ad is: My next one.

A winning smile: Fixes many problems...

I am always happy: See below.

My favourite journey: Over the Orwell Bridge in my Alfa at dawn, somewhat over the speed limit.

I only lie: When the truth is likely to induce a collective catatonic stupor.

I admire: Donald Trump’s hairdo…the Taj Mahal of weaves and a true inspiration.

The words or phrases I most overuse are: 'mate'.

My greatest talent is: Connect 4.

My biggest regret: I have a few, but then again, too few to mention…

If I was a biscuit: I would aspire to be a Caramel Digestive… not sure why though.


 

worth a click...

  • July 2013
  •  

    "That’s good, but highlight it so it’s eye-catching. Just remember, the idea is to highlight it without drawing attention."

    Clients From Hell

    Click here for their website

    I did some work for a televisual design company that wanted to print a promotional brochure. I was tasked with the project because I come from a print background, and I was reporting to the head of design for the company. I came up with some designs with some images grabbed off the reel.

     

    Client: This is great, but the images that you’ve picked…well, they’re not very punchy.

    Me: Would you like to me pick some other images?

    Client: Oh no, these are perfect, it’s just that on-screen they look so vibrant.

    Me: Well, that’s because the images use backlit RGB and printed media uses CMYK, so they’re obviously going to look more muted.

    Client: What if we printed RGB?

    Me: Same result. Red is just a mix of magenta and yellow, green is cyan and yellow and blue is cyan with a touch of magenta.

    Client: What if we printed using fluorescent inks? Like used a fluorescent red, a fluorescent green and a fluorescent blue,

    Me: You’ll end up with brown, or something weird and ugly. You cannot create backlit colours on paper.

    Client: This is going to work, I cannot believe that someone hasn’t come up with this before.

    Me: It won’t work.

    Client: Trust me, get it done. Get a test printed, you’ll see.

    Me: So you want me to split RGB into three process special colors before I print them as plates? It’s going to cost a lot of money and it will look shit.

    Client: Do it.

    I phone a printer who I have used countless times because they will print anything and are great problem solvers. The print guy on the end of the phone laughs, but says he’ll only do it if the client speaks to him directly to give him approval. The test goes ahead and we get sent back a muddy, dull image with unreadable text.

    Me: Sorry, but print just doesn't work like that

    Client: You did the separations wrong.

    Me: The printer did them.

    Client: He doesn’t understand television.