Pinterest’s ad campaign highlights ‘a different side of the internet’

Pinterest’s new “Don’t Don’t Yourself” ad campaign highlights the platform as a site for genuineness and creativity, while hinting at the darker sides of other social media networks.

Pin-up model: Pinterest continues to cement itself as a more welcoming environment than rivals like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

• The mental health-oriented ads position Pinterest as “a different side of the internet,” according to CMO Andréa Mallard.
• In an ad focused on judgment, a user posting a makeup tutorial says of body-shaming, “That’s not the vibe on here.”

Pinning for revenues: Pinterest shedded users and underperformed on revenues in Q2. But the platform is looking to commerce to drive growth, in no small part thanks to new CEO Bill Ready, who comes from Google’s commerce division.

• Nearly 16% of US social buyers will shop via Pinterest this year, putting the platform behind Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
• Pinterest will see $2.29 billion in US digital ad revenues this year. That’s significantly less than Instagram ($29.79 billion), and behind TikTok ($5.96 billion), Twitter ($3.01 billion), and Snapchat ($2.72 billion).

Pinterest’s leverage: The platform really may feel more positive than other apps.

• Regulations to protect children on social media have bipartisan support, and YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have all been under scrutiny recently.
• Meta and Snap have both added parental controls to calm concerns.
• Pinterest already has ad policies in place to protect users. This latest campaign builds off of that strategy.

Why we care: Pinterest is playing from behind, but an ad campaign highlighting positivity on the platform is smart, especially if Pinterest hopes to compete for social commerce.

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