Pinterest Programs: Retailers tout private brands via discovery platform
In recent months both Albertsons and H-E-B have leveraged discovery platform Pinterest to learn about food trends that they then infused into lively, themed store brand programs.
Albertsons leveraged the Pinterest Trends Tool to get insights into holiday food trends, which helped them develop a program and recipe campaign for shoppers to use its own brands to make a pumpkin-inspired alcoholic drink, buy store brand products for a “Friendsgiving” party, create Christmas desserts and develop spooky treats for Halloween.
Products like Lucerne Eggnog, Open Nature Pecans and many different items under its Signature Reserve line were promoted through the Albertsons Pinterest activity. The chain measured in-store sales lift against the campaigns, and the results were so good that they’ve come back for seconds, said Arthur Sevilla, head of CPG strategy for Pinterest. Albertsons will run a similar holiday campaign in 2020. In some cases, the retailer also placed endcaps in stores with signage calling out to their recipes and products on Pinterest.
Similarly, H-E-B used Pinterest Trends to garner insights from what Pinterest users are searching for and interested in, and then developed inspirations for the season around them — dedicating a web page on the platform around inspirational ideas like a “Christmas brunch,” “Instant Pot cider,” “oven-baked beer brisket” and “winter salads.”
More than 335 million people globally use Pinterest, saving more than 200 billion ideas to four billion boards created on the site, the company said. Retailers and even private brand manufacturers can use Pinterest Trends to discover what users are searching for on Pinterest to develop ideas.
It’s all in an effort to create a meaningful shopping experience for shoppers in both a physical and digital world, according to Sevilla. “You see this evolution in the in-store environment, notable in grocery, which has recently experienced an upgrade to convey greater freshness, localization and inspiration,” he said. “The same desire for a more visually engaging environment is critical for brands who are reaching consumers digitally.”
Nearly 90% of consumers posting Pins on Pinterest weekly are using the platform for inspiration during their path to purchase, and as of data from November 2018, 57% of weekly “Pinners” have used Pinterest while shopping in-store, the company said.
Sevilla said the platform is ideal for private brands seeking to drive trial of their products. “Ninety-seven percent of the top 1,000 searches are unbranded, meaning people generally start with a search with a few keywords like ‘peanut butter recipes’ or a visual search instead of a specific brand name.
He also said 72% of consumers engaging with Pinterest to seek food and beverage inspiration are making a purchase based on a Pin they’ve seen from a brand. “Private label brands are reaching consumers that are seeking food inspiration.”
Chad Coester, senior vice president of Own Brands at Albertsons, said in a press release on Albertsons Pinterest holiday programs that Albertsons shoppers want to stay ahead of the curve on trends. “Using Pinterest Trends online and in-store enables Own Brands to be top-of-mind in a truly innovative way,” he said.
Sevilla’s advice for a retailer seeking to connect with consumers over Pinterest is to have high-quality creative. “The most effective Pins have visual intrigue, tell a good story and capture consumers’ interest, regardless of format.”
The posts that Albertsons put on Pinterest included not just high-level photography of foods but short videos of foods being decorated like brownies getting iced with a spider web design. For the Halloween-inspired treats using their private brand product, the Pinterest activity saw a 65% gain in search on the platform. The retailer’s Pins on pumpkin and eggnog alcoholic drinks saw an increase in search that was more than 150% and Pin programs around “Holiday grazing tables” saw an increase of 500% in search activity.
In addition to Pinterest Trends, other ways for private brand manufacturers or retailers to use the platform to promote is through Pinterest ads and video ads.
“Retailers like Albertsons are in constant dialogue with our teams to find the most effective ways to inspire and reach consumers,” Sevilla said. “Together, we identified Pinterest trends that aligned to seasonal moments that Albertsons wanted to amplify. From there, they built Pins highlighting private label brands and promoted to audiences that engaged with relevant moments.”
He said with each retailer it starts with identifying what’s the business objective and what are the audience needs. “Is it to drive awareness, optimize video views or increase traffic? From there, brands and services like Pinterest can find creative ways to inspire action for consumers.”