Thoughts on Pinterest from a National Marketing Professional and Blogger :OSP 005

In this episode of the podcast I have a chat with former national brand marketing pro Annie Ouimet about her thoughts on Pinterest. Not so long ago, as she describes it, she “worked my [her] balls off to get that big job” with a Fortune 500 company. Now, she works them off for her family.

She couldn’t completely step away from that high-stakes life, so every now and then, she puts on her power suit (not really) and blogs about marketing campaigns and products with just a bit of a bite and wit on her blog, Just a Little Tart. She also blogs about her adventures in motherhood and a complete home remodel, all with snappy wit.

 In this episode:

• Pinterest as tool in a complete home remodel
• Pinterest as a communication tool
• Secret/ private boards
• Pinterest for moms
• The Power of the Pinterest pin it bookmarklet
• Brand / agency use of Pinterest
• Annie’s open letters to brands
• ****Bonus Pinterest tip****

When Annie blogs about marketing, it’s usually in the form of an open letter to a specific brand and they are hilarious, she calls them Brand Love Letters. Annie, gave us a special treat by writing one for Oh So Pinteresting. Try reading the letter below in Annies self described  ” slightly witty, slightly acerbic” voice. 😉

Dear Internet Start-Up Founders From The Late 90s That Went Bust By 2001:

Did none of you have bulletin boards in your teenage bedroom covered with images from 17 Magazine, ribbons boasting your sporting achievements, inspirational quotes from Kelly Kapowski, and pictures of you and your friends looking your absolute best? 

Were none of you selling products you would have liked potential consumers to click on?

Did you never find something interesting online, swear to come back to it, but sadly never see it again? Oh, you used the Favorites bar for that? Did you never think, “Wow. This Favorites bar sure is a cumbersome beast.”

Did you never desire to create a personal brand for yourself that bears little, if zero, resemblance to reality?

Did you never live through a house renovation with your spouse and need a place to save pictures of things you like so your home wouldn’t end up bearing an odd resemblance to your husband were it possible for houses to look like people? You were only 19 then? Nevermind.

Did you never sit through a creative review with an Account Director who showed up with over 15 mood boards and then charged you $200/board for materials?

Here’s the deal. (This is where I break it down and illustrate that I understand the challenges you faced.)

It took me a long time to get Pinterest. I thought it was a place for people, ok mainly women, to showcase popsicle crafts and weekday recipes. This type of tool might not sound like a big money maker in Silicon Valley, although women do drive 85% of purchasing decisions so giving you this out is a huge stretch.

Maybe like me, you never won Pin The Tail On The Donkey so weren’t very interested in the virtual pinning craze. I didn’t adapt until I saw how Pinterest houses and shares ideas one could never find on their own, drives consumers to make purchases, and lets users be a cooler version of themselves.

Sound like something familiar? Oh, I don’t know, like a little thing called “the internet.” You were supposed to be all over that. Yes, that Chumba Wumba dancing baby email forward stole time from everyone in the late 90s but you guys must have watched it more than most to miss the idea of a virtual bulletin board during your quest for virtual ideas.

Lucky for us, we got an extra 10 years to find cool stuff to pin. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Annie

ps. Pets.com, if you’d had a board with a step-by-step guide on how to craft your hand puppet for less than $1, you would have survived. Just sayin’.

Big thanks to Annie for bringing that bit of humor into my day.  Checkout her blog for more wit and humor, let her know I say hello.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you have a moment, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review of the show on iTunes, it would really help out.

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