Adrien Boyer (, 1974) is the Pinterest Country Manager for France, Southern Europe and Benelux. A position of responsibility at a time when the company is involved in one of its greatest evolutions, making it a very attractive platform for merchants in sectors such as fashion, cosmetics or decoration. To find out more about these developments and the current situation of Pinterest in Spain, we have spoken with him.
It’s been more than 4 years since you came to Pinterest. How do you remember it at that time?
From the beginning, we’ve always been a visual platform, and we continue to believe that’s what the future of search and inspiration should look like. During my first few years on Pinterest, we focused on increasing awareness of Pinterest and understanding of how to use it. Also in increasing the amount of local content in each country, working closely with content creators like brands, and publishers, to grow the platform. In addition, we were developing tools to make make product discovery and online shopping as simple and streamlined as possible, which continues to this day.
Back then we had much smaller teams all over Europe. Our growth, as well as the experience that we have been able to offer to pinners in all countries, is something we are all proud of. Our teams have worked hard to ensure that users can find ideas on the platform tailored to both your culture and your languageso you can take action and buy products locally.
When I started working at Pinterest, I immediately knew that It is a different platform than others. I’ve been into photography for a while and have always been interested in the creative industries, which led me to recognize the symbiotic relationship between Pinterest and creativity, which is a truly distinctive component of the platform compared to the .
Pinterest is more personal for each of our users and gives them something that is difficult to get in other services, as a space to think about themselves and the things they want to do in life. They come to Pinterest for themselves, not their friends and family, and use the platform to discover new possibilities, get inspired, and Make that inspiration part of your life. We like to think of Pinterest as an online experience that makes life offline more interesting and rewarding. We want to help people create the life they want off the grid, not on it.
We are in a unique position because Pinterest is not a social network, it is a visual inspiration platform that people use for their own planning and inspiration, and not to connect with friends. In recent times, Pinterest has served many people as place of escape from news, politics and negativity which can be found in so many places on the internet. Pinterest has always been a positive place to get inspired and plan life’s moments; Not surprisingly, nearly 9 out of 10 weekly users say that Pinterest is an online oasis.
Over the last few years, we have launched our advertising program in Spain and hired a local team to serve advertisers and help them reach their audience. It has been exciting to see the team grow and witness brands and retailers meaningfully connect with consumers.
Since then, the social media sector has changed a lot: new platforms, more users, the emergence of generation Z, the omnipresence of mobile phones… What would you highlight as the main changes?
The environment has evolved a lot: launch of new platforms, great fragmentation of attention and time commitment, and the need to pay attention to emotional well-beingas many people feel overwhelmed and overloaded.
Through our investigations we discovered that people need a place to go for inspiration and creativity: an online oasis to focus on your personal interests and passions. At Pinterest, we think about how to create a positive and inclusive environment where people can focus on themselves. I have been using Pinterest to plan my life projects, like my wedding, the arrival of our baby, the decoration of the apartment, and even recipes to eat better and live a healthier life. They are all tangible and important projects, and Pinterest has helped me find inspiration and bring them to life.
Pinterest was born 11 years ago and it seems like we just started. We’ve grown from a visual discovery engine to a true inspiration platform that empowers users, creators, and advertisers to create unique content that truly brings them joy. We foster a positive, safe and inclusive online community where everyone is encouraged to be authentic and inspired to take action with the great content and ideas on the platform.
Over the past year we have launched incredible new products, initiatives and partnerships, Idea Pins, the Creator Code of Conduct, a global partnership with Shopify, and the expansion of shopping features to more countries, including Spain. We have become a key destination for pinners looking to get inspired and shop; creators looking to grow their brands and build a business; and advertisers genuinely connecting with creators and pinners looking for great brands to bring their dreams to life.
We are changing the way we inspire the world. We help pinners collect and discover what they love about the internet, bringing the most inspiring profiles, passions, insights, and talents to Pinterest.
Now, in a further step in evolution, you present a whole series of novelties aimed at promoting online shopping. How do you rate these new features?
Launching is a great way to make shopping even easier for our pinners, who come to Pinterest for inspiration on what products to buy to bring their ideas to life. We’re also introducing more surfaces for retailers to promote pins and display ads in the places of purchase that users like the most, like checkout results. Lens visual search. Additionally, we’ve launched new ways for merchants to optimize their shopping presence on Pinterest, such as a verified Merchants Program, a store tab on your profile and a product tagging feature.
In a world of one-click shopping and instant delivery, it’s easy to forget that people still love browsing and want to experience the magic of shopping. Today’s path to purchase includes more touchpoints than ever before, and there’s a new emphasis on creating experiences that inspire consumers. We focus on making shopping as inspiring as possible, just like flipping through the pages of your favorite catalog or walking the aisles of a store that’s personalized to you.
The holidays are approaching and we want the online shopping experience to be like real life, where you can search for different ideas and make meaningful gifts. More people than ever will be shopping online this Christmas, and Pinterest can replicate that experience for consumers and retailers alike. through curated collections and visual discovery. Using insights from Pinterest, retailers are increasingly reaching out to Pinterest users who are interested in things like working out from home, beauty, home improvement, and more.
Some of these novelties were already present in your app for the United States. How have they worked so far? What type of products are the most purchased from Pinterest?
Over the past few years, we’ve developed our shopping offering to allow Pinterest users to buy anything they see on the platform or get personalized recommendations for something similar. We started by rolling out a suite of features to make this vision a reality in select countries, including the US, and have seen tremendous growth in shopping activity, with a 200% increase in shopping features on Pinterest over the past year.
We help merchants bring their products to Pinterest and give buyers the ability to discover something personalized and unexpected of the brands they like the most. Our shopping updates also help brands inspire more sales while creating an engaging experience that inspires users to shop, not just “buy”.
We’re focused on becoming a home for inspiring content made by creators with the recently announced Idea Pins, and we’re working to make them easy to buy. So far, we’re seeing strong purchase engagement from the home, fashion, and beauty categories.
Currently you already have a good number of promotional formats, both to carry out branding campaigns and to boost online sales. Which ones would you highlight?
In Spain, we launched the option of upload of catalogs for companies in September 2019. With catalogs, businesses can automatically create product pins from an online product catalog, organize products into groups, and have pinners discover and buy them. Making products searchable as Pins on Pinterest gives brands new ways to reach shoppers, whether it’s with Product Pins, Shopping Ads, or Dynamic Business Profiles.
Additionally, the unique mindset of Pinterest’s audience provides a valuable advantage to small and medium-sized businesses, that can be discovered organically thanks to the relevance of their content and the quality of their products. For example, if a user searches for home decor ideas, they most likely won’t include a brand name in the search term. This empowers small businesses in particular, as allows them to gain more visibility and attract new audiences.
Our vision for shopping is to make it possible to buy anything a user sees on Pinterest or get personalized recommendations for similar products. Every pin can be a starting point for shopping and that journey from pin to purchase needs to be seamless. Our shopping functions will continue to be based on this vision.
How are Pinterest users in Spain? Is there any difference compared to other markets?
We have discovered that the most successful categories are the same in every country in the world, including Spain, but what people save in each country is aligned with their local tastes. Fashion, food, home and beauty are some of our core categories, and we hope that people will continue to discover products to buy in these areas, helping brands reach new and existing customers. With more than 13.7 million monthly unique visitors in Spain, According to comScore, we have a…
Facebook Comments
Disqus