Brief:

• Hardware retailer Home Depot launched a campaign on Pinterest that includes immersive experiences demonstrating how to execute DIY home improvement projects. The brand's "Built-In Pins" campaign leverages video, images and a 360-degree interactive shopping experience created with virtual reality ad firm OmniVirt, according to Adweek.
• Each 30-second spot illustrates how a couple transformed four rooms — bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom — from demolition to furnishing. Interactive views of the rooms let smartphone users look around at the furnishings and tap on orange dots to see details about the products used.
• After tapping on a dot, a pop-up window guides viewers through a mobile checkout at select stores. In addition, the campaign's Pinterest posts include guides on the methods pictured in the videos and which specific products were used. Ad agency 22squared helped develop the campaign.

Insight:

Home Depot's Built-In Pins campaign demonstrates how brands can leverage Pinterest to reach consumers engaged in aspirational activities around things like personal style, home decorating and wedding planning. The retailer's 30-second videos are tailored to mobile phones, and the 360-degree experience similarly gives smartphone users an immersive look at finished rooms. This approach lets the company better manage the sales process, help shoppers visualize a product in their home and provide information employees may not know off-hand. 

Home Depot's effort underscores how mobile-first video marketing continues to gain traction as more brands use the full-screen vertical format popularized by smartphones. Home Depot's ads also function better inside Pinterest's mobile app than on a desktop browser. DIY videos on social media have become increasingly popular, with publishers like BuzzFeed sharing quick life hacks through titles like Nifty and Dunkin' Donuts offering graduation cap decorating tips from a popular influencer. 

The promotion is the latest signal that Home Depot is experimenting more with a mobile-first strategy: it was recently among the first batch of retailers to test AR ads on Oath websites, for example. Its AR ads showed how smartphone users can virtually place products like artificial Christmas trees in their own living rooms and view them from any angle to help decide whether to make a purchase.