Brief:

• Three-fourths of surveyed Pinterest users say they're "very interested" in trying out new products compared to 55% of people on other digital platforms, according to new Oracle Data Cloud (ODC) research shared in a Pinterest blog post. Households with Pinterest were also 29% more likely to use a new product within 10 months of its launch than those without, ODC found.
• The data examining more than 40 product launches accompanied a series of case studies from major CPGs that have recently leveraged Pinterest to market new offerings, including MillerCoors, PepsiCo and Nestlé USA. MillerCoors deployed Pinterest's Promoted Video and Carousel ads and ODC's targeting capabilities to raise brand awareness around its new Cape Line Sparkling Cocktails during the spring and summer seasons. The campaign resulted in a 3% lift in favorability with male consumers and a spot among the top-10 growth brands tracked by Nielsen.
• To promote Quaker Kids' line of organic food, PepsiCo adopted a slightly different approach, tapping Promoted Videos and static sponsored Pins to provide inspiration for parents seeking healthy snacks. The effort boosted product awareness 2.7%, and users exposed to the ads were 1.4% more likely to view the snack offerings as healthy.

Insight:

Pinterest is leaning into a platform focus on discovery to court the dollars of CPG marketers looking to experiment with new product ideas and launches. The batch of ODC research and testimonials from major companies across the food and beverage space come as larger tech firms, including Google, ramp up the types of services that Pinterest helped popularize.

"This study adds to the evidence that Pinterest is a platform of exploration and inspiration, and it attracts people eager for new experiences," Megan Margraff, senior director of client analytics at Oracle Data Cloud, said in a statement.

Building out advertising offerings, such as sponsored video and Pins, has been a focus for Pinterest as it angles to grow its revenue and advertiser pool. The platform went public earlier this year, and after a rough first quarter trading on the public markets, has shown stronger performance with a 62% year-on-year revenue jump in Q2. The company attributed the boost to personalized search recommendations, video content and shoppable features.

Pinterest's more niche appeal and smaller user base compared to some of the major social media companies could be a draw for marketers looking to cut through the noise and find enthusiast audiences. ODC's study indicates that Pinterest users are likely to experiment, showing a product "trial rate" 40% higher than consumers on other platforms.

"The alcoholic beverage market is incredibly crowded and it was important to break through the category right at launch," Anne Pando, senior marketing manager of innovation at MillerCoors, said in a statement. "Pinterest helped us differentiate Cape Line and inspire trial."

Still, Pinterest will need to continue to innovate and keep its guard up as rivals push further into the product discovery and inspiration front. Amazon is now the No. 1 place people start product searches online and is dipping its toes further into areas like influencer marketing.

Google has also continued to prop up Google Lens, a visual search function powered by computer vision that operates similarly to Pinterest Lens. Mars Food brand Uncle Ben's earlier this month unveiled a category-first integration of Google Lens that lets shoppers scan products in stores to access content like how-to videos and recipes.