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 Post subject: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:26 am 
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Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:09 am
Posts: 355
Location: Newton, MA
http://pinterest.com/testkitchen/

Tough to pin down, but too popular to ignore
By D.C. Denison
Globe Staff March 9, 2012

For America’s Test Kitchen, there was no way to avoid Pinterest, the fast-growing, photo-sharing social
network.

Late last year, Pinterest was eagerly embraced by food bloggers - exactly the people America’s Test Kitchen, a
Brookline publisher of cookbooks and food magazines, wanted to reach. But many of the recipes that the
foodies were sharing, or “pinning,’’ were not up to its standards. How could it interact with users without
endorsing recipes of lower quality?

America’s Test Kitchen is still figuring out how best to use Pinterest, but one step it took was to set up a board
on the site just for users trying out its recipes. “That gives us the best of both worlds. We can link to other
people, but the recipes are ours,’’ said Steph Yiu, the publisher’s new media strategist.

And now, Pinterest generates almost as much traffic for the company as Twitter or Facebook.
Just as many businesses have finally figured out how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Google
Plus, here comes yet another social media obligation that’s too popular to ignore. Traffic on Silicon Valley-based
Pinterest, which was founded in 2010, shot up from 418,000 to 11.7 million unique visitors per month in the eight
months ended in January, according to Internet measurement firm comScore.

“It just took off - bam!’’ said Mike Schneider, senior vice president at Watertown advertising agency Allen &
Gerritsen - astounding for a site still in beta that can’t be joined without an invitation.
One of the keys to Pinterest’s success is its disarmingly simple design, based on a “virtual pinboard’’ -
something like an online scrapbook. Users “pin’’ up images of products and items they like, often related to
hobbies or other personal passions. The images can link to actual products online, and be organized on
pinboards shared with other fans.

“It’s about finding something that’s interesting to you and sharing it,’’ said David Gerzof Richard, a professor of
social media and marketing at Emerson College and a user himself. “It’s stupid simple to use. You don’t have to
write anything. It’s essentially eye candy.’’

Pinterest than it did from Google Plus, the struggling social network launched by search giant Google Inc. last
year.

Yet Pinterest is “still a challenge,’’ Vaughan admitted. “Eventually, they have to monetize the service and start
adding tools for marketers.’’

Pinterest itself has had growing pains. Some technology publications have questioned whether its millions of
users have the legal rights to the images they post. And the network recently caught heat for not disclosing that
it attached so-called affiliate links into product images posted there, allowing it to collect payments from
purchases made by users who clicked on the pictures. The company subsequently stated that the affiliate links
were a test, not an essential part of its business model.

Pinterest, which has a staff of 21, declined to comment further, saying it is trying “to focus on its product this
quarter,’’ and not doing interviews.

Allen & Gerritsen’s Schneider said his agency is advising its clients to experiment with the service. “People on
Pinterest are already showing their interest in a topic, whether it’s fashion or beer,’’ Schneider said. “Companies
in those spaces can use Pinterest to engage with those potential customers.’’

Yet Darika Ahrens, an interactive marketing analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, advises caution,
pointing out that many social sites, including Yelp, Tagged.com, and Yahoo Answers, still attract substantially
more traffic than Pinterest.

“Pinterest is well known for having a demographic of 18-34-year-old, upper-income women from the Midwest -
if that’s not who you sell to, then Pinterest may not be for you,’’ she said. “I’d ask, can you afford to be playing
with pretty pictures when there are other, more urgent, interactive marketing priorities?’’

Yale Appliance and Lighting in Dorchester has been on Pinterest for a month, mostly because chief executive
Steve Sheinkopf finds it “fiercely addictive.’’ Sheinkopf said Pinterest allows him to indulge his appetite for lighting, kitchen design, and appliances, as
opposed to being part of a marketing strategy.

Last Friday, when Sheinkopf woke up unusually early, he spent a few minutes on the site pinning images of odd
colored kitchen ranges and vintage stoves that were not from his store. “I use it as a digital scrapbook, to show
what’s possible,’’ he said. “It’s too soon to tell whether it will add up to anything from a business point of view, but I really like it,
personally.’’

D.C. Denison can be reached at denison@globe.com.


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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:10 am 
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Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:33 pm
Posts: 954
Location: Northern California
Just where is this board that ATK allegedly set up?


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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:47 am 
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Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:58 am
Posts: 410
Location: Florida Gulf Coast
I love Pinterest! But I've never seen ATK there. Right now it's invitation only. Check in out at pinterest.com

If you want to play there, PM me - I have invitations available to spread around.

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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:19 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:33 pm
Posts: 954
Location: Northern California
Thanks SS :)


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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:10 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:58 am
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Location: Florida Gulf Coast
I should have said, If you want an invite, PM me your email address. It's needed for the invitation.

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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:51 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:03 am
Posts: 5280
Location: Portland, OR
SS, All:

You might want to know about some of Pinterest's legal issues before you sign up:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... right-.DTL

Personally, that's way too risky of an agreement for me to sign.

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The Fuzzy Chef
Serious Chef iz Serious!


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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:37 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:53 pm
Posts: 946
For a company that doesn't advertise, they sure do advertise. I can't tell you how many pot boxes/appliance boxes (All Clad, KitchenAid, Le Creuset, and even recently a Swiss Diamond) have had a flyer insert for Cook's Illustrated right in the packaging, along with the warranty card and a summary of their rating for the product. Oh, my chef's choice waffle maker and knife sharpener had them too. It has made me wonder how unbiased the equipment ratings can be if they have this little side deal with these manufacturers for their flyer inserts. I have to admit I've become disillusioned by their unceasing greed for new audiences/markets, while dropping any care for existing ones. Maybe I'm no longer their target demographic. Maybe I'm not sure I want to be.

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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:41 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:37 pm
Posts: 3404
Location: Telluride, CO
Carey,

Excellent points, and (partially) why I gave up on them.

Amy


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 Post subject: Re: Pinterest & ATK
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:15 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:33 pm
Posts: 954
Location: Northern California
ditto


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