By seeking user engagement, its efforts on Pinterest can give Ted Baker an idea of its customers’ preferences, interests and overall dedication to the brand. At the same time, Ted Baker’s new collection will be shared on the platform and visible to users, spreading awareness of the brand’s new items.

“Pinterest is a great platform for discovery, inspiration, and photo curation,” said Craig Smith, brand communication director at Ted Baker, London. “It is a connection to what people are interested in and what they love.

“We were inspired by the millions of users on Pinterest who have similar boards to each other but all have a different spin to it. We thought it would be interesting to create a contest where people could step in the role of stylist for a day and dedicate their favorite Ted pieces to a friend or loved one.

“Ted’s really excited to see what everyone is loving from his new collection.”

Pinning to win
The Pinterest contest began September 10. 

Ted Baker is asking its fans to visit the Ted Baker Pinterest page to grab images and create their own PinpoinTED board.

“On the surface it’s about driving engagement with their new line and the lifestyle brand that is Ted Baker,” said Doug Chavez, global head of marketing research and content at Kenshoo, San Francisco. “On a strategic level, my hunch is that Ted Baker will analyze the social sharing signals as a form of intent data to become a more proactive marketer across channels, such as social, search and display.”

Mr. Chavez is not affiliated with Ted Baker but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Once a board is created, fans should share their board, made up of various images of product shots, look book content and behind-the-scenes imagery, in order to style an outfit for a friend.

Participants are also required to submit their board on Ted Baker’s Web site. Once submitted, participants will be automatically entered for an $800 voucher for both the creator of the board and the friend the board was styled for.

Spot prizes of limited edition Ted Baker tote bags will be awarded to especially creative boards.

Participants’ boards will be featured online. Ted Baker’s Web site includes a direct link to shop the AW14 collection.

“Tactically, I think the campaign effort is strong, and with the $800 shopping spree as a reward, they certainly have a very compelling offer,” Mr. Chavez said.

Pinners unite
Lifestyle brand Anthropologie hosted a Pinterest contest to promote the discovery of new trends among home and decorating platforms for the summer by incorporating style insight from its fans.

Naming it a #PinToWin challenge, contestants were asked to pin inspiring ideas for all types of summer gatherings. Winners received $500 toward Anthropologie dining and entertaining products (see story).

With Pinterest already the biggest source of referral traffic back to Kraftrecipes.com, the brand was one of the first to take advantage of Pinterest’s new Promoted Pins as a way to reach its customers with the right content at the right time.

With the launch of paid Promoted Pins, which are debuting with a handful of big brands such as General Mills, Nestlé, Expedia.com and Gap attached, Pinterest has taken its potential as a marketing platform to the next level. The visual storytelling capabilities offered on Pinterest are appealing to these brands as they continue to invest more heavily in digital marketing yet are still trying to find the strategies that help create deeper consumer connections (see story).

Pinterest enables the passions of consumers, causing them to showcase their favorite products and interests via the platform.

“Consumers are passionate about fashion and are constantly declaring their intent on sites such as Pinterest,” Mr. Chavez said. “This is a well thought out effort by Ted Baker to tap into that passion, engage with consumers and leverage these intent signals from Pinterest.

“We will see a lot more of this activity from forward thinking marketers.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York