Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Pinterest
Keynote speech by Andréa Mallard, CMO at Pinterest, at OMR Festival 2022
Join our keynote with Andréa Mallard, CMO at Pinterest, live from OMR Festival 2022.
With the help of the world’s most inspiring brands and creators, Pinterest is building a more positive place on the internet. A platform where people can go from the spark of inspiration, all the way to the act of buying, making and doing to build a life they love. Feeling safe, respected and protected while they do it. Take your business forward on the platform where positivity pays off, and discover why it’s different here.
About Andrea Mallard
Andréa Mallard, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Pinterest, has discussed the challenges and scope of the CMO role, describing it as "the most emotionally vulnerable position in the company" due to the risk of public scrutiny from failed campaigns. She has argued that marketing should lead product and market decisions rather than be an afterthought, and that the rise of performance marketing led to an overemphasis on easily measurable bottom-funnel metrics at the expense of brand-building. Mallard stated that her team uses a combination of brand, product, and performance marketing to determine where to allocate spending, and she advised other CMOs to "undervalue your work a little, under-promise and over-deliver" to build credibility with the C-suite. Mallard has also emphasized Pinterest's focus on creating a positive online environment, noting that the platform was the first to ban health misinformation and false claims about climate change. She described Pinterest as a "taste graph" rather than a social graph or search engine, and said the platform's mission is to inspire users to "create a real life that they love" in the offline world. Mallard stated that the company uses augmented reality only in service of real-world actions, and that it has banned aggressive weight-loss imagery based on expert advice. She cited research indicating that advertising in positive environments leads to better brand recall and customer loyalty.
Transcript (37 segments)
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Andrea Mallard0:10
Countries and I'm not just saying that because I visited here, but in fact I was lucky enough in my 30s to live in Germany for about five years and it was actually one of the happiest times of my life. That's my husband up there going down one of the many hotel buns that he enjoyed while we lived here, so I'm really thrilled to be back.
The last few years have been really difficult, and for a lot of people they've been asking themselves some fundamental questions: Am I in the right job? Do I need more work-life balance? What makes me really happy? What do I want to do more of? And what do I want to do less of? I certainly know I've been asking myself those questions, and I discovered that the answer to those questions are actually all over the things that I would create and share on Pinterest.
It inspired my oldest daughter to start learning how to make healthier desserts, and that's mostly so that she can eat more of them. My son, he was stuck at home and he wanted to feel useful, so he started sharing tips about how to play football to people on Pinterest. And even for me, I was really stuck at home and I started to think, okay, how do I make living at home more exciting? I was inspired to buy a bright blue fridge to liven up my kitchen. I finally hung up all those photos that had been in boxes for years. I had to create a home office like all of you, so I cut a table from my backyard and created a home office, and then I built a little cozy nook so I could escape from the stress of day-to-day life.
And the thing I learned during that time is that at Pinterest we started to really look into this and we wanted to research what is it about positive action in the real world that is so critical to our mental health. So one thing we learned is that right now we spend about 50% of our waking hours online. For teenagers it's even more, about 60%. In fact, all of our downtime is now online. That's the first time that's been true in human history, and that's a bit of a problem because it's having a real effect on our mental health. It's changing the way we process information, it's changing how we sleep, it's changing how we self-regulate, it's changing how we manage boredom. It's actually really affecting people in a very deep way, and in fact we become quite addicted.
Those who are sucked in tend to have the worst outcome. So teenagers, you remember I said that they were the ones who spent the most time online, they are the ones with the worst mental health outcomes of any cohort. So they're the most depressed, they are the most concerned about what other people think about them. And for me, and certainly at Pinterest, that's something we take really seriously and we want to do something about that.
So we believe quite firmly that positive platforms are actually not a choice anymore, they're a necessity. And we wonder what would happen if we really tried to build an internet where any time you spent on it actually fueled positive mental health outcomes, actually made you feel better. So our mission really is to disrupt the internet. We actually want to take on some of the biggest problems.
The more you do in the real world, the happier you are, the better it is for everybody. So we're really trying to build a very different kind of platform, one that's really positive, one that's really inspiring. How are we doing this? Well, we've learned you just can't sit back and hope things are positive, you actually have to design positivity in. So Pinterest has actually been industry leading in many ways as far as the policies we put in place on our platform. So we were the first, over five years ago, to ban health misinformation. So you won't find anti-vaccine content on our site, you won't find fake cures for terminal illnesses. We banned political ads many years ago because we just could not keep up with the amount of content in that moment. We don't just rely on an algorithm to do that. And a few years ago we banned very aggressive weight loss imagery on the platform because we spoke with outside experts and they told us that does nothing to actually help people lose weight and it does everything to destroy their mental well-being. And just last month we became the first online platform to ban false or misleading information about climate change. And I'm really pleased to see some of the other platforms now following suit.
So why are we doing this? Well, our users tell us that this is the last positive corner of the internet, and they really want us to protect that. They say, hey, there are plenty of places for me to go to fight about my political beliefs or to catch up on what someone ate for breakfast. I actually want a place where I can focus on my own life.
So we've learned that eight in ten people who come to Pinterest say not only do they explicitly come to Pinterest to feel more positive, but they feel more positive once they've left. And very few people can say that about some of the other social platforms. Why does this matter? Why does it matter to brands? Why does it matter to creators? Well, as it turns out, we've learned through third party research that when you put advertising or content next to a lot of fighting or misinformation about climate change or negativity, people consciously or subconsciously start to associate your brand with that information. By contrast, if you show up in a positive, inspirational environment, your brand starts getting associated with those things, and in fact it works better.
Because the truth is that positivity matters more than ever, and especially post-COVID, users are telling us we need more positive, inspirational environments that are about focusing on your own life, not just watching the lives of others. So when I joined Pinterest, I was told, okay, this is the world's inspiration company, and I asked myself, what does it really mean to be inspirational? I knew all the brands were asking me that, creators were coming to me and saying, how do I become more inspirational? So we did some very involved research and found out that inspiration is not just a feeling, that's a common misperception. It's not just like, oh, I feel inspired. Inspiration without action is only half the equation. True inspiration at its core is about creating the urgency to act. And so we said to ourselves, okay, how do we create an environment where people can not only get inspired about things they might want to buy, but then feel really good that it's going to work in my house, it's going to work in my life? How do you make shopping feel fun and visual and inspirational the way it used to maybe 20 years ago?
So we tried this strategy, it turns out it really works. So people on Pinterest, obviously they're there to make decisions about their lives, but as a result they tend to shop more, they certainly buy more when they do, and they're more likely to come back and shop again and again. And that makes perfect sense because shopping ads, for instance, don't have to interrupt what you're otherwise there to do. It's content that people are actually asking for. It's not interrupting the experience, it's actually enabling the experience.
We have hundreds and hundreds of millions of people who come to Pinterest every single month, but at the individual level we can help understand what your taste is. So it's not just your demography or where you might live that determines what you see, it's actually your individual taste, which is completely unique. Everyone has their own taste graph on Pinterest, and it lets us not only serve you content we think you're going to like, but also try to open the aperture for taste that might be just slightly adjacent to your starting point, so we can make sure we're showing you ever more interesting things that you're highly likely to enjoy.
The other thing that's amazing now is that we're learning that not only do people want to shop their tastes, of course, but they want to shop their values. So one of the biggest things that Gen Z is telling us is, hey, I want to buy all these things, but I want to shop with brands that align with my values. For one example, the average Gen Z person is willing to spend 60% more for an eco-friendly product, for instance. That gives me a lot of hope for the future and a lot of pride, and we want to make sure we're serving that instinct as well as we can.
So now we allow merchants to, if you have something that is important to the values of your business, you might be a small business, you might be eco-friendly, you might be inclusive, we want to make sure that you can show that on your profile. And once verified, it allows all sorts of shoppers to make decisions and shop with you because not only do you have great products, but you have values that align with how they see the world or how they'd like the world to be.
We really just didn't want a lot of low quality products flooding the system. We wanted really high quality products. We've all had experience where we see a picture online and we buy it and the thing just doesn't match at all. We just didn't want that to be possible on Pinterest. So to become a verified merchant means you are who you say you are, your products look like they appear in the pictures on the platform, and people can really trust and therefore they'll come back and become more loyal to your brand.
And there's some really amazing examples of wonderful German companies. Homefield Swinsey, for example, has done incredible work on Pinterest because what they've done is understood this is a place to create inspiration, not ads. So they create incredible content that really fits in, that looks like it belongs.
I think your ads are helpful and useful and I want more of them. I don't think you'll ever hear that in any other situation, and that's because the content itself works harder. It works like normal Pinterest content, which I think is actually good for everybody.
What about creators? Well, we have a whole bunch of new creators flooding to the platform for a few reasons. First, they really want a supportive environment. They don't want an environment where people are going to tear them apart or tear their ideas apart. So Pinterest is a great example of somewhere where people come because they're looking for something to do, not just something to like. What's amazing about these creators is they actually say, I'm here to major in expertise and minor in celebrity. Really, this is about me teaching and sharing.
We have the Creator Code, where we say, look, we want you here if you're going to create content that is intellectually generous, that's going to help, that won't be clickbait, that won't be false in some way. And it's been so gratifying to see how many creators are flooding to that. They actually want to be part of an inspirational platform like that.
We've recently launched Idea Pins because what we heard from creators as well is, hey, I not only want to show the amazing meal I made or the outfit or the makeup look, but I want to be able to walk people step by step so they can do everything I do in real time. So we have all sorts of creators who are really having fun with these new formats, so that people can say, I'm watching people not just react, but also upload their version of what I did.
People on Pinterest are more likely to take action. So what I always tell creators is, if you have something amazing to teach, if you have something you want to share, this is the place to do it. And you're going to see that people don't just like what you do, but as I said, they do what you do in the real world.
And we want to make it as easy as possible for creators to earn money. We think that's really important. But in this world, you can get paid for your ideas, not just your image. You don't need to have a massive following on day one in order to be successful. So for example, if you're creating an amazing recipe and you're using a type of mixer, you can tag that mixer product. That will automatically notify the brand, and if they choose, they can choose to sponsor that content right then and there.
I'll give one minute to let you hear from some of the creators, the users, and of course the advertisers who are finding success on our platform.
Oh, there's no sound. I'll have to say that Pinterest is different because it is a hub of inspiration. It sparks ideas and concepts I otherwise would not have had. It's different as a platform. Pinterest is where people go to be inspired by new ideas, and they're probably not even looking for them, but they align with their values and their needs. It's an opportunity that allows consumers to openly interact, to explore, to bookmark, to keep your brand in their home. That right person, right message, right time.
People are not going for social gratification, they're going for creative inspiration. In comparison to other platforms, it doesn't feel like I'm being drained.
As content creators, we are conditioned to anticipate negativity, but creating a space like Pinterest that has zero tolerance for it is just so freeing. I never have to worry about trolls, I never have to worry about hate comments. I can really come on here and be my true authentic self. When I first tried the hair pattern tool, I got emotional. I no longer have to feel like I am other or I am the exception when searching for content. That's why I keep coming back.
You're not like any other platform. You don't have a clearly defined competitive set. You don't fit neatly into a box, but those are some of the main reasons why we love working with people.
So, as I conclude, we have well over 400 million people who use Pinterest every single month. And it's really important to us that we harness the energy in our platform to do some real change online and do some real good in the world. But we need you, we need your help. If you believe in our mission, if you believe in this vision, and of course you want to see results as you should, we invite you to join us on Pinterest. It's a really unique environment, it's very different from some of the other places, and you get to engage with the world where we're saying, hey, we're going to tell you that our mission is to get people offline doing things in the real world. Why? Well, our mission is simple: we want to bring everyone the inspiration to create a real life that they love. Because we think that's the right thing to do, and it's good for business, it's good for creators, and it's certainly good for the next generation. So I warmly invite you to join us. We want to disrupt things, we want to build a better internet, and we want to do that together. Thank you very much. Come say hello. We're at the Pinterest booth, and we're serving incredible food from some of our food creators of things that are starting to trend on Pinterest, so we invite you to come say hello, please.
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Interviewer18:50
Amazing, thank you really. A few quick questions. At the end you mentioned research and you have insights into what's important to people.
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Andrea Mallard19:10
Yes, so the most amazing thing I think about Pinterest is that again, people are coming to focus on their own lives and make plans for their real lives. So we see the future first, quite literally, on Pinterest. You come to Pinterest to plan for the party you're having next month, or the wedding you're having in six months, or the new house renovation you'd like to do. But as a result, we have incredible data that says this is where the world is going, not where the world has been. So most platforms at the end of every year they do a year in review. We don't, we do a year in preview. And we tell creators and brands, hey, this is not trending now on Pinterest, but we predict it's going to trend in about six months or a year. The reason that's so powerful is you can get in on the ground floor of something. No matter the outside circumstances, that data is highly reliable, and that's where we get a lot of our insights.
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Interviewer20:16
Like a vision board. It's a literal vision board, but it's a vision that comes true. Exactly. And you have been one of the first platforms to take a stance on issues like health misinformation, political advertising. But do you get any pushback?
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Andrea Mallard20:32
No, not really. I mean, honestly, people, our users tell us, hey, there's plenty of places for me to look at conspiracy theories if I want to see them. I'm begging you to protect this. This is, like I said, the last positive corner of the internet. This is not about fighting with people, it's not about arguing. We want this place to be safe, and we want to trust the content that's on here and know that it's reliable.
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Interviewer21:11
And you talk about new things, doing new things. What I think is really interesting is that Pinterest is an online platform that encourages us to do things outside in the real world. But the question is, how important is that in Pinterest's overall mission and vision now that the metaverse has come knocking?
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Andrea Mallard21:29
I mean, we're excited by the metaverse as much as anyone, but we still believe in the real world. So you'll see, for example, we use AR. If you are looking at an amazing rug or couch and you want to know what it's going to look like in my living room and will it fit, you can do that on Pinterest. If I want to try a crazy new lipstick, I can use AR on Pinterest to try it. But it's only in service of actually doing that thing and living your real life in the real world. We don't want people sucked online longer because the research is pretty clear that it's harmful.
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Interviewer22:11
That's amazing. Thank you so much. Give a big round of applause.
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Andrea Mallard22:16
Thank you, thank you for having me.
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Interviewer22:22
That was amazing. Okay, our next title reads Hugo Boss: Turning Customers into Fans. And I have to be honest, it works because I recently bought my very own Hugo Boss coat and I'm a big fan. There we go, there's a Hugo Boss section over there.