Pinterest Innovation: From Online to Real Time

Pinterest appeals to soccer moms and hands-on homemakers, but in the creative world, the image sharing social services doubles as a tool for visionaries. With over 200 billion pins to sift through, there’s visuals galore for mood and vision boards—a step in the creative process that many brands, teams, and agencies use to establish a strategy and communicate a desired execution.

Personally, mood boards are a surefire way to kick start a project and get an abundance of inspiration while doing so. It plays a critical role in setting the tone for the creative output, and helps to identify trends and ideas that we can reimagine to best suit a brand.

I have more classified “secret” Pinterest boards that function as branded vision boards, and in continuously relying on the platform for this purpose, an innovation opportunity seemed to present itself. When providing an overview of the vision with my clients, I’ll use a screenshot to capture the board, and it occurred to me: How can Pinterest better assist users in translating the ideas they pin online in to real time?

Ideally, I’d love to be able to take a board I make on Pinterest and export it as a high-quality PDF to share with clients and colleagues in a more formal and sophisticated way. But, it got me thinking about how Pinterest might use its digital DNA as inspiration to evolve.

Recipes account for 1.7 billion pins on the platform. What if stay-at-home moms and dads could select a specific recipe on Pinterest and export a list of the required ingredients and add it to their cart on the Kroger or Fred Meyer app? Have your groceries delivered an hour AND make the sheet-pan salmon and veggies for dinner for your family.

Weddings are another popular use for Pinterest, and it’s no secret that planning a wedding can be both tedious and overwhelming. Could the app use your location to identify venues and vendors in your area that have a similar visual aesthetic as your pins? How might photographers or videographers use the platform to better connect with couples near and far who are drawn to their style? This is something that I imagine could be helpful whether you’re planning your special day in your hometown or if you’re pulling together an elopement or destination wedding.

Pinterest has long been a favored space for sharing and storing sources of creativity and inspiration, but all brands face the challenge of continuously proving their relevance. How will Pinterest continue to add value to our lives in a meaningful way?