How did Panasonic’s “Pin It to Win It” photo contest exceed expectations – with over 10,000 entries – in just two weeks? The brand recently partnered with email media company PureWow, using a Pinterest-fueled photo contest targeting a specific audience.
To figure out how Pinterest might play into larger brand marketing efforts, Panasonic decided to use the platform to build awareness for a smaller brand, using a photo contest as a “mini-case study,” as reported by AdAge. The brand worked with PureWow – which produces lifestyle content aimed at women in their 30s and 40s – to launch a “Photo of the Year” contest.
The contest – publicized through an email to PureWow’s 750,000 subscribers – asked readers to submit their best photo from the past year. The prize for the winning photo (and for one lucky voter) was a Lumix camera. PureWow editors picked the top 20 photos, and then posted them in three different locations: on PureWow’s Pinterest page, a photo slideshow on PureWow.com, and a Panasonic-branded app on PureWow’s Facebook page labeled “Pin It To Win It.”
The contest received 10,000 photo submissions. The winner was determined by the photo that received the most “repins” on Pinterest. How many consumers liked, commented, or repinned the 20 finalist photos (plus one pin explaining the contest with a picture of the prize camera)?
The twenty-one pins on PureWow’s Pinterest “Pin It To Win It” board received:
- 476 likes
- 175 comments
- over 1600 repins
Panasonic’s agency, MPG Media Contacts, chose PureWow because their readership was a match for the target Lumix consumer, and it was an easy way for the brand to test out Pinterest without spending time to maintain a presence on the platform. And PureWow chose Pinterest for the contest because the site is frequented by their core demographic: “These women are just crazy about Pinterest,” PureWow CEO Ryan Harwood told AdAge. Pinterest is the #3 trafficsource for PureWow.com.
Was this a success for Panasonic? Did the contest create enough awareness for the Lumix/Panasonic brand, despite running on PureWow web pages?
