Turning Pins Into Purchase: New Pinterest Research

Recently we partnered with Curalate, the only marketing and analytics suite for Pinterest and Instagram, to release a study shedding light on Pinterest engagement for brands, specifically in fashion/retail, automotive, and electronics.

Here's what we found: unlike Twitter and Facebook, where brands drive their content through official accounts and pages, Pinterest is all about users telling the brand story. In fact, 70% of brand engagement on Pinterest is generated by users versus brands. The research also pinpointed the optimal pinning day and time for three industries: fashion/retail (3:00PM, Fridays), automotive (12:00PM, Fridays), and electronics (10PM, Mondays) industries.

Get a more in-depth look, along with an infographic, at the research here.

Digitas NewFront 2013: Our speakers in five words or less

The Digitas NewFront returns in just two weeks! From top brands to the world’s biggest social networks, we’re bringing together the leading innovators, instigators, and doers in digital content to explore the conversations happening around brands in real-time. 

In advance of the NewFront, we asked some of our speakers to send us five words or less about their upcoming sessions onstage; something that exemplifies the meaning behind their work. Here’s what they had to say:

- “Your city is alive” - Blake Shaw, Data Scientist, Foursquare

- “Everything is happening right now” – Douglas Rushkoff, Author, “Present Shock”

- “Fragmented storytelling in real time” - Alison Norrington, Founder, StoryCentral

- “Creativity without Constraints, Limitless Expression” - David Karp, Founder and CEO, Tumblr

- “Serendipity, Rewarding, Delight, Moments, Happiness” - Brian Wong, Founder and CEO, Kiip

You can hear from more of our speakers on Twitter here. And don’t forget to watch the Digitas NewFront live on May 2nd. Be sure to tweet #NewFronts to join the conversation.

Battlefield Mobile: Facebook Home, Twitter Cards, and Google

Last week saw two major industry announcements for social and mobile: the release of new mobile app deep-linking Twitter Cards, and Facebook Home, the new modified Android operating system. So what does that mean for marketers - and app developers? What about Google? Find out in these articles from Digitas' Alex Jacobs and Megan McCurry, which examine these new changes and their implications for the big players involved.

Facebook Home - The Social Network's Last Move Keeps Google in Check (also featuring insights from Chia Chen, Jenny Hogan, Jessica Jorsch)

Battlefield Mobile: Twitter Cards versus Facebook Home

Digitas Collaborates with SXSW to Reveal the Real Story Behind the World's Largest Interactive Festival

Couldn't make it to SXSWi? In a collaboration with the conference organizers, we collected and analyzed data to reveal the real story behind the world’s largest interactive festival. The agency analyzed data from social networks such as Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook, along with a sample of over 7,000 attendees surveyed anonymously by SXSWi, in order to reveal the biggest takeaways from the event and insights on attendees.

The results were unveiled yesterday at Hype vs. Reality: Takeaways from SXSWi 2013, a session presented by Beth McCabe, VP/Group Director Social Marketing and Technology, and Itai Asseo, VP/Creative Architect and North America Lead for Digitas Labs. To make sense of the data and bring it to life visually, McCabe and Asseo debuted SoDa, a proprietary agency social data visualization tool that’s now in beta. SoDa takes Digitas’ vast experience in data analytics, marketing, and user experience to enable simple, user-friendly visual exploration.

Want to see what they found? Check out the results in our press release, and see the rest of Digitas' SXSWi coverage here.

Digitas at SXSW: Sessions, Speakers, and Live Updates

This week we’re on the ground at South by Southwest. Check back here for session recaps, and follow @Digitas on Twitter for live updates and insights.  And if you’re on the ground too, be sure to check out one of our speakers or sessions this week. From Unlikely Bedfellows to Visual Content, we’ve got experts covering a wide range of topics on the future of media, innovation, and more.

Bonus: if you’re sticking around until the end, make sure you stop by our Hype vs. Reality session. We partnered with SXSW organizers to analyze social data on what topics and events truly resonated with attendees, and what that means for the future.

March 9, 11:15-11:30AM: Unlikely Bedfellows…Yours Awaits

No, it’s not college. But these days, everyone from multinational corporations to renowned medical institutions is getting into bed with unexpected partners. The results are spectacular and surprising: an IT company is helping to kill a superbug, robot technology is enabling blind people to navigate, and a family laundry soap helped save the day after a fiery explosion at the Daytona 500.

In this solo presentation, Lincoln Bjorkman, NA Chief Creative Officer at Digitas, will share stories of unlikely, surprising and curious partnerships that have yielded astonishing results. He’ll explore how some big challenges are tackled by leading companies and innovative inventors who chose to see 360 degrees, then went one degree further. You’ll be inspired to explore how unlikely partners can bring a new lens to your own biggest challenges.

Get ready to find your unlikely bedfellow.

More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/320344104733598/

March 10, 5:30-6:00PM: TECHmunch Austin, “Working with Brands”

TECHmunch helps food bloggers in cities across the U.S. learn the skills they need to succeed and take their blogs to the next level. The intensive, hands-on format is designed to get attendees up-to-speed on all the latest tools and tactics for creating great content, building buzz, working with brands, growing an audience and profiting from their hard work.

The “Working with Brands” panel will feature:

- Rachel Barbarotta, Social Media and Community Manager, Digitas
- Erik Deutsch, Principal, ExcelPR Group
- Lindsay Robison, Media Relations Specialist, Whole Foods Market Global Headquarters
- Clint Shaff, Vice President, Digital, Edelman
- Jessica Randazza, Vice President, Interference Inc.

More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/489467531115523/

March 11, 3:30-4:30PM: Visual Content: Being @ The Center of Social

A catchy tagline isn’t enough in today’s social media world. With image-driven networks like Tumblr and Instagram taking center stage, collaborative storytelling is more important than ever. In order to leverage your brand, product or campaign across all channels, you need strong visual content.

Moderator: Mark Borden, Author

Panelists:

- Eric Korsh, VP/Group Director, Brand Content, Digitas
- Katrina Craigwell, Digital Marketing, GE
- Peter Orlowsky, VP, Business Development, Getty Images
- Daniel Bornstein, VP, Global Advertising Sales, DeviantArt

More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/425365297547717/

March 12, 11:00AM-12:00PM: Hype vs. Reality: Takeaways from SXSWi 2013

Digitas, a digitally led, integrated brand agency, is collaborating with SXSWi to present the real story of SXSWi 2013.

By analyzing a variety of data collected before, during and at the end of this year's Festival, Digitas’ Beth McCabe, social marketing/tech guru, and Itai Asseo, creative technologist behind Digitas Labs — a tech-inspired incubator within the agency — will reveal the hot topics going into SXSWi 2013 and compare them with what actually resonated with this year’s attendees. Did the hype match the reality? What created the most buzz, and why? What were the biggest surprises?

Beth and Itai will use interactive visual aids to bring the story of SXSWi 2013 to life and reveal what it means for you and your business. Discover the headlines you need to know to distinguish the hype from the reality.

More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/409627135786283/