EXCLUSIVE: Pinterest Partners With Coachella to Connect With Gen Z
Pinterest is heading to Coachella to meet face-to-face with people behind its recent resurgence: Generation Z.
For many years, the visualization platform has been the go-to place for festival-goers to help create mood boards and plan out their fashion, makeup, beauty and hair looks. And this year, the app is heading to the desert to help its users turn their dreams into reality.
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Sara Pollack, vice president of consumer marketing at Pinterest, said that over the past year, the company has seen a massive surge in popularity amongst its Generation Z demographic of users who use the social media platform to shop, find new ideas and plan their lives. “Gen Z now makes up over 40 percent of Pinterest’s global monthly active users.”
The cohort is also the most engaged, with nearly 2.5 times more ideas saved than other generations. Overall, Pinterest searches for the phrase “Coachella outfit inspo” in 2023 increased by 1,100 percent, in comparison to 2022. Furthermore, the company is already seeing tens of millions of Coachella-related searches for outfits, hair, makeup and performers.
For Pinterest, the decision to meet its most tapped-in user base and partner with Coachella is a natural progression.
“To engage with [Gen Z] authentically, we need to reach them where they are in their inspiration journeys, both online and offline,” Pollack told WWD. “For the next three months, people on Pinterest will plan their fashion and beauty inspiration to create their Coachella looks.”
Notably, Pinterest has been making strategic marketing moves to help create Pinterest-branded moments that appeal to its consumers. The company previously created in-person activations of Possibility Place in London and the Pinterest Predicts shop in New York, with Coachella representing its next moment in April.
Creating offline and experiential marketing is a key part of its strategy by intimately connecting with its consumers and staying culturally relevant. Pollack points to Ypulse, a Gen Z and Millennial market research company, who reported that 83 percent of Gen Z wants to engage with brands through experiences. Noting this, Pollack said that Pinterest is using events experiences as a tangible way to expand its reach.
Pollack said that Pinterest’s resurgence in popularity amongst Gen Z can be attributed to the cohort’s valuing personalization — especially to help explore their identities and discover new ideas to shop. Pinterest helps the demographic “developing their aesthetics, curating mood boards and dreaming about their futures.” Unlike other social media platforms, Pollack said Gen Z uses the platform to figure out what they like without scrutiny and judgment.
“By partnering with Coachella, we’re helping people plan and visualize their festival experiences,” Pollack said. “We aim to inspire users and show them how they can use Pinterest in a relatable and actionable way.”
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