Major brands aiming to exploit the rise of social networking phenomenon Pinterest could find they have been locked out, with so-called ‘brand squatters’ snapping up many of the top names.
Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site where members create boards around topics they like and “pin” items of interest to their boards, usually photos. The majority of the site’s members are women under the age of 45 and most of the pins focus on topics such as fashion, food, home décor, crafts and wedding planning.
Like other social media sites, Pinterest members (pinners) are encouraged to follow other members and share pins, called “repinning”.
But just five of the world’s top 50 brands – featured in Interbrand’s top 100 – have claimed their profiles on the social platform: Coca-Cola, General Electric, American Express, Accenture and Volkswagen.
Of the 45 brands yet to create official Pinterest accounts only one is still available. The rest have been claimed by individuals with a bona fide claim to the username, or have been bagged by brand squatters.
The site launched as an invitation-only service in March 2010 but took off after being included in Time magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2011”. By December 2011, the site entered the top 10 social networks, according to Experian Hitwise data, with 11 million total visits per week.
