Digital CPG Blog

Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, General Mills and more consumer goods leaders have been named to the 2012 “Top 50 Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) .

The list, which appears in Working Mother magazine’s March 2012 issue, highlights organizations whose policies and practices encourage the advancement of women’s careers. Results are based on factors such as succession planning, profit-and-loss roles, gender pay parity, support programs and work-life balance.

The NAFE Top 10 Companies (in alpha order)
Bank of America
Cisco
General Mills
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
KPMG
The New York Times Companu
Procter & Gamble
Prudential Financial
State Farm Insurance

Other notable consumer goods and retail companies to make the top 50 list include: Colgate-Palmolive, Kraft Foods and Walmart. Click here to access the full list.

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Here are three ways brands can leverage Pinterest now:

1. Add Pinterest Content to Your Existing Facebook Presence.

Images are more effective than text at encouraging engagement, and an effective technology platform will allow you to surface visually appealing content on one or more Facebook Tabs. This content can be presented as a simple pinboard, as part of a game, or even in the News Feed.

2. Optimize Your Web Properties to Draw People to Your Pinterest Content.

You can always put a “Follow Me on Pinterest” button on your website. But remember, a user’s choice to “Follow” may not be brand-specific, but rather board-specific. This gives you an opportunity to segment your followers in ways relevant to your business. Lowe’s does a nice job of this and has seasonal boards (the Big Game, Valentine’s Day), themed boards (Craft Ideas, Unique Pet Projects), and boards that tie to specific merchandise areas (Lighting, Bedrooms, Bathrooms).

3. Make Your Pins Work Harder For You.

This means using a URL shortening and redirection strategy, preferably one that aggregates your Pinterest analytics (views, Repins, etc.) in a central location. This will allow the metrics to be combined with, and compared to, those from your othersocial properties. You also need to combat the link rot that can occur when the source image feeding your Pin is removed from its website.

Lastly, the pinned images themselves can be set to click through to a variety of sites. Imagine a Pin of a product that, once clicked, takes you to a flash sale where the product is sold at a discount after a minimum purchase threshold is met. All of this is possible now!

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According to a Booz & Co. estimate, social commerce will grow to $30 billion globally in the next five years. But consumers still have security concerns about making purchases via social networks. More than half (55%) of social media users aren’t comfortable giving credit card information via social networks, according to a new Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Digitas.

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Online shopping for CPG is most popular with those 45 and older. Surprised?

“The Checkout,” an ongoing shopper-behavior study, shows increasing comfort with shopping online among all age groups, with baby boomers taking the lead. Fifty-two percent of shoppers ages 50 to 54 buy health and beauty products online, and 29% of those ages 45 to 49 buy food and beverages online. “Grocery shopping online is a concept most shoppers have yet to adopt, which means there are conventions ingrained in their shopping behavior that must be disrupted,” said Craig Elston, senior vice president of The Integer Group.

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Pinterest – which technically is still in closed, invitation-only beta — drives more sales to retailers than YouTube, Google + and LinkedIn combined and is nearly equal to Twitter’s referral traffic.

How moms are using Pinterest:

Women currently dominate Pinterest making up nearly 70% of their active users. Moms are using Pinterest in a variety of ways to organize and learn more about their interests. They follow experts to be in the know about trends on a variety of topics from parenting, to fashion and design, to cooking. They’re also following friends and finding Pinners with similar interests to share and be inspired by.

They’re also following brands. Retailers like Nordstrom and West Elm have significant followings on Pinterest – similar to on Facebook, moms want to connect and interact with their favorite brands.

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