Pinterest is ramping up its business development with new ad units, and also with some key partnerships with third parties. Today the company is announcing a deal with Telefonica, the mobile carrier giant with some 316 million customers, to preload a widget across new handsets that it sells in Latin America and Europe, starting first in the UK.
For now the deal is exclusive to Telefonica. Commercial terms have not been disclosed.
The company says that part of the reason for pursuing a deal with Telefonica is because it’s already scoring very well with its customers. Since January, monthly active users in areas where Telefonica is active have gone up by over 130%.
"Interests are global, which is why we want Pinterest to be available wherever people want to find ideas for the everyday projects in their lives and get inspired for the future," said Don Faul, Head of Operations, Pinterest, in a statement. "Telefónica is one of the world's most advanced communications companies, and together we can provide a one-of-a-kind mobile experience to new and existing pinners around the globe." Indeed, for Telefonica it gives the carrier one more detail to help differentiate itself from other carriers — the widget deal is exclusive to it for a period of time — and to potentially net in a couple of key demographics where Pinterest is strong: females both young and older.
Built by Pinterest, the widget will provide access to the image-based social network directly from the home screen, giving users one-tap access to popular pins, as well as a personalised feed when logged in — personal both for a user’s account, and for the location she/he is in at that moment. The widget will come preinstalled as well as part of a new version of the app in Google Play.
This is one of several moves that Pinterest has made in the last year to ramp up its presence outside of the U.S. after opening dedicated sites in countries like the UK and France.
More to come. Release below.
PINTEREST PARTNERS WITH TELEFÓNICA IN EXCLUSIVE ANDROID DEAL
Exclusive deal to bring advanced Pinterest Widget to millions of Telefónica Android customers throughout Latin America and Europe
O2 customers in the UK will be the first to benefit, getting exclusive access to the Android Widget
Mountain View and San Francisco, CA, October 10, 2013 – Telefónica Digital and Pinterest today announced a global partnership to bring Pinterest to millions of Telefonica's Android customers. As part of the strategic agreement, each Telefónica mobile business, including Vivo, O2 and Movistar, will have the exclusive rights to provide the new Pinterest Android Widget to its customers.
The global partnership will see the Pinterest Android Widget exclusively distributed and available for immediate download on Android devices sold by Telefónica, starting initially in the UK. The Widget, built by Pinterest for the partnership, will be pre-installed on Android devices in participating Telefonica territories. In the UK, it will be featured in O2 Recommends and the Android Widget folder, as well as promoted through multiple channels.
Pinterest is quickly reaching an engaged and global mobile audience. Since January, it's seen a more than 130% growth in monthly active users from Latin America and the UK. The Widget will bring Pinterest to more people, giving Telefónica subscribers an easy way to access Pinterest from their home screen to discover and pin ideas – such as food, fashion, entertainment, sports, and design – in just one tap. The customized experience will show most popular pins to new users, and a personal feed and instant notifications for signed-in users. The Widget brings the best, most inspiring content from Pinterest right to the home screen.
"To be the first partner for Pinterest is a huge opportunity and a great testament to Telefónica's reach, as well as Pinterest's global ambitions," Wayne Thorsen, Vice President of Global Partnerships, Telefónica Digital, commented on the partnership. "Our agreement is the foundation of a deeper relationship. As the Pinterest service explodes in popularity, we are now in a position to bring the best possible mobile Pinterest experience to our Android customers around the world."
"Interests are global, which is why we want Pinterest to be available wherever people want to find ideas for the everyday projects in their lives and get inspired for the future," said Don Faul, Head of Operations, Pinterest. "Telefónica is one of the world's most advanced communications companies, and together we can provide a one-of-a-kind mobile experience to new and existing pinners around the globe."
Pinterest is a tool for visualizing and planning the things you love. People use Pinterest to create wishlists, plan décor for their home, get inspired about places to visit, discover new recipes and more. The standard Pinterest for Android app is one of the highest-rated apps in Google Play, with 4.7 out of 5 stars, and was chosen by Google as one of the best apps of 2012. This new Widget builds upon the already great Pinterest experience for Android.
O2 UK customers will be the first Android users to have access to the Pinterest Widget starting today through Google Play and with preloading starting in the coming weeks. Additional Telefónica businesses will launch the service in due course.
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