US and UK magazine: Study

NEW YORK (AP) — E-book readers have been relatively slow to borrow digital works from the library, frustrated by a limited selection and by not even knowing whether their local branch offers e-releases, according to a new study.

The Pew Research Center published a survey Friday that reports around 12 percent of e-book users 16 years and older downloaded a text from the library over the past year. Earlier in 2012, Pew issued a study showing that around 20 percent of adults had read an e-book recently.

Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group and other major publishers have limited e-book offerings to libraries or refused to make any available, citing concerns that the ease of free downloads would hurt sales. Lack of awareness may be another factor. Around 60 percent of those 16 and older couldn't say whether their libraries had e-books.

Pew's Internet & American Life Project study, conducted with nearly 3,000 respondents between Nov. 16 and Dec. 11, 2011, suggests that library patrons trying to borrow digital texts have been deterred by the selection and by not having the right e-book device. Just over half of respondents said their library did not have the book they were looking for and nearly 20 percent found that the device they owned could not receive a given title.

Nearly half of those who have not borrowed an e-book said they would be "very" or "somewhat" interested if they were lent an e-reading device with a book already downloaded.

Officials from the American Library Association have been meeting with publishers in an effort to work out a system that would satisfy both sides. On Thursday, Penguin Group (USA) announced a pilot program with the New York and Brooklyn library systems that will make e-books available six months after they first go on sale. Penguin had suspended its e-book program with libraries last year.

"I applaud Penguin's decision today to re-start e-book sales to libraries so that we may again meet our mutual goals of connecting authors and readers," library association president Molly Raphael said in a statement.

One statistic reported by Pew should please publishers and librarians: Those who borrow e-books from libraries tend to read more — 29 books a year — than readers who don't use the library (23 books). But library card holders also are more likely to borrow, as opposed to buy, a book compared to those without library cards.

Overall, around half of those surveyed said they had bought their most recent book. Around 15 percent said they had borrowed a copy from the library.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Study released on library e-book borrowing

4:28 PM

kasunone

NEW YORK (AP) — E-book readers have been relatively slow to borrow digital works from the library, frustrated by a limited selection and by not even knowing if their local branch offers e-releases, according to a new study.

Nearly half of those who have not borrowed an e-book said they would be "very" or "somewhat" interested if they were lent an e-reading device with a book already downloaded.

Overall, around half of those surveyed said they had bought their most recent book. Around 15 percent said they had borrowed a copy from the library.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Long-term contraception more effective: study

11:12 AM

kasunone

Women who choose birth control pills, the patch or vaginal ring are 20 times more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than those using long-term methods such as IUDs and implants, a study found.

Among young women under 21 who chose the pill, the patch or vaginal ring, the risk of unintended pregnancy is almost twice as high as that for older women, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The study, carried out on 7,500 participants between the ages of 14 and 45, appears in the May 24 New England Journal of Medicine.

"This study is the best evidence we have that long-acting reversible methods are far superior to the birth control pill, patch and ring," says senior author and OBGYN Jeffrey Peipert.

Intrauterine devices "and implants are more effective because women can forget about them after clinicians put the devices in place."

Unplanned pregnancies remain a major health problem in the United States. About three million pregnancies per year -- half of all pregnancies -- are unplanned, very high for a developed nation.

"We know that IUDs and implants have very low failure rates of less than one percent," said lead author Brooke Winner. "But although IUDs are very effective and have been proven safe in women and adolescents, they only are chosen by 5.5 percent of women in the United States who use contraception."

IUDs are inserted by a nurse or doctor, but few women can easily afford them as the cost can reach around $500.

However "when IUDs and implants are provided at no cost, about 75 percent of women chose these methods for birth control," Winner added.

That means that greater use of longer acting contraceptive methods by teens and young women could prevent substantially more unplanned pregnancies.

IUDs More Effective Than Pill: Study

7:55 AM

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Twenty-seven-year-old Julie Vonder Haar of St. Louis describes herself as a smart and responsible person, but like many women, she found it difficult to remember taking her birth control pills while juggling four jobs. That was until she discovered the IUD.

"Having it and not having to worry about it, taking that off my plate helped immensely," she said.

As it turns out, Vonder Haar's choice may not only be more convenient but more effective as well. Long-acting reversible contraception like intrauterine devices and progestin implants can prevent unwanted pregnancy up to 20 times better than birth control pills, patches and vaginal rings, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of the 3 million unwanted pregnancies in the United States, almost half of those are due to incorrect use of the most commonly prescribed forms of birth control -- pills, patches and rings.

An intrauterine device, or IUD, is a small copper or hormonal implant that is placed in the uterus. The insertion can be done in a doctor's office, and it works for 10 years to prevent pregnancy. Bayer's brand-name IUD Mirena, approved in 2009, is one such device. A progestin implant, meanwhile, is inserted in the upper arm and can prevent pregnancy for up to three years. Merck's Nexplanon is the only such implant currently available in the U.S.

Once in place, these devices prevent unwanted pregnancy as effectively as sterilization, but unlike permanent sterilization, when a woman wants to become pregnant she simply has the device removed.

So why aren't more women using long-acting reversible contraception -- and specifically IUDs?

Cost could be one reason. Since it is not covered by many insurance plans, women might find themselves forking out $700 to buy an IUD and have it inserted. Compare this to $10 to $20 per month for birth control pills, which are generally covered by insurance. Over the long term, however, IUDs are cost-effective; when you break the cost down over a five year period, IUDs cost about $11 a month, the same as birth control pills.

Still, for Vonder Haar, cost was a big factor.

"There was no way I could have gotten the Mirena before the study because I couldn't afford the cost up front," she said.

Dr. Jeff Peipert, one of the study authors and vice chair for clinical research at Washington University, said this big initial cost discourages women, since insurance usually does not cover this type of birth control. In the study he conducted, women were allowed to choose which birth control they wanted, free of charge.

"A major surprise was that many people chose long-acting reversible contraceptive (IUD) when barriers were lifted," Peipert said. "Around 75 percent of women chose a long-acting reversible contraceptive; the hormonal IUD was the most popular."

Women's health experts also said myths surrounding IUDs may keep many woman from using this option.

"Many patients have heard bad things about IUDs, such as they cause infertility or infections," said Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "Careful medical research over the past decade shows these fears are not true."

Dr. Lauren F. Streicher, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said some women may have also heard that if they have not yet had children they should not opt for an IUD. While this is untrue, she does recommend having a doctor who is experienced place IUDs in these women as placement can be technically difficult.

IUDs, Implants Best for Long-Term Birth Control: Study

4:39 AM

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WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that long-term birth control options, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and under-the-skin implants, are 20 times more effective for preventing pregnancy than short-term contraceptives, such as birth control pills, patches and rings.

"IUDs and implants are very effective; they rival tubal ligation in terms of preventing pregnancy," said study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Peipert, vice chair of clinical research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Birth control pills work about 90 percent of the time," Peipert added. "When you think about the millions of women taking them, that's a lot of unintended pregnancies."

Results of the study are published in the May 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unplanned, according to the researchers. That rate is significantly higher than the rate in other developed nations, and it results in more than 1 million abortions each year. About half the unintended pregnancies occur because of contraceptive failure, often because of inconsistent or improper use, the study said.

The birth control pill, the most commonly used form of contraception in the United States, should be taken at the same time every day for best results. However, not everyone remembers to do that. "We're human, and we all make mistakes," said Peipert.

Those mistakes reduce the pill's effectiveness by about 9 percent, on average. In teenagers, failure rates are about 13 percent for the pill, according to the study. Other short-term birth control options include the birth control patch, the vaginal ring and a hormone shot that works for about three months.

Long-term, reversible birth control options include IUDs and implants. An IUD is a small, T-shaped device inserted into your uterus. "It's a simple office procedure that you can have the same day you talk to your doctor about it. It's inserted through a small tube, and it takes about 30 seconds," said Dr. Sarah J. Betstadt, an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

The risk of complications is low, she said, adding that there's a slight risk of infection for about three weeks after IUD insertion. When a woman decides she wants to become pregnant, the device is easily removable. Some women who can't use birth control pills or other hormonal options, perhaps because of high blood pressure or a history of blood clots, can often use an IUD, she said.

A significant drawback to an IUD is often the up-front cost -- $500 to $1,000, according to Planned Parenthood -- which some insurance companies may not cover. But Peipert said other methods of birth control often cost more than that over the course of a year, so an IUD may actually be more cost-effective.

The other long-term contraceptive is an implant placed under your skin that releases the hormone progestin, which changes the cervical mucus and helps prevents the sperm and egg from joining.

Peipert's study included almost 7,500 women with an average age of about 24, who were counseled about the use and reliability of various contraceptives. They were nearly evenly divided between black and white, with between 7 percent and 8 percent from other races. Around 40 percent had completed at least some college.

The contraceptive failure rate for pills, patches and rings was 4.55 per 100 participant years. For the hormone shot, the failure rate was 0.22 per 100 participant years, and for IUDs and subdural implants, it was 0.27.

The risk of accidental pregnancy was 21.8 times higher for those using short-term methods, the authors said.

Women under 21 had about twice the rate of unplanned pregnancy as did older women using the same methods, reported the study.

"I recommend long-term options to all women who want to avoid pregnancy first. They should be the first-line option," said Peipert.

Peipert added it's extremely important for insurers to cover all contraceptive choices. "Part of family planning is prevention," he said. "We're already paying for a very high rate of unintended pregnancy through abortions, pre-term birth and the higher risk of complications women face in pregnancy. And young women who get pregnant might not finish their education or achieve as much in their careers."

Betstadt noted that many more contraceptive options are available now than in the past. "All of these options are safer than pregnancy," he said, "especially if you have any medical conditions."

IUDs fell out of favor in the 1970s, because of safety concerns linked to one model called the Dalkon Shield, which was withdrawn from the market. The IUDs on the market today are much improved, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other organizations consider them safe for most women.

More information

Learn more about available birth control options from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Study Digs Into Secrets of Keeping HIV in Check

12:40 AM

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SUNDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- A small number of HIV-infected patients have immune systems that are able to keep AIDS at bay by preventing the virus from reproducing for years, and researchers are reporting that they've gained new insight into how that works.

These fortunate patients, known as "elite controllers" or "long-term non-progressors," are quite rare. They've long fascinated scientists who want to understand the secrets lurking inside their immune cells. Researchers trying to develop an AIDS vaccine are especially interested in these special patients.

The key seems to be that certain cells in the immune systems of these people are better able to detect and kill cells that are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, said study co-author Dr. Bruce Walker, a professor at Harvard School of Public Health.

In essence, he said, they have better "glasses" than the same cells in patients who can't fight off the virus as well. These cells are better able to "see" signs of trouble from infected cells that send out a kind of distress signal.

The new research shows that "there's a way to measure what's good vision and what's bad vision," Walker said. "We can immediately start looking at vaccine candidates to see if our techniques of training these killer cells are leading to really good vision or not. We can also try to understand what it is that's impaired the vision in some of these patients and allowed for good vision to develop in others."

The researchers came to their conclusions after studying the blood of five "elite controllers" and five normal HIV patients.

Only about one in 200 or 300 HIV patients is able to naturally keep the virus from developing into AIDS without the help of medications, Walker noted. One person has been fending off AIDS since 1978.

"We can't be sure that everybody who achieves this state is actually going to persist in it, but it certainly looks like the vast majority of them will," he said.

Nitin Saksena, head of the retroviral genetics division at Westmead Millennium Institute's Center for Virus Research in Sydney, Australia, said the study needs to be confirmed by other research, and it has limitations, such as the small number of patients involved. It's important to consider that "elite controllers" are quite different from each other, Saksena added.

Dr. Mark Connors, chief of the HIV-specific immunity section with the Laboratory of Immunoregulation of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, questioned the study results, saying they don't demonstrate why the killer immune cells work more effectively in the elite controllers. Essentially, Connors doesn't think the study authors discovered why the cells have better "vision."

Study co-author Walker, however, said the research is valuable: "This is another example of HIV revealing its secrets. Having been in this field for 30 years, the remarkable thing is that we just keep learning more."

The study is published in the June 10 online edition of Nature Immunology.

More information

For more about HIV, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Long-term contraception, as IUD, more effective: study

5:26 AM

kasunone

Women who choose birth control pills, the patch or vaginal ring are 20 times more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than those using long-term methods such as IUDs and implants, a study released Wednesday found.

The study, carried out on 7,500 participants between the ages of 14 and 45, appears in the May 24 New England Journal of Medicine.

"This study is the best evidence we have that long-acting reversible methods are far superior to the birth control pill, patch and ring," says senior author and OBGYN Jeffrey Peipert.

Intrauterine devices "and implants are more effective because women can forget about them after clinicians put the devices in place."

Unplanned pregnancies remain a major health problem in the United States. About three million pregnancies per year -- half of all pregnancies -- are unplanned, very high for a developed nation.

IUDs are inserted by a nurse or doctor, but few women can easily afford them as the cost can reach around $500.

However "when IUDs and implants are provided at no cost, about 75 percent of women chose these methods for birth control," Winner added.

That means that greater use of longer acting contraceptive methods by teens and young women could prevent substantially more unplanned pregnancies.

js/mdl/ch

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Study: Gene Therapy for HIV Safe, But Effectiveness Still Unclear

8:43 PM

kasunone

WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- New research shows that gene therapy can have long-lasting effects on the immune cells of HIV patients -- a promising sign -- even though the specific treatment being studied did not eradicate the virus.

This approach is one of several gene therapy strategies that are being investigated by scientists as possible ways to keep the AIDS virus from spreading in the blood.

In this case, "people were treated by gene therapy and nothing bad happened. It was safe," said study co-author Frederic Bushman, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition, he said, the treated immune cells managed to remain around for about a decade. "The general picture that emerges about genetic alterations to human immune cells is that they can persist for a long time if you do it right."

The study appears in the May 2 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers have long been exploring gene therapy -- in which cells in the body are genetically modified -- as a possible treatment for infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The idea is that the therapy would offer a permanent alternative to costly medications that come with potentially disabling side effects.

"Just think about what an HIV patient has to do: take drugs every day for the rest of his life, and the minute he stops taking them, the virus starts coming back," said John Rossi, chair of the department of molecular and cellular biology at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, in Duarte, Calif. He was not associated with the new research.

The study looks at 43 HIV-positive patients. Between 1998 and 2002, researchers removed blood from the patients, genetically modified it, and injected it back into them.

The plan was to program immune cells known as T cells to kill HIV cells.

Up to 11 years later, researchers found that all 43 patients are healthy, and 41 still have modified T cells in their bodies. That means the modified cells didn't cause leukemia, as has happened with some similar gene -therapy treatments.

The treatment, however, didn't seem to have had a major impact on the HIV in the patients and "may not have worked at all" on that front, study co-author Bushman said.

Dr. David Looney, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of California, San Diego, said the research is still "exciting and promising" since it shows that modified immune cells can last a long time, potentially decades.

Several research projects are continuing to examine gene therapy for HIV patients. There's a caveat, however: If gene therapy treatments become available, they seem likely to be extremely expensive.

But Bushman said that if the gene therapy could someday replace antiretroviral medicines, the cost might still be lower than keeping patients on drugs for rest of their lives.

More information

For more about HIV, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

HIV Drug Tenofovir Safe During Pregnancy, Study Suggests

11:36 AM

kasunone

THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- The use of the anti-HIV drug tenofovir during pregnancy appears to be safe for infants, new research suggests.

In combination with other anti-HIV drugs, tenofovir (Viread) is the first line of treatment for adults with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. These findings should reassure pregnant women who are taking tenofovir, the researchers said.

The study was conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health network because previous studies showed that laboratory animals exposed to tenofovir in the womb were smaller at birth than those that were not exposed to the drug.

The new study included 2,000 infants born to HIV-positive mothers between 2003 and 2010 in the United States. Infants born to mothers who took tenofovir during pregnancy did not weigh less at birth and did not have shorter length than those born to women who did not take the drug.

At 1 year of age, however, children born to mothers who took tenofovir during pregnancy were slightly shorter and had slightly smaller head circumference (an average of about 1 centimeter) than children whose mothers did not take the drug, the investigators found.

The researchers said further studies should be conducted to follow the children as they grow and develop in order to identify any potential long-term effects of taking tenofovir during pregnancy.

The study was released online April 26 in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal AIDS.

"This study produced reassuring information regarding the use of tenofovir," first author Dr. George Siberry, of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in a National Institutes of Health news release.

"Although further research is needed ... our findings favor the use of tenofovir in pregnancy to ensure good outcomes in the mother and prevent transmission of HIV to the infant," Siberry added.

More information

The New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center has more about HIV and pregnancy.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Market Positioning Case Study: How Nokia Fell From Number 1

3:37 AM

kasunone

Last week, the world found out that Samsung Mobile Marketing surpassed Nokia for the top position in the global handset market in the first quarter of 2012. The Korean company shipped 93.5 million handsets in the first quarter for a 25 percent share of the market, even as global handset shipments grew a little over 3 percent annually. In contrast, Nokia's handset shipments were down 24 percent year-on-year to 82.7 million units, giving it a 22.5 percent share.¹

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, only 14% of Nokia’s shipments were smartphones, in contrast to 34% for Samsung. This marks the first time since 1998 that Nokia has not been number one in the cell phone market.

Ouch.

nokia vs samsung

I’LL HAVE THE TROUT

In their classic 1981 book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout describe how positioning is used as a communication tool to reach target customers in a crowded marketplace. The easiest way to get into someone’s mind is to be first; nobody remembers second.²

Nokia Who?

Ries and Trout go on to list a number of things a market leader should do to maintain leadership position. One point in particular stands out:

Change is inevitable. Leaders must embrace change rather than resisting it. When a new technology opens up the possibility of a new market that may threaten the existing one, a brand leader should consider entering into the new market so it will have first-mover advantage in it.²

Apparently, Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila wasn’t fond of trout (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Looking at product mix of both companies over the past few years, Samsung growth was almost entirely in the smartphone segment, whereas Nokia went the opposite direction. As a percent of total, Nokia has shrunk its smartphone business from a peak of 24% in Q3 2010 to 14% last quarter. In the same time frame Samsung’s smartphone share of portfolio has exploded from 10% to nearly 50%.³

A look at global smartphone shipment data tells a similar story. At the end of 2010, Nokia was the number one global smartphone manufacturer, with 34.9% market share (100 million units shipped). Samsung was in 4th place behind RIM and Apple, with only 7.5% market share (23 million units shipped).

Just one year later, the numbers were starkly different. Nokia’s smartphone market share dropped to 15.7% (77 million units shipped), while Samsung’s climbed to 19.1% market share (94 million units shipped).

In other words, from 2010 to 2011, Samsung enjoyed a 409% increase in smartphone shipments, while Nokia suffered a 33% decrease in shipments.

What a difference a year makes.

EVOLVE OR DIE

While Samsung was frantically converting its portfolio to smartphones, Nokia failed to do so. Major transitions such as these (or lack thereof) are driven by the upper echelons of an organization’s executive management.

After reporting a 1.76 billion dollar operating loss, Nokia is planning to resurrect its defunct mobile business by delving into tablets and “hybrid” smart mobile devices, but the jury is still out as to whether Nokia can effectively transition at this point.

What is clear is the success of Samsung. Sensing an opportunity, Samsung leapt in to the breach that Nokia’s tepid response to the meteoric global adaptation of smartphones had created, overturning years of mobile orthodoxy.

As technology hurtles us all into the future at breakneck speed, industry leaders need to learn from Nokia’s mistake and prepare for change. By doing so, leaders can nimbly evolve to the demands of a hyper-active marketplace rather than be victimized by them.

¹ PC World, “Samsung beats Nokia in Handset Market in Q1”

² Quick MBA, “Positioning”

³ Asymco, “How Samsung Beat Nokia”

Case Study: 4 Brands that Use Pinterest the Right Way

2:02 AM

kasunone

Social media gives companies exponential reach, empowering brands to leverage content and messaging to accomplish their business goals.

Here is a brief sketch of five businesses that have taken this to heart, using Pinterest to connect with their target audience, build brand advocacy, drive website traffic, and generate leads and sales.

In other words, they’re using Pinterest the right way.

CONNECT WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE: ETSY

The right social media strategy allows you to share who you are with potential customers in an authentic and powerful way. When your social media truly represents you, people feel safe and are more likely to move from interested bystanders to converted visitors.

Online shopping website Etsy is doing just that. As a retailer of homemade and vintage goods, Etsy's pinboards really take to heart what its brand stands for. Etsy's Pinterest account shows you how you can make your own products and how to put their products to work in your daily life, which emphasizes the lifestyle philosophy that Pinterest promotes.¹ By giving its followers more ideas as to how they can buy Etsy products, the company is humanizing its brand and forming deeper connections with its target audience.

BUILD BRAND ADVOCACY: MODCLOTH

Loyalty and trust play a big part in social media success. Businesses are using social media site like Pinterest to build brand advocates.

ModCloth an online retailer of vintage and retro clothing from independent designers, has done a great job using Pinterest to build brand advocacy. ModCloth joined Pinterest in the fall of 2011, but it’s already one of ModCloth’s top unpaid referral sites in terms of traffic and revenue. According to Modcloth’s Alicia Barnes, this is thanks to “product photography and blog content that resonates with their audience.” ModCloth has approximately 7,000 pins tagged on Pinterest, and 99% of them are from advocates of the ModCloth brand (me, again) and products, she adds.

DRIVE WEB TRAFFIC=GENERATE LEADS=CONVERT SALES: PERPETUAL KID; WAYFAIR

Social media channels can be used to bring relevant visitors to your website - visitors who will convert into customers. In a recent study by Social Media Examiner, 74% of marketers interviewed found a substantial increase in website traffic with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing.

Perpetual Kid is an online store selling products that “entertain your inner child.” The company’s product line is made for social media, and the staff happily engages with customers in many creative ways (like drawing a picture on the box an item is shipped in).

In 2011, Perpetual Kid began to gain organic exposure on Pinterest. Customers pinned pictures of Perpetual Kid’s products, as well as pictures that had been drawn on shipping boxes by the staff. In the summer of 2011, Pinterest was driving only 0.20% of Perpetual Kid’s total traffic; by January 2012, it was up to 2.63%.²

Traffic aside, Pinterest-driven sales conversion rates are the real story for Perpetual Kid. Pinterest traffic converts to a sale at more than twice the rate (my emphasis) of Facebook traffic. This suggests that creative consumer engagement on social media can lead to efficient sales conversion.

Mashable’s recent post on Wayfair, the second largest home goods retailer by revenue, reflected how Pinterest referrals are not only more likely to make a purchase, but to spend more on average, than visitors from other social channels.

Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah says that shoppers referred by Pinterest are more 10% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who arrive from other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. They’ll also spend 10% more on average.

When asked why he thinks Pinterest has proven a better sales channel than other social networks, Shah noted that Pinterest encourages people to collect images that inspire them, and that includes products. “Visual imagery drives inspiration, it’s what makes you want to buy it,” Shah said. “We sell things [on our sites] in the same way.”

These brands have one thing in common: they are using Pinterest specifically, and social media generally, to build brand advocacy, expand their reach, and generate leads and sales, i.e. to achieve their business goals. If that isn’t using social media the right way, I don’t know what is.

¹ Hubspot, “7 Examples of Brands that Pop on Pinterest”

² Social Snap, “Pinterest Case Study:“Seeking beautiful experience while shopping”’

³ Mashable, “Niche Social Networks Deliver Big Results for Brands”