Pinterest has introduced TVScientific by Pinterest, allowing advertisers to reach Pinterest’s audiences outside of the platform for the first time through connected TV (CTV).
The launch follows the company’s formal acquisition of TVScientific in February 2026 and appears to be more than just a new product feature, but a shift in the company’s identity.
"Pinterest brings a distinct opportunity," said Pinterest’s chief business officer, Lee Brown. "Because of how users search and shop on the platform, we can give advertisers new ways to reach people at every stage of the shopping journey, from discovery to buying, both on and off Pinterest."
At the heart of this transition is Pinterest’s campaign to rebrand itself as a performance marketing channel. Brown says that since he joined the company in January 2026, the feedback from agency partners has been clear; many clients previously viewed Pinterest as solely an upper-funnel awareness play. The company is actively working to change that narrative, pushing the platform for its mid-and lower-funnel possibilities as well. In fact, Brown said at a recent press conference that Pinterest doesn’t see itself as a social media platform anymore, but as a search and shopping platform with a pronounced visual component.
"Many social platforms have positioned themselves to be much less 'social' and much more 'media' compared to how we used to experience them, in a bid to show their value to brands," says Vicky Turner, partner lead at Bread Agency.
Turner adds that the shift fits Pinterest's specific utility. "Pinterest is more of a visual search engine and discovery tool, rather than a social network, with users known for having higher intent with clear (often branded) searches in mind. It's much more aligned to being an inspiration and shopping channel, rather than a social experience, so the move to CTV makes a lot of sense for them."
Brown admits that agencies often still lump Pinterest spend into their 'social media' budgets, a label he is eager to move away from entirely. This pivot into CTV is also a calculated move to capture a larger share of the ballooning CTV ad market, which is expected to exceed $45 billion and surpass linear TV by 2028.
By moving into connected TV, Pinterest is aiming for agencies to view it as a direct-response engine capable of competing with search and premium video, rather than just a place to host digital mood boards. This is part of a broader rebrand, moving the narrative away from the early imagery of 2012 toward a data-rich, performance-first engine that caters to younger demographics who visit the platform with intent about specific subjects that they’re passionate about and with plans for purchases.
"It's no surprise that advertising demand continues to grow; Pinterest has had to evolve beyond its social media roots to remain competitive," says Grace McClintock, senior performance manager, Bench Media. "But this partnership with TVScientific feels like a win across the board: users are exposed to more relevant products, advertisers can reach engaged audiences at scale, while Pinterest unlocks a new revenue stream and strengthens its new position as a full-service advertising platform."
The strategy is to bridge the historical gap between discovery and bottom-line sales. By feeding Pinterest’s commercial intent signals into tvScientific’s AI-powered optimisation tools, the platform is aiming to deliver the kind of performance metrics that direct-response advertisers demand.
Among tests, when TVScientific AI is enriched with Pinterest’s high-intent signals, it leads to a 27% increase in outcomes driven per $100 in spend, with purchases up 65%. A separate case study with LG demonstrated a 73% increase in unique household reach and a 24% lift in new customer acquisition.
Pinterest’s audiences becoming addressable via the TV Scientific platform is just the “first step in our product roadmap,” adds Chip Jessopp, VP and GM of programmatic ad sales for Pinterest. “The longer-term strategy is to be able to enable advertisers to optimise that Pinterest intent signal, both on and off-platform.”
Pinterest is far from an outlier in this regard. It's part of a larger shift where digital giants are morphing into full-scale, media-operated systems. Reports suggest that Meta has been exploring similar ground since early 2025, investigating how to extend its own performance-driven ad models into connected TV (CTV) advertising and premium streaming environments through high-level exploratory talks with supply-side powerhouses like Magnite and FreeWheel.
"This represents a structural shift in the architecture of media. Many major media platforms are looking to expand their audience base and better monetise rich, intent-driven first-party data, which is gradually redefining what a media network is," Leela Nair, managing director APAC-MEA ebiquity plc. "Pinterest's ambition is explicit: to move beyond being seen mainly as a branding platform and demonstrate repeatable performance at scale. If it succeeds, it does not just win more of Pinterest's own budget; it resets the performance benchmark for the category."
Source: Campaign Asia Pacific
