Tumblr is a micro-blogging site where users and brands can leverage the creativity of an open platform to display their interests and passions. It's a blank canvas that allows them to tell their stories through text, pictures, animation, music and video, without design restrictions or character limits. 

1. ERWIN PENLAND PRESENTS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Putting Tumblr in Perspective
November 2013
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

2. What is Tumblr?
Tumblr is a micro-blogging site where users and
brands can leverage the creativity of an
open platform to display their interests and
passions. It's a blank canvas that allows them to tell
their stories through text, pictures, animation, music
and video, without design restrictions or
character limits.
Combine that with standard social functionality
(likes, favorites and re-blogging) and the
community of a large social network and you have
the perfect mix. Users can interact with each
other and brands on individual pages or via the
dashboard—a personally curated feed of things that
users love from the blogs that they follow, updated
in real time.
Website
Social
Network
complete creative
control of the
open web
a massive
engaged audience
Contrary to popular misconception, Tumblr has
been around for almost as long as Twitter. It has
been gaining in popularity, as many younger users
are migrating away from Facebook to avoid the
drama and being on the same site as their parents.
It's a place where they can truly express themselves,
away from adults, directly with their friends.
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

3. Tumblr
The Tumblr audience skews slightly female and
it is certainly younger, with 52% of the
audience between the ages of 18-34.
However it’s the youngest demo, 13-17 (18%)
that is by far the most active. In fact, they are
so active that they regularly hit the 250 postper-day limit, flooding Tumblr with requests to
lift this restriction.
Tumblr is emerging as the platform for
educated, ethnic, urban teens to express their
creativity and follow brands that they are
passionate about, making the platform even
more attractive to marketers trying to reach
the coveted millennial audience.
the stats
Age Group
13-34
Education
college
Location
Gender
SLIGHTL
Y
female
Ethnicity
africanamerican
+asian
+hispanics
urban
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

4. Activity &
Engagement
With the average user spending 90 minutes/month
on the platform, Tumblr users are more engaged
and active than the other major sites, sharing and
engaging with the content.
Compared to Twitter, Tumblr is much more
community-oriented, as it’s easier to find people
with similar interests based on the content you
follow. The platform continues to showcase the
personality of users and their passions versus the
celebrity self-promotion commonly found
on Twitter.
The key driver of Tumblr is built on the credibility
and follower base of bloggers, and yes, while there
are celebrities, creativity is found in its most
dedicated users.
the stats
Global Uniques
Blogs
133
MILLION
Daily Posts
225
million
Monthly page views
80
million
20
billion
Minutes / visit
18
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

5. If there is a passion,
there is a Tumblr for it
Unlike Facebook, which is about you and your history, Tumblr
is a platform to showcase and share your passions and
interests. The lack of format restrictions enables users to
create and tell extraordinary stories through various media, to
a passionate, highly-engaged audience.
The content includes an array of entertaining memes,
photos and gifs that are very sharable. The ability to use
pseudonyms is popular with the younger audience as they can
share their content selectively with friends versus name-search
features on other platforms.
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

6. Brands: IBM
IBM has taken a drastic departure from their
traditional brand tone to engage younger
demo on Tumblr. This campaign is successful
because it shows us how the brand embodies
innovation and invention instead of just
telling us.
With over 628K monthly unique visitors,
IBM celebrates 20 years of innovation by
telling an engaging story using topicfocused original content. “IBMblr” lets
curious consumers in on secrets that are
normally kept behind locked research
laboratory doors.
All of the content on the page is centered
on ideas, innovation and invention, three
things that hold our emotive interest.
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

7. Brands: Denny’s
Denny’s has quickly become the most
beloved brand on Tumblr among the
younger millennial audience. Success has
come by speaking to them in their language
and formats they prefer, such as memes and
animated gifs.
By engaging and interacting with them on
trendy topics, pop-culture and humor,
Denny’s has become a “must-follow” blog—
and perhaps even more telling, being
followed by Denny’s has become a
sought-after social badge.
Another key to Denny’s Tumblr success is
the utilization of User Generated Content
through the submission feature. By
highlighting the contented created by their
fans, Denny’s excels at fostering a true
community on Tumblr, one that is authentic
and genuine.
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

8. Food for Thought
Food For Thought is Erwin Penland's thought
leadership platform.
It began six years ago with a three-day annual
symposium celebrating the intersection of food,
creative thinking, entrepreneurialism and social
responsibility through events, discussions and of
course, dining.
The fully experiential gathering is crafted to inspire
dialogue and debate among prominent
entrepreneurs, business leaders and creative thinkers
from around the country—showcasing how creativity
is paramount to success in every organization, and in
fact, in life.
The platform itself has been extended into quarterly
client sessions, internal agency training programs,
research and marketing trend presentations.
For more information:
Joe Saracino
Chief Marketing Officer
Erwin Penland
joe.saracino@erwinpenland.com
Erwin Penland
erwinpenland.com
@erwinpenland on Twitter, Instagram and Vine
facebook.com/erwinpenland
Food for Thought Conference
foodforthoughtconference.com
@fftconference on Twitter
facebook.com/fftconference
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential