Monday, August 28, 2006

Klimpton's Doing All The Right Things

Nation's Restaurant News posted story online today about Klimpton's outreach to gay and lesbian consumers (click here for the story). The hotel company is a text-book case of the right way to market to this audience, which means you have to go beyond just ads and really create an environment that's GLBT-friendly.

Here are some take-away points from Klimpton's work:

  • It all starts with creating a progressive workplace, which includes gay-friendly personnel and anti-discrimination policies.
  • Celebrating individuality is one of the company's core philosophies.
  • They've created a strong GLBT advisory panel that oversees the company's gay-targeted efforts, such as ad campaigns, charitable donations, volunteer service projects, etc. The company has similar panels for other diversity and special interest groups, ranging from women's issues to eco-friendly initiatives.
  • Kimpton provides staff training on key GLBT issues and circumstances. For example, front desk agents are instructed on how to treat two same-sex guests.

As we've said many times before, GLBT consumers don't just want to do business with companies that place ads in the publications they read. They want to spend their money with companies that truly value them and companies whose actions are aligned with their own.