Wednesday, February 20, 2008

LGBT Marketing

As a smart marketer, I hope you'll take a moment to review the current Trendwatching.com article called "Pink Profits." It discusses the growing number of Fortune 500 brands that are discovering the mushrooming buying power of the $780-Billion LGBT market.

The article includes a link to effective LGBT market work, prominently featuring Merge client Coors Brewing and others.

If you don't have time to go online, here are some highlights:

Many brands now actively target the gay community, as even the most conservative execs have come to realize that there's just too much money to be made from well-to-do, happy-to-spend LGBT consumers. And merely acknowledging consumers who sadly are used to being ignored if not vilified, does wonders for brand loyalty.

Advertising | From Time Magazine (August 2006): “Advertising in gay-oriented outlets is flourishing. Beverage companies like Anheuser-Busch, holiday firms including Travelocity and automakers such as Ford helped nudge advertising spend in the US gay and lesbian press to USD 212 million last year, up more than a quarter since 2003.”

Marketers in every category -- Automotive to Medical, Travel to Fashion, Casinos to Financial -- are establishing a presence with the lucrative LGBT market. Let Merge Media show you how.

If you'd like more information on mining the business potential of the LGBT market for your brand, we will be happy to talk. Or you could check our website for more information.

GLBT or LGBT?

Here in the world of gay and lesbian marketing there is a discussion going on as to which acronym we should be using, exactly. When you look at any kind of research on the subject the community is almost equally divided. Shocking. Most gay men feel that GLBT should remain as it has been for many years. Of course, most lesbians would prefer to see it changed to LGBT, as in ladies first.

Several of the larger organizations in the space, GLAAD and NGLCC have switched to using the LGBT moniker. Personally, I prefer LGBT, however, most of our clients are familiar with GLBT. So what is one to do? When marketing to a gay audience I am most interested in speaking relevantly to the gay consumer so that he/she will know that the brand we are representing "gets it". To that end we here at Merge have made the executive decision to stick with LGBT.....after all, we are lesbian owned.
D