Why marketg targeted at gay and lbian nsumers often miss s mark | Marketg Mag

Contents:

• EVINCE ON THE MARKETG APPROACH TARGETG GAY AND LBIAN CONSUMERS
• WHY MARKETG TARGETED AT GAY AND LBIAN NSUMERS OFTEN MISS S MARK
• TARGETING THE GAY MARKET

EVINCE ON THE MARKETG APPROACH TARGETG GAY AND LBIAN CONSUMERS

Buy now om Amazon | Barn & Noble | IndieBound | Apple BooksIf you're gog to go where the money is—to pursue the greatt spendg power—you'll be jog an ever-creasg number of pani (still somewhat quietly) reachg out specifilly to lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer nsumers. If, for your own nonbs reasons, you have no tert or willgns to liberately and specifilly market to affluent gays and lbians, jt know 's a bad bs cisn and, if you're nng a bs which there are shareholrs other than yourself, a fislly irrponsible cisn. To the ntrary, they nsistently reward those marketers who make a special pot of signg unique advertisg to appear the publitns only they read and creatg pecially gay-iendly sal and bs environments.

WHY MARKETG TARGETED AT GAY AND LBIAN NSUMERS OFTEN MISS S MARK

For stance, Harrah's Entertament started aggrsively marketg to gay men 18 months after the extensive rearch revealed they spend an average of 30% more than straight men when travelg. To put a b of money math to that statistic, you uld have 1, 000 straight ctomers at your rort each spendg, say, $2, 000 or 1, 000 gay ctomers each spendg $2, 600 The difference is $600, 000. This appli to you regardls of your bs tegory—travel, rtrants, clothg store, furnure store, fancial planng, whatever—both as a general prciple and, specifilly, regardg gay and lbian nsumers.

Marketg to the gay and lbian populatn is, s sence, takg a shortcut to a more affluent, more eely spendg nsumers are twice as likely to buy a vatn home, six tim more likely to buy and have stalled a home theater system, and eight tim more likely to own multiple mobile vic and puters than heterosexuals. Gay and bisexual men (46% of the market)Lbian and bisexual women (also 40% of the market)Genr-expansive cludg everybody else but heterosexual (8% of the market)The generatn divis are:Millennial (born 1981–1999)Gen X (born 1965–1980)Boomer (1942–1964)A closer look at the inti, brief:Gay and bisexual men.

In the week the UK saw the untry’s first same-sex marriag, some brands are velopg mpaigns to appeal to gay and lbian nsumers lookg to tie the knot. The move is part of a wir effort by brands to target the LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr) muny an attempt to better reprent their ctomer base and tap to a multi-billn sal opportuny. Stolichnaya is also g the historic legalisatn of gay marriage to troduce a more clive approach after gettg ught up the boytt of Rsian vodka as part of protts over the untry’s anti-gay laws durg the Sochi Olympics.

TARGETING THE GAY MARKET

Meanwhile, VisBra is lnchg s first LGBT mpaign, veloped by gay and lbian marketg agency Out Now Consultg, four years wh a “Love is GREAT” promotn targetg US travellers. The tourist board is hopg to explo growg support among Amerins for gay men and lbians to have the nstutnal right to marry a bid to promote the UK as a culturally rich statn. This was most recently reflected Co-Cola (see above) beg the first Super Bowl advertiser to feature a gay uple s TV ad earlier this year and Chevrolet nng a siarly themed spot durg Sochi 2014 Wter Olympic verage.

Sam Phillips, managg director at Omni Group’s ethnic diversy specialists OMG Ethnic, says the UK’s rponse to targetg gay nsumers is more of a “slow burn” but adds marketers are wakg up to the importance of reflectg diversy their mpaigns. Talk about why that is Well, there's been - I thk, the last two or three years - que a renewed tert, I thk, the media around, you know, gay issu general, LGBT issu general.