Why You Should Be Marketing To Gay Consumers
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
As far as reality TV goes, Bravo’s “Project Runway” is top notch, or ‘fierce’ as some would say. While watching season four’s recent finale, one advertisement stuck out to me. It was a Levi’s ad directly targeting gay men.
American Airlines recently launched a major multimedia ad campaign targeting the gay travel demographic. I could go on and on about how inspiring it is to see these companies stepping outside of the box and making bold political statements, but I won’t. Frankly, these were smart business decisions. Sure, you may run into trouble from the likes of the American Family Association, which recently ended its two-year boycott of Ford for advertising to gays, but this is unlikely and trivial. The real lesson is in the numbers.
A report from eMarketer research found the following:
—The buying power of U.S. gay and lesbian consumers was $660 billion in 2006 and is expected to reach $835 billion by 2011.
—According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the median annual household income in the U.S. in 2006 was $46,326. For single gay men, that number was $62,000 and for single lesbians, it was $52,000. That number rises to $130,00 for gay male couples and $96,000 for lesbian females.
—About 89 percent of U.S. gay male respondents and 91 percent of lesbian respondents thought a brand’s sponsorship or support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) events favorably influenced their buying decisions.
—A significant percentage of the GLBT community checks whether a company is gay-friendly before buying its products.
—About one in four GLBT Internet users said they have switched products or service providers because they found a competing company that supports causes that benefit the GLBT community.
—Like a privacy policy or Better Business Bureau seal of approval, companies genuinely connecting with the GLBT community display the trademarks of relevant organizations prominently on their sites. With strong evidence that the GLBT community will support those companies that respect them, this is a best practice for online marketers.
Wells Fargo, Orbitz, Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Saab, Citi, IBM, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Prudential Financial, XM Satellite Radio, BP, Absolut Vodka, GM, AT&T, Chase, Harrah’s, Merrill Lynch, Showtime, Volvo, Dell, Hotels.com, Motorola, Nike, Shell and UPS all actively support the gay community.
If you’re not already including gays in your marketing, then why not? What are you so afraid of?
Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine
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