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Monday, July 14, 2008

South Carolina - Amro Responds

Last week saw some political interference in the gay marketing strategies of South Carolina. Today, the CEO of Amro Worldwide tells Gay Market News his thoughts.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 14, 2008

TOPICS: Gay advertising. London Underground. South Carolina is So Gay. Lesbian and gay marketing. Community politics. South Carolina So Gay campaign.

The London Underground campaign for Amro Worldwide has been very successful at increasing awareness of the featured destinations, and consumer awareness of the Amro brand.

The CEO of Amro, Andrew Roberts, told Gay Market News that Amro Worldwide is delighted with the campaign.

He said he shares Out Now's disappointment that politics was allowed to impact on a strong gay travel marketing campaign designed to increase revenues for those businesses working in the tourism sector in South Carolina.

In a press release on the topic, printed below, Roberts expands further.

I will end today's post by noting that there can't be much less than homophobia contained within some of the reported comments of State Sen. David Thomas, a Greenville County Republican, where he spoke of us "describing the company that placed the ads as "blatantly" homosexual."

The Senator is right, our company, Out Now is a very gay business, but use of the term "blatantly", as well as some of the other phrasing employed by Senator Thomas -- such as 'simply improper' and 'social position' -- all sounds just a little bit too loaded to me to be judged unbiased.

UK Gay Advertising Campaign Upsets South Carolina Tourism

Decision described as 'disappointing' and 'anti-gay'

London (OUT NOW) -- July 14, 2008 -- The body responsible for South Carolina tourism has come down against a lesbian and gay advertising campaign currently running in the UK directed towards lesbian and gay travelers.

The Amro Worldwide "So Gay" campaign has been widely praised by the gay and lesbian community for helping to remove the sting of "So Gay" as an intended insult, by turning it into the strong positive that gays and lesbians feel the phrase should be, and applying it to increase tourism to various US destinations.

The "So Gay" campaign was designed by the leading gay marketing specialist, Out Now, and features five leading US travel destinations.

Today the South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department (SCPRT) said that despite previously approving it, they were now pulling out of the campaign, and were not going to pay for it. They also said they had asked the advertising be removed. The advertising is still in place at Leicester Square Tube station.

The story has got South Carolinians talking about whether they really are gay welcoming or not, and was described by local news station WCBD as "the water cooler story of the day". It was also the front page item on South Carolina's major newspaper, The State.

Andrew Roberts, CEO of Amro Worldwide said that the decision by SCPRT was one that was disappointing, and went on to say the "So Gay" campaign was an important one for several reasons.

"Amro Worldwide helps to arrange the travel arrangements for some of the 3 million gays and lesbians living in the UK," Roberts said. "Our work helps local business in each of the regions we send travelers to. We were heartened to see many strongly supportive remarks included amongst reader comments made in the reporting of this story in the US media. Targeting gay travel is not at all a moral issue in any sense. It is all about treating this particular group of citizens with equality and respect -- something we consider very important in our dealings with all of Amro Worldwide's customers."

Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now, the gay marketing agency that designed the campaign said that the amount of money paid was miniscule compared to the value the campaign brings to the local South Carolina tourism industry.

"Before today I would have said that many of the 3 million gays and lesbians in the UK making travel plans would now have been adding South Carolina to their list of travel possibilities as a result of this campaign," according to Johnson. "That number will drop dramatically from here because the SCPRT seems to want to side with anti-gay people against a campaign designed to sell tolerance and respect, as well as sell gay travel. From the perspective of the many hundreds of South Carolinian businesses that rely in part on gay tourism for their survival, this is not a moral issue in any way. It is a business issue. Pure and simple."

Johnson added: "Latest research suggests that around 5% of the South Carolina taxpayers can be expected to be lesbian and gay. I can't help wondering what they would make of this campaign. It seems almost bizarre to suggest that spending a handful of dollars -- less than $5,000 in total out of a taxpayer budget of $10.5 million -- to attract UK gay travelers to consider visiting South Carolina is somehow too much . By rights, the amount allocated to gay tourism spend in the annual budget should be over $500,000 were all these South Carolinian gay taxpayer dollars to be allocated proportionately in the budget to attracting gay 'fellow travelers' to visit."

Ian Johnson is presenting the Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass at the leading travel marketing event, WTM World Travel Market in London in November 2008.

"I did find one remark reported to be made by Sen. David Thomas (R-Greenville) in the press to be of great concern," said Johnson. "He says that the Amro 'So Gay' campaign goes against South Carolina 'core values'. Given that the campaign is all about attracting business to the State, through furthering principles of equality and respect, his comments leave me wondering just what types of 'core values' Senator Thomas thinks South Carolina stands for."

Amro Worldwide is one of the world's market leaders in selling travel for lesbian and gay people, and was established in 2001 at a time when the general market for travel was at an historical low.

"We really do hope people will still feel able to travel to South Carolina," said Roberts. "I think the destination has so much to offer any traveler, and that was all we wanted to do -- to let gays and lesbians in the UK know that there is much to see and enjoy in the State. It will be a shame if the actions of SCPRT today causes people to stay away causing their local tourism industry to suffer as a result."

The Amro Worldwide ’So Gay’ poster campaign runs on escalators in Leicester Square, and in elevators at Covent Garden London Underground stations, from June 27 until July 12, 2008.

Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now recently won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the ’Images in Advertising’ awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

Amro Worldwide has carved a leading edge niche in the specialist expertise of ’gay travel’ during the past seven years. Amro is ATOL bonded, and offers clients the flexibility to ’order’ up their next holiday online with Amro Collection -- or take advantage of the extensive knowledge of Amro’s personal travel consultants via the Amro A La Carte service. Amro management has personally stayed with every property they sell, giving rise to their corporate motto: Gay Travel - Tried, and Trusted.

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To ride the lesbian and gay marketing wave right on the leading edge -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

To contact Out Now, send us an email. Helping brands marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. Out Now Consulting and Gay Market News will keep you updated on all the latest gay marketing, GLBT community market research, LGBT travel and gay tourism, gay and lesbian communications, gay PR and gay advertising developments. Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com GayMarketing101.com. All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, GLBT marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

South Carolina So Gay? So Disappointing.

Out Now's campaign for Amro Worldwide is making news. The "So Gay" campaign is getting a lot of media attention in the US market. South Carolina and its politicians are involved. Unfortunately South Carolina is so NOT gay based on what we are seeing.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 12, 2008

Homophobia is alive and well in the American South.

To say that watching the current media swarm around this campaign was pleasant is not true. It just profoundly disappoints me -- personally, and professionally.

The homophobia, political hypocrisy and prejudice rampant in South Carolina which this campaign has revealed is a real eye-opener.

The basis of the Amro Worldwide 'So Gay' advertising campaign currently appearing at Leicester Square Underground is to sell travel. It also needs to attract the attention of 2 million busy commuters in the few seconds they have as they pass by. It also has the opportunity to try and take the sting out of the phrase "so gay" which young people use as an insult these days, and which lesbians and gay men find disrespectful.

Attaching the phrase "So Gay" to a destination - even South Carolina, serves to do all of the above in a matter of seconds.

The fact the campaign uses "So Gay" as a positive phrase, not a negative one, has been largely ignored in much of the politically inspired media coverage about the campaign.

One fact, for the record -- the campaign has not been "canceled". Not at all.

The Amro Worldwide ads, including those for South Carolina, are still there for all to see at Leicester Square Tube station in London.

The advertising

The original campaign (with apologies for the busker music -- will try to post a better edit here this week) is able to be seen at our YouTube.com/GayMarketing channel.

You may also find this local TV news report on the Amro "So Gay" story enlightening.

What happened is this

Last week Out Now, our client Amro Worldwide and the London representative for South Carolina Tourism were approached by a journalist working for an online blog, The Palmetto Scoop.

We were asked how much money the campaign had cost the South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department (SCPRT) -- a taxpayer funded body.

I knew the amount to be only £2,500 -- a little over $4,800 when the campaign was costed, some months ago.

But we were asked to direct all inquiries to the SCPRT representative. So I did not respond.

Then this week a 'shock, horror' story appears in said blog, doctoring the actual image of the South Carolina advertisement to make it appear only about the headline, conveniently erasing the fact that the advertisement is about selling travel to gays and lesbians in the UK.

Politics crushes business, tourism and equality

The South Carolina economy is doing badly apparently and could really do with some pink pounds at the moment -- but as a result of the hamfisted approach Friday of those running the SCPRT body, I expect the State will see reduced tourism for years to come.

Not just from gays and lesbians. But from their families and friends.

Politics triumphing over logic and good business is not a nice thing to watch.

I found myself on the inside this week watching the way politicians and bureaucrats behave. Sickening. To say there are some 'creative' re-interpretations of the facts would be an understatement. To witness that at firsthand is really quite depressing.

The comments out there on the blogosphere are not always nice reading either.

There was one though that I liked, left at the original blog report on this, where the (gay) commenter wrote:

We are everywhere: we fix your car, cook your food, clean your house, invest your money, take care of you when you’re sick, write your books, pave your roads, haul your trash, manage your hotels, counsel your needs, hear your court cases and even pass your laws. You don’t have to like it or even approve it, but you better get used to it because we are not going anywhere.

South Carolina so gay? Not at all apparently and now many millions of dollars worth of gay consumer spending will very swiftly find its way elsewhere. To somewhere more welcoming.

South Carolina ranks 49th (second last) on the league table of US states for educational achievement. That might help explain the actions of their politicians. What a silly political decision motivated by misunderstanding. And tourism businesses in South Carolina will suffer for years to come as a result. How disappointing for them.

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For information and help with understanding key gay and lesbian marketing issues, to most effectively understand and meet the consumer needs of the lesbian and gay market, rely on the gay market experts, Out Now. Leading in the gay market since 1992.

Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com
To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global GLBT marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, gay marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass at WTM 2008

The year is already more than half gone. That means London WTM is now just weeks away. Details have just been released of the Out Now 2008 WTM Gay Marketing Masterclass.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 9, 2008

TOPICS: Gay travel marketing. Lesbian and gay tourism. World Travel Market WTM London. Global gay and lesbian travelers. Out Now 2008 WTM Gay Marketing Masterclass.

Details of the Out Now 2008 Gay Marketing Masterclass at London World Travel Market have just been released.

Here is the information from the official WTM Press Release:

Homosexual, not Homogenous

How to Effectively Target Gay Travel Markets Explored at World Travel Market 2008

Lesbian and gay travellers have the same wide demographic segments as the straight travelling population. A retired lesbian couple will have very different expectations about their ideal vacation to a 21 year old gay backpacker, yet the traditional view about these travellers within the travel industry has been that there is a single "gay market".

The industry misperception that gay travellers form a homogenous target market group will be explored and challenged at World Travel Market’s (WTM) Out Now Gay and Lesbian Masterclass on Wednesday 12 November at ExCeL London.

For the third consecutive year, WTM has invited leading gay travel marketing experts, Out Now, to present their research and findings on the gay travel market at WTM. This year Out Now will examine the essential knowledge the industry needs to capitalise on the much homogenised, but financially lucrative segment of the international travel industry. Gays and lesbians account for around 6% of the global population and around 10% of total travel expenditure.

WTM’s Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass will be moderated by Out Now founder and CEO, Ian Johnson. This year's Masterclass titled Homosexual, not Homogenous – The importance of market segments when selling travel to the lesbian and gay markets, will take an in-depth look at the various different sub markets within gay travel groups exploring how to best target each individual sub category.

According to Johnson, “Most of the travel industry is yet to realise that when targeting the gay travel market effectively one size rarely fits all.”

"Gays and lesbians are a very diverse group, and within the overall market there are many different identifiable segments of gay and lesbian travellers," says Johnson. "Out Now has identified important lucrative gay travel cluster segments.”

“We are looking forward to presenting our findings and strategic implications of our work on how to maximise travel revenues and effectively understand how to market to these gay travel segments at WTM. You would not expect a Generation Y traveller to share the interests of a retiree or a honeymooner in the mainstream market, and nor should you when it comes to gay and lesbian travellers.”

“There is not a single 'gay market', there are many sub-market segments. Our job as market specialists is to help the industry understand which of these segments make the most commercial sense to develop, and to devise and implement strategies that increase revenues by targeting gay travellers."

Forming the panel for the Masterclass, various gay market experts will provide practical insight into the critical role that market segmentation must play when it comes to marketing to gay travellers effectively. Speakers include Kim Watson, Media Director of Europe's largest gay media publisher, Millivres Prowler, who will explain how segmentation affects media buying and strategy in the gay media market. Carlos Kytka, The European Ambassador for the peak gay travel industry body, IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association), who will discuss the importance of understanding the diversity that exists in the supply chain of organisations wanting to target gay travellers and Dick Stroud, MD of 20plus30 Consulting, who will cover facts on how older gay travellers differ from younger generations, and will discuss the resulting implications for the travel industry.

During the Masterclass several key gay market segments will be highlighted as case studies including: the gay+grey market, the youth market, the lesbian market and the growing market for gay honeymoons. Additionally the latest value of total gay and lesbian travel spend figures will be discussed along with new research findings about the growing value of gay honeymoons.

WTM Chairman Fiona Jeffery comments, “The gay and lesbian travel segment continues to grow and evolve within the travel industry. WTM continually provides new insight into this rising market and now with more regions and countries officially recognising gay and lesbian partnerships, the honeymoon and gay travel potential will be key for the industry to understand and capitalise on.”

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To ride the lesbian and gay marketing wave right on the leading edge -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

To contact Out Now, send us an email. Helping brands marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. Out Now Consulting and Gay Market News will keep you updated on all the latest gay marketing, GLBT community market research, LGBT travel and gay tourism, gay and lesbian communications, gay PR and gay advertising developments. Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com GayMarketing101.com. All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, GLBT marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training.

Monday, June 30, 2008

So Gay? So What? - New Advertising Campaign

The term 'so gay' has been used by youth culture for some years as a negative remark to describe something they did not like. Well, the gay community is reclaiming the term in a very high profile gay advertising campaign now running on London's Underground. Learn how.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 30, 2008

There's something unusual happening in the London Underground Tube stations at Covent Garden and Leicester Square. Things have gotten more than just 'a bit gay'.

Amro Worldwide and Out Now Have an Advertising Lesson for Heinz: So Gay? So What.

- Groundbreaking advertising on London's Underground 'Tube' system breaks down the sting of 'So Gay' as an insult.

- Amro Worldwide launches new gay-targeted advertising campaign using mainstream media at Leicester Square and Covent Garden Tube stations.

- Leading US destinations show support.

London, United Kingdom, June 30, 2008 -- [OUT NOW] -- A new travel company poster campaign launched today in London's Underground network is set to smash through the supposed insult value of "so gay", by reclaiming the term as part of an advertising slogan.

In a week where consumer brand Heinz pulled an ad in the UK they feared might be 'too gay', the new 'So Gay' campaign for leading gay specialist travel company Amro Worldwide deliberately sets out to turn the phrase on its head.

The campaign, designed by leading gay marketing agency Out Now is the largest gay travel advertising campaign to use mainstream media ever seen in the UK. More than 2 million people will view the campaign starting from today.

The new campaign equates being "so gay" with a travel destination really being 'so good' -- as seen from a gay and lesbian perspective.

According to the CEO of Amro Worldwide, Andrew Roberts, the campaign has two very important messages it seeks to communicate.

"Clearly we want the many thousands of gays and lesbians travelling to London Pride next month to know that Amro is a travel company with hand picked travel options designed especially for the gay travel market," says Mr Roberts. "We also wanted to send a clear message to everyone who sees this campaign that it is long past time that 'so gay' should be used as a negative phrase of disapproval. From where we sit, and for all our many customers, being described as 'so gay' is not a negative thing at all. We think it is just great to be so gay."

So too it seems do many of the leading tourism destination marketing offices of the United States.

Amro's 'So Gay' campaign has received the funding and support of six leading US gay travel destinations: Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, New Orleans, South Carolina and Washington, DC.

The 'So Gay' advertising campaign was created for Amro by specialist gay marketing agency, Out Now.

Out Now's CEO, Ian Johnson said: "For all people seeing this campaign it is important to know that using 'so gay' as a putdown is far from clever in the eyes of lesbian and gay people. We wanted to reclaim that for the gay community. It is really about standing up and saying: You say: 'So gay'? Then I say: 'So what!'"

"In a week where Heinz lost its gay marketing mojo, we are very proud to bring the gayest ever mainstream media advertising campaign to London Underground," Johnson added.

According to Kirsty Dillury, spokesperson for South Carolina Tourism -- the new 'So Gay' campaign is an important one.

"South Carolina has a lot to offer gay travellers, and we think that people may be surprised to see our destination reaching out to the gay market," said Ms Dillury. "We are delighted to be involved with the 'So Gay' campaign in particular as it sends a powerful positive message to everyone that there is nothing wrong at all with a destination being described as "so gay". For our gay visitors it is actually quite wonderful for them to discover just how much South Carolina has to offer -- from stunning plantation homes to miles of wide sandy beaches."

Roberts added: "To be gay in the UK in 2008 is far from insulting. It is significant, it is visible and it is now mainstream. That is why we chose to run this particular campaign in underground stations rather than in gay media. All consumers need to know that being 'so gay' is now 'so okay."

Carlos Kytka, European Ambassador of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association agreed. “As an active member of the IGLTA, Amro has already proved itself to be at the forefront of gay travel," Kytka said. "All our research shows that gay people appreciate being made to feel welcome above all else. This campaign breaks new ground by using mainstream media to send the message that these destinations clearly embrace their gay visitors.”

Lotte Jeffs, Travel Editor for Europe's leading lesbian media title DIVA praised the new campaign. "I think it’s great that leading US travel destinations have bought into Amro Worldwide’s idea of reclaiming “so gay” and equating it with a positive message in their latest ad campaign," said Jeffs. "Not only will it make gay and lesbian travellers feel like these US cities want our custom and our kudos – London’s commuters will be forced to think twice before calling something “so gay” again."

The Amro Worldwide 'So Gay' poster campaign runs on escalators in Leicester Square, and in elevators at Covent Garden London Underground stations, from June 27 until July 12, 2008.

To view and download images from the campaign, visit

www.amroworldwide.info/sogay

Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now recently won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

Amro Worldwide has carved a leading edge niche in the specialist expertise of 'gay travel' during the past seven years. Amro is ATOL bonded, and offers clients the flexibility to 'order' up their next holiday online with Amro Collection -- or take advantage of the extensive knowledge of Amro's personal travel consultants via the Amro A La Carte service. Amro management has personally stayed with every property they sell, giving rise to their corporate motto: Gay Travel - Tried, and Trusted.

###

For information and help with understanding key gay and lesbian marketing issues, to most effectively understand and meet the consumer needs of the lesbian and gay market, rely on the gay market experts, Out Now. Leading in the gay market since 1992.

Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com
To contact Out Now, send us an email.
-------------------
All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global GLBT marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, gay marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site.

Corporate Sponsors - Seattle Gay Pride

The Northern hemisphere GLBT Pride season is in full-swing. Seattle gets its Pride celebration up and running -- and onto a stronger footing than in recent years.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 30, 2008
TOPICS: LGBT Pride parades. Seattle, Washingot gay Pride report. LGBT market. Corporate sponsorship of lesbian and gay community events.

One of my favourite sayings is that everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And that is true of gay marketing as with all else in life.

Time was when corporate sponsorship of gay and lesbian events was not especially well-received by most lesbian and gay consumers.

Those brands attaching themselves to community events -- such as Gay Pride events -- were often viewed cynically and ended up creating varying levels of consumer resentment.

Quite the opposite of the brand goodwill that had been desired by the sponsoring brands.

Corporate sponsorships and gay marketing: then and now

Ten years ago, consumers in Australia were amongst the first to be tracked, anywhere in the world, through groundbreaking focus groups research by Out Now's Australian office.

I wrote some years ago in an article for the Sydney Morning Herald that Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras had suffered a loss of support from its consumer base as a result of a poorly pursued push for increased levels of corporate sponsorship.

The newspaper ran the item under the sub-head:

The harsh glare of commercialism is killing the magic that made a unique Sydney event.

Lesbian and gay community members felt that gay community events -- which they themselves were responsible for creating -- were being sold out by organizers hungry for an additional source of funding. It was perhaps a bit like killing off the goose that laid the golden egg.

Well, times change and now the interactions between lesbian and gay community members and the corporate sector has evolved into one of a more easy truce.

Seattle Gay Pride

A good example is from reports today of the Seattle Gay Pride parade.

The 2008 event took place this past weekend, and what struck me is the way the report describes a positive set of interactions between the gay and lesbian community, those attending the parade, and the presence of the corporate sponsors involved.

The Seattle Times reports:

The three-hour parade featured several new corporate sponsors, including Alaska Airlines, Verizon Wireless and Safeco Insurance Foundation. Occasional showers of Frango mints, Tazo tea bags and other brand-name freebies delighted the crowd.

It is important to not suggest though that there are now no community members concerned by levels of corporate sponsors involvement with gay community events. Far from it.

But what does seem to have changed is an awareness on the part of corporate brands that they are there as special invited guests -- even when it is their corporate sponsorship dollars that may be paying for the party.

Whereas in the past sponsors often seemed to think they had signage and naming rights to use as they wished, I sense there is now a growing understanding on the part of sponsors that their best commercial outcomes will be achieved through a softer approach of strategic support, and not just by making the biggest sponsorship noise.

A case of less is more, if you will.

If it means that gay communities around the world get to enjoy celebrations of lesbian and gay pride as a result, so much the better.

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To ride the lesbian and gay marketing wave right on the leading edge -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

To contact Out Now, send us an email. Helping brands marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. Out Now Consulting and Gay Market News will keep you updated on all the latest gay marketing, GLBT community market research, LGBT travel and gay tourism, gay and lesbian communications, gay PR and gay advertising developments. Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com GayMarketing101.com. All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, GLBT marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training.

Amro Worldwide So Gay Advertisements

A new Out Now campaign officially launches tonight in London for leading gay travel specialist, Amro Worldwide. This new mainstream media "So Gay" campaign inverts the sting of a negative to reclaim "so gay" as a strong positive attribute for the lesbian and gay communities.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 30, 2008

Out Now works with a broad range of clients from large to small and across markets.

One of Out Now's latest campaigns is making quite an impact for one of our clients, Amro Worldwide.

Amro is a gay and lesbian specialist tour operator. The company has some very strong gay travel product, but felt that they were not connecting as effectively as they could do with consumers.

Out Now started working with the company back in January.

Our first task was to undertake focus group research for the brand that revealed a low level of brand awareness and poor response to their existing brand imagery and website design.

For a business reliant upon people finding their website a pleasant experience to use, this was a fairly severe research outcome, and one that needed immediate attention.

With a methodical application of Out Now's recommendations, Amro has now rebranded using a new logo and colour palette created by Out Now's lead designer, Malcolm Jones.

The move away from the previous rainbow colours to more 'grown up' colours makes the brand a far more serious supplier of gay travel.

The Amro website has also been extensively redesigned, both in terms of functionality and design.

In addition to this, Out Now has launched a new advertising campaign for the brand in the London Underground. For the next fortnight, more than 2 million people will see the Amro Worldwide "So gay" campaign.

We will talk about that in the next article, but here is a sneak video peek from YouTube.com/GayMarketing at the ads in site at Leicester Square underground Tube station. (The music is courtesy of a busker at the end of the escalators -- who does a strong line in big sax numbers apparently.)

The Amro brand is now very visible, and best of all -- is being noticed and talked about by the many consumers that see the ads. The target audience of gay consumers is present in strong numbers in these locations -- with the annual London LGBT Pride taking place in the area around these Tube locations next weekend.

More reporting on this new campaign will appear here in Gay Market News over the next day or two.

The Amro Worldwide "So Gay" official campaign launch is tonight in London at 6.30pm; Leicester Square and Covent Gardens.

###

For information and help with understanding key gay and lesbian marketing issues, to most effectively understand and meet the consumer needs of the lesbian and gay market, rely on the gay market experts, Out Now. Leading in the gay market since 1992.

Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved. OutNowConsulting.com
To contact Out Now, send us an email.
-------------------
All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2008 - Out Now. If you find any material you believe is subject to other copyrights here, other than allowed fair use for copyright purposes, please contact Out Now with details. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global GLBT marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, gay marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Heinz Gay Marketing Mistake?

Heinz is in the news today. Last week it premiered an advertisement for Heinz Deli Mayo that included a gay kiss at the end. This week, they pulled the ad. Arguments -- for and against -- are raging. Discover why.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 27, 2008

TOPICS: UK gay and lesbian marketing and gay advertising. Heinz Deli Mayo gay kiss advert. Ads targeting mainstream market. Gay boycotts. Gay advertisement. Heinz Deli Mayo UK market advertising is pulled from the air after 200 complaints lodged.

Heinz is making news in the UK, and elsewhere in the gay communities, after it pulled an ad from the airwaves that features a demure gay kiss between two men.

The advertising is for the Heinz Deli Mayo sauce range, and premiered in the UK market last week.

Originally scheduled to run for five weeks, this week the company decided to stop using the TV commercial as a response to 200 complaints said to have been received against the advertising.

This has left gay and lesbian community activists fuming -- with one UK gay rights group calling for a boycott of Heinz products.

Righteously offended complainants

The ad in question was one we wrote about favourably in Gay Market News earlier in the week.

Since then though the Heinz company has decided to stop running the ad, after a reported 200 complaints against it were received.

Call me ill-informed but a mere 200 complaints in a market of 60 million consumers seems rather insignificant to me.

More to the point, whenever Out Now works with a new client, we generally advise that no matter what brands do in relation to gay and lesbian marketing matters, there will almost always be a number of consumers who will take it upon themselves to be righteously offended, and complain to the company.

That has nothing to do with matters of taste or decency, and everything to do with homophobia.

So too in this case where the advertisement closes with a fleeting imagined kiss between two men. One irony of all this is that the kiss is not even a real gay kiss.

A further irony is that the ad is not allowed to be shown during children's viewing times -- not because of the content of the ad, but because the product itself is too full of sugar and fats to meet the regulator, Ofcom's guidelines on healthy food advertising to children.

The pretext of the Heinz Deli Mayo gay kiss ad is that if "Mum" chooses Heinz Deli Mayo, it is as if there was New York Deli man in the kitchen -- the product is supposedly so authentic.

This is not a gay couple we are watching -- it is an advertising fantasy where "Mum" is transformed by the powers of the product.

Some people though cannot see past the visual that happens when the husband kisses "Mum" goodbye at the end of the ad.

An intended storm?

Given that Out Now knows well that there are a clutch of 'offended' homophobic people consistently just waiting to complain if any brand dares to go near a potentially gay topic -- why would Heinz not be expecting to receive a level of complaints about the new ad?

For that matter, why wouldn't their agency?

It seems 200 complaints is a rather small number to justify pulling the ad.

Of course since this happened, the new world of online conversation, as well as traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers, have all engaged energetically in the debate over whether Heinz was right or wrong to pull this ad from the airwaves.

And the resulting amount of media and online coverage they have received is valued at far more than the original campaign budget would ever have given the brand.

I may be getting old and cynical here, but part of me wonders whether generating this significant exposure for the brand might not have been part of the brand marketing strategy all along.

Last week almost no-one was talking about the Heinz Deli Mayo brand -- this week it's everywhere.

This TV program from the UK is typical of the kind of debate the withdrawal of the advertising sparked.

Whatever the company's rationale, you have to wonder whether it is worth risking long term damage to the brand from pulling such a humorous and innocuous advertisement.

The gay market, and their supporters, have a tendency to react when treated badly.

And Heinz may well yet discover they have traded a little bit of short term publicity gain for a much greater amount of long term pain for the Heinz brand and their products.

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