Gay Market News Media Move To Lifestyle

TOPICS: News media. Gay media. Lesbian and gay media. Gay news media issues. Gay and lesbian diversity. Gay PR. Gay equality. Gay acceptance. Mainstream news reports on gay media issues. US report on the trend in gay news media away from reporting of hard news towards reporting of lifestyle and related non-news content.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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Gay Market News has previously discussed the gay media shift from gay news reporting to gay lifestyle content, and the impact that new technology is having on gay media product.

There is an interesting news item about this gay media trend in the weekend's US mainstream news media.

Here is an extract:

Gay-themed magazines offering less news, more lifestyle

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Back in the day, gay and lesbian publications were all about the activism. The Stonewall riots. Workplace discrimination. AIDS funding.

All the serious, important stuff.

Now, these niche newspapers and magazines seem more about the "active lifestyle," as the media cliche goes. Home improvement. Fashion. Celebrity culture. All the fun, frivolous stuff.

Such a transformation is not merely a measure of the acceptance that gays and lesbians have achieved in society. It also shows that gay media are not immune to the trends that have recently dominated mainstream publications - in other words: flash over substance, influenced by (what else?) the Internet.

One difference: Gay and lesbian media are seeing greater success under this new rubric, while some mainstream periodicals struggle to stave off irrelevancy and insolvency in the digital age.

This trend holds in Sacramento, where established free magazines Mom Guess What (monthly) and Outword (biweekly) continue to draw national audiences and advertisers.

And next month, the national free quarterly Jane and Jane, a lesbian lifestyle magazine based in Sacramento, will celebrate its first anniversary.

(It's) about giving readers what they want.

Which means not the strident political activism of years past.

And that is what Sacramento's gay and lesbian readers get from Outword, Mom Guess What (also known as MGW), and Jane and Jane.

In the case of Outword and MGW, stories about social issues remain, but the vast amount of ink - including the covers - is increasingly entertainment- and celebrity-oriented.

Meanwhile, Jane and Jane calls itself the "first home and family magazine for lesbian lifestyles." And in look and content, it reads like a younger sibling to Sunset magazine.

Outword, arguably the "newsiest" of the three periodicals, ran its annual home-and-garden issue on April 12; the issue before that featured the movie "300" as its cover story. MGW's latest issue, available now, has celebrity "fitness fatale" Jackie Warner of Bravo's "Workout" as its cover girl. And Jane and Jane's cover story for spring: "10 Ways To Nurture Your Love Life."

"The reason we created Jane and Jane is because we didn't see other lesbian publications that spoke to us," says Alison Zawacki, co-publisher with Debbie Wells. "We're not necessarily political people. We aren't that interested in celebrities and the latest parties. We're more settled.

"It's important for mainstream society to see we are just like everybody else."

Wells says that when Jane and Jane launched last year, some people naturally assumed the magazine would tackle weighty issues in the lesbian community.

"We're still very supportive of gay and lesbian causes," Wells says, "but we have to do it in a way that fits with our (magazine's) mission.

"So you might see a (travel) story on gay-friendly Reno or a piece on preparing for lesbian weddings. That's how we address the issues."
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

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Canada Diversity At Work

TOPICS: Work. Gay at work. Lesbian and gay diversity in the workplace. Diversity issues. Gay and lesbian diversity. Gay discrimination. Gay equality. Gay acceptance. Staff training. Diversity training. Gay market. Out Now. Gay market research. Lesbian and gay diversity programs retain staff. Canada. Gay at work.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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There is persuasive data coming out of Canada that shows the value of implementing effective diversity policies in the workplace.

Diversity in most workplaces now often, almost usually, includes lesbian and gay equality principles.

As more lesbians and gay men have come out at work, there has been a better understanding of how lesbian and gay workplace issues are the same as, and how they are different from, general employment issues.

Out Now's research into the area of discrimination at work and coming out as gay in the workplace has been covered by mainstream news media including this report from the Independent newspaper in the UK.

Only half of lesbian and gay research respondents in the Out Now UK research said they could be entirely honest at work about their sexuality.

That represents a quite significant amount of wasted effort concealing a basic fact of one's own life - effort that employers would rightly prefer to see channeled into much more productive workplace activities.

The gay workplace diversity experience in Canada suggests that the investment made to create and implement effective workplace diversity, including lesbian and gay diversity at work, is money well spent.

Chris Post, is a tax partner at KPMG's Calgary office who had spent 20 years in the closet yet came out last year as openly gay, and he even took his same-sex partner to the annual Christmas party.

"Certainly there was some reluctance and anxiety, but to my delight there has really been no negative reaction whatsoever," Mr. Post says. "I've received fantastic support from some of the most senior people."

Mr. Post was motivated to come out by the launch of a support network KPMG initiated to provide support for gay and lesbian workers.

Retention of staff, reduction of training replacement staff, greater workplace trust and team building, and improved productivity are all beneficial spin-offs from implementing effective gay and lesbian diversity policies at work.

To learn how to better understand the implications of gay and lesbian diversity programs for your workplace, contact Out Now.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Out Now Commercial Closet Award Nominee

TOPICS: Gay advertising. Out Now. Lufthansa. German. Gay Summer. Gay PR market. UK gay market. Gay tourism. Gay travel advertising and media market in EU. Gay marketing in Europe. Gay tourism marketing, PR and advertising in Europe. Commercial Closet. Gay Images In Advertising Awards. Out Now is nominated for prestigious Commercial Closet Advertising Awards to be presented in New York City in June 2007.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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News just in...

It was a great delight to be notified this week that Out Now has been nominated for a Commercial Closet award at the Commercial Closet Association's Images In Advertising awards ceremony - to be held in New York City on June 11, 2007.

We will post details of the nomination here shortly, but in the meantime, we recommend that you check out the astonishingly good Commercial Closet 'vault' of gay advertising images covering almost a century of lesbian and gay portrayals by media, in the US, Europe, Australia and many other areas.

We often can imagine that advertising that portrays gays and lesbians is something new, but the Commercial Closet archive shows that the presence of gay and lesbian people in media has existed for practically as long as 'modern' communications media itself.

What has changed of course is the new emphasis of gay advertising for a targeted lesbian and gay consumer audience, and the myriad of gay communications, media and PR campaigns that have evolved around this.

Advertising Age columnist Ken Wheaton called the 2006 Commercial Closet gay advertising awards event his "new favorite award show" last year.

Our gay advertising, market research, strategy development program, gay PR and training programs have been ongoing for fifteen years now. Some of our recent gay PR and gay advertising campaigns are showcased online by Commercial Closet, and some of our other campaigns are online here.

Pictured is a previous Out Now Consulting UK gay marketing, advertising, PR campaign for Lufthansa German Airlines, called Gay Summer.

Out Now is proud to be nominated by Commercial Closet for its Third Annual Images In Advertising awards show in June.

More details to follow...

To learn how to better manage gay and lesbian advertising campaigns, contact Out Now.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Gay Anzac Advertising - Lest We Forget

TOPICS: Gay PR market. Australia gay market. Anzac Day. Gay advertising and media market in Australia. Gay marketing in Australia. Community politics in Australia. Victorian gay media advertising in Melbourne about Anzac Day causes community disquiet in Australia.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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There is a lot of change taking place in the world of gay advertising, marketing and PR.

One thing that is clear is that as gay advertising and marketing become more integrated into mainstream life, the cross-over between markets that were previously quite segregated can sometimes cause a collision of values.

Anzac Day is an almost sacred remembrance of Australia's greatest war battle - the sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) soldiers at Gallipoli in 1915.

The streets of Sydney, and most other Australian cities and towns, were today filled with soldiers, sailors and airforce personnel, past and present, celebrating the lives of fallen mates and comrades lost in battle.

For more than 90 years, April 25 has been known as Anzac Day - a day of reflection and remembrance for the lives of those lost.

Anzac Day is also a Public Holiday in Australia.

As such, it is a key marketing opportunity for gay bars, clubs and venues to invite gay guests to go out on a weeknight to enjoy gay community nightlife.

However the collision between the midweek Anzac public holiday being both a potential big night out as well as an intended community remembrance of Anzac soldiers has caused an unfortunate PR disaster for several gay venues across Australia.

The Wickham Club in Brisbane and The Peel Bar in Melbourne are each one of the most popular gay market entertainment venues in their respective markets. And both used Anzac imagery to promote their Anzac eve party nights in local gay media.

That caused a national mainstream media critical reaction and ended up being a PR disaster for the gay community and the specific gay venues involved. One comment online about this was:

"This disrespectful exploitation of Anzac Day and those that fought for our country is a shameful act. All walks of life , be it gay or heterosexual, should have the utmost respect for the individuals who gave their lives to this country and not use this day as an excuse to promote products or services."

The lesson to be learned is clear - the days are now gone when gay community advertising, gay market media and gay community PR activity was invisible to the mainstream.

Now it is imperative for business to understand that gay advertising, marketing and PR activities will be visible and will be subject to scrutiny not only from the target lesbian and gay consumer, but from the broader mainstream market as well.

Does that mean gay advertising campaigns need to be timid or afraid of adverse PR and mainstream news media reactions?

Not at all.

But good PR and gay advertising campaigns should always consider the impact of marketing activities on potential consumer reactions to a campaign from all segments of society.

Gay marketing no longer functions in a vacuum, and is more visible - to all - than ever before.

In the case of something as significant to Australian history as Anzac Day - effective marketing practitioners understand - from both ethical and professional standpoints - that the name of the game is 'respect'.

Lest we forget.

To learn how to better manage gay and lesbian advertising campaigns, contact Out Now.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Australia: Victoria Same Sex Register

TOPICS: Gay marriage market. Australia gay market. Civil partnerships. Gay advertising and media market in Australia. Gay marketing in Australia. Community politics in Australia. Victorian government set to enact new civil register to allow same sex couples to have equivalent legal rights in Australia.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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Australia lags behind the UK in the provision of Civil Unions and behind other places such as Belgium and the Netherlands where gay marriage is the norm, but today the State of Victoria announced an intention to establish an equality register to allow same sex couples to register their union for legal purposes.

In Australia the Federal Government has responsibility for laws related to marriage and the Victorian government was mindful of recent moves by the Australian Capital Territory government to establish civil partnerships there.

So today's announcement by the Victorian state government - the second most populous Australian state is, for Australia, a big step forward.

Government sources last night confirmed that Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, previously wary of the idea, now fully supports a statewide relationship register, and wants to introduce it as soon as possible - perhaps by the end of this year.

Mr Bracks last night told senior local government figures that progress was being made on the proposal for a register, after Attorney-General Rob Hulls backed the plan.

Gay and lesbian groups were last night celebrating the news.

"It's been a long time coming, but this is a significant step for same-sex couples," Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convener Gerard Brody said.

"We will be the second state in Australia with this legislation, so we are not too far behind," he said. "But Australia is still behind the rest of the world."
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Gay Weekend: GLAAD, Variety, Logo TV

TOPICS: Gay media market. US gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in US. Gay marketing in US. Community politics in US, GLAAD scores wins and hits in the gay PR business. Gay advertising and gay marketing in US. New York, Los Angeles. Pink dollar marketing. Entertainment news. Mainstream news. Lesbian and gay news. Gay advertising. Mainstream marketing. Gay community news. GLAAD awards in New York and LA completed, Logo to broadcast GLAAD awards this weekend.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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This weekend there will be a broadcast of the recent New York and Los Angeles GLAAD, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation awards.

I was visiting New York and witnessed GLAAD presentations there creating considerable angst in lesbian and gay media including here! TV, The Advocate and even the presenting sponsor, MTV Network's Logo gay TV channel - due to GLAAD's policy of excluding gay media content from eligibility for the high profile GLAAD awards.

Out Now urges GLAAD to revise that decision as the gay media and mainstream media landscapes metamorphose into very differing interactions with each other, which often renders past years' approach of separating gay from mainstream media content increasingly irrelevant.

We are sure that there are many ways GLAAD can continue its important fight against homophobia in media, as well as acknowledging the best of gay prositive media portrayals from a range of media outlets.

The GLAAD awards also include two for advertising.

The latest issue of Variety magazine carries a news article about the GLAAD advertising awards, in which Out Now is quoted.

Here is an extract of that news report from Variety (US) magazine.

Same-sex ads swim into mainstream - Industry embraces buying power of gay market
By ANDREW BARKER
Date in print: Fri., Apr. 13, 2007, Los Angeles

Thirteen years ago, a TV spot for IKEA caused something of a sensation: Two middle-aged men shop for a new table, speaking to one another in tones that suggest they may be a couple. The commercial prompted protests and bomb threats targeting U.S. retailers.

Times have certainly changed since then, with marketers and advertising agencies recognizing the sheer buying power of the gay and lesbian community. GLAAD has even established two advertising awards -- one for print, another for digital. Yet the market remains as elusive as it is lucrative.

For one thing, gays and lesbians are proving increasingly difficult to pigeonhole. The gay community was once seen as marginal, targeted by only a few advertisers (most often liquor companies) in a few gay-themed publications. Today, with GLAAD's advertising nominees ranging from designer Marc Jacobs and Paris Las Vegas to travel agency Orbitz and the United Church of Christ, the market has opened up considerably.

Damon Wolf, founder of the Crew Creative agency, who has coordinated print campaigns for "The Bourne Supremacy," "Entourage" and "The Sopranos," puts it bluntly: "We don't consider the gay and lesbian market a niche market anymore. We can't. It's made it to the mainstream."

Financially speaking, the market has surpassed the mainstream. According to a study released in January, the buying power of gays and lesbians in the U.S. will reach $660 billion by the end of this year. By 2011, the study projects, that number will climb to $835 billion. And demographically, gays are more likely to spend more on luxuries and travel, because so many fall into that sought-after group marketers call "dinks" -- dual income, no kids.

Identifying the market is one thing, but targeting it effectively is quite another.

One concern for American companies is the threat of an IKEA-style backlash from conservative consumer groups.

Ian Johnson, whose Out Now Consulting provides gay-targeted marketing services for a range of companies in Australia and Europe, concedes that the risk is there.

"Some of the work we do for our clients in Europe and the U.K. would not be able to be done in the U.S.," he says.

Yet he cautions that trying to avoid a backlash can do more harm than good.

"Brands generally have more to fear from alienating gay customers and their supporters if they try to react to the harassment by antigay lobbying groups," Johnson says. "As more lesbian and gay people come out, and more people become supportive of gay and lesbian equality, the importance of those who support gay people is of far greater value than that of those who are rabidly homophobic."

For illustration, Johnson points to the uproar that followed Ford's decision to pull Jaguar ads from gay publications after the American Family Assn. threatened a boycott. Though Ford denied that the AFA's boycott influenced the decision, gay rights groups worldwide threatened a boycott of their own in response, and Ford quickly reinstated -- and expanded -- its ad campaign.

More recently, Snickers came under fire for a Super Bowl commercial that many complained was homophobic. Apologetic press releases were issued, and the spot has not aired since.

Johnson admits that gay consumers "have seen some very poor efforts by certain brands seeking to get their wallets open," but he still believes there is a place for targeted marketing.

"Most members of the market share a common bond by virtue of their 'otherness,' which creates significant marketing opportunities," he says. "The challenge is to create good gay marketing that works by recognition of both the commonality that exists between gay consumers, while at the same time acknowledging the vast diversity that also exists amongst the group."

Recognizing that this is easier said than done, he adds: "It's not always straightforward, but good fun nonetheless.

To learn about gay advertising and how best to develop effective gay marketing, PR and advertising strategies for your brand contact Out Now.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Sydney Gay Mardi Gras: Selling Out?

TOPICS: Gay market. Australian gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in Australia. Gay market in Australia. Community politics in Sydney, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and their gay PR advertising. Gay advertising and gay marketing in Australia. Sydney marketing. Pink dollar marketing. Gay marketing. Mainstream marketing. Gay community news. SX newspaper. Vanessa Wagner writes a column criticising Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for selling out to commercial interests over the gay and lesbian community.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has been a major part of Sydney life since 1978, when the NSW Police Service attempted to close down a gay rights march that happened in the streets of Sydney. In a local version of the New York Stonewall riots some nine years earlier, the lesbian and gay community of Sydney fought back and police made many arrests.

The events surrounding this eventful 1978 winter's night evolved over several years to metamorphose from a street protest to the largest nighttime gay and lesbian celebration in the world.

Like most people who have experienced a Mardi Gras parade and Mardi Gras party in Sydney, I remember well my first Mardi Gras parade in 1985, and the first huge gay Mardi Gras party I attended in 1988. Watching the Sonic Legend DJ David Hiscock spin disco to 15,000 dancing fans was a moment never to be forgotten.

I did not realize then that those intervening years up to the mid-1990s were to be the period of the Mardi Gras at the zenith of its success.

Since then the corporate entity that organizes Mardi Gras has collapsed under the weight of financial debts, been reborn through a manifestation of community support for the organization's history, and attempted to evolve Mardi Gras into being more of a commercially successful event.

In a trend we at Out Now are tracking that is being played out increasingly for many gay community events across the world, there is an ongoing conflict between the community and its desire for Mardi Gras to exist and to reflect gay community aspirations, and the commercial sector that views Mardi Gras as a great high profile gay marketing and gay PR opportunity.

In the middle sits the organizers, New Mardi Gras, who get criticized if they are not financially responsible and yet also cop it in the neck when they do enter into commercial arrangements which often are perceived by the community to be selling out the history of the community's own event for the sake of securing some quick pink dollars to fund operations.

Out Now, and our Australian office Significant Others, has written about this conflict before in Gay Market News and also in the Australian mainstream news media.

As I write this from our Australian office, I thought you may be interested to learn that the now traditional Mardi Gras gay community - gay market commercial debate is once again swirling around Mardi Gras.

The news is the same as in the past with opposing points of view doing battle.

In last week's Sydney SX News opinion article by Vanessa Wagner:

"It's saddening to see how visually and politically mediocre our world showcase has become over the last decade," said Wagner. "But am I the only one who finds it somewhat bewildering in what should be an irreverent, hilarious, community-based poof-and-dyke-fest, to watch a bunch of bank, radio and chewing-gum factory employees act as, well, prancing ads? I'm sure they're having a ball, but who else is?"

"Let's get rid of crass product-placement and ensure that sponsored floats are about Mardi Gras, not the sponsor."

Now in the latest news edition of Sydney SX news, drag artiste Mitzi Macintosh weighs in with the community support argument:

"We all know Mardi Gras is in a rebuilding process but as we place two bricks on the wall that is our community there will always be somebody with a hammer and chisel willing to tear it down. I was extremely disappointed to read Vanessa's column in last week's paper."

The conundrum continues as Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, like other gay community Pride and Christopher Street Day CSD events the world over, struggle to reconcile gay marketing corporates seeking favourable gay PR with the demands of their constituent gay communities - to whom the gay community organizations owe their very existence.

Stay tuned.

To learn more about gay community organizations and how to develop effective gay marketing and PR sponsorships, by understanding how these need to be carefully managed to make sure the gay community reacts well to the brand's initiatives, contact Out Now.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Belgium Radio Media - Gay PR Advertising

TOPICS: Gay market. Belgium gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in EU. Gay market in Europe. Belgium radio station and their gay PR advertising. Gay advertising and gay marketing in Europe. EU marketing. Pink euro marketing. Gay marketing. Mainstream marketing. Gay male advertising themes used in current PR campaign for Donna Radio in Belgium. I'm in love with a boy PR and advertising campaign in Belgium.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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Out Now has offices across the world, one of which is based in Belgium.

One of our consultants in Belgium spotted this fun advertising and PR campaign for Donna radio on Belgian TV.

Donna radio is a mainstream media radio station quite well known in Belgium both for their music content as well as their on-air TV simulcasts from the radio studio on morning television in Belgium.

This advertising shows once again, as if any proof were still needed, the extent to which gay market themes are becoming embraced by mainstream marketing all over the world.

This 60 second TV advertisement for Radio Donna achieves cut-through and uses gay advertising in a way that is very supportive of gay people and their place in the nuclear family and in society generally.

Here is the Donna Radio Belgium advertising 'I'm in love with a boy':

Thank You For The Music Donna Radio Belgium...



Donna Radio Belgium gay themed advertising and PR mainstream marketing campaign.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Out Now - Gay Market In Switzerland

TOPICS: Gay market. Switzerland gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in US. Gay market in Australia. Gay PR, gay advertising and gay marketing in Europe. EU marketing. Pink euro marketing. Gay marketing. Lesbian and gay market research. Out Now Consulting is referenced in gay market news media article on gay advertising, gay PR and gay market research. Ian Johnson. Out Now.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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Out Now Consulting is mentioned in the news media around the world frequently due to the leading-edge gay marketing role we find ourselves working in for our clients.

Our gay market research program, gay strategic consulting practice, gay advertising, gay PR and staff training programs are often referenced by journalists to illustrate to their audience the impacts of the phenomenon of gay marketing, gay advertising and gay PR.

Last Friday Out Now appeared in US mainstream media in a news article on gay advertising.

On the same day, the business section of the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper in Switzerland included an article referencing Out Now's work in the various areas we work in to develop gay market opportunities for our clients.

It is interesting how news worthy our work seems to be to the world's mainstream news services.

Gay marketing is something Out Now has specialized in for 15 years, and sometimes we can forget that while the gay market is not news to us, it often is news to the world's media.

And the gay market is certainly great news to our clients looking for gay marketing, gay PR and gay advertising expertise. All in a days work.

It is also worth noting the fact that the Snickers advertising mistake produced by Omnicom advertising agencies is a gay marketing PR mistake of global proportions. Both this Swiss article and last week's Variety news article referred to it, and the Snickers Super Bowl controversy ad proves that bad gay PR work unfortunately has a habit of lingering for a long time in the market.

If you click on the jpeg of the news item you can read the article in its original form, and for our German speaking readers, here is an extract from the gay market news item from Tages-Anzeiger newspaper in Switzerland that references Out Now Consulting.

Tages-Anzeiger · Freitag, 13. April 2007
Unternehmen entdecken den schwulen Kunden
Von Ralf Kaminski

Was in den USA und England seit 20 Jahren gemacht wird, steckt in der Schweiz noch in den Kinderschuhen: Werbung für Schwule. Es lockt eine trendige und kaufkräftige Kundschaft.

In den angelsächsischen Ländern hat Gay Marketing schon viel früher begonnen.

Bereits in den Achtzigerjahren haben erste Unternehmen in den USA und Australien Schwule gezielt beworben – auch dort begann es mit Reisen und Alkohol.

«In den letzten Jahren ist das Gay Marketing aber geradezu explodiert», erklärt Ian Johnson von der britischen Out Now Consulting.

Seine Firma berät grosse Marken wie IBM, Toyota oder Citibank, die gezielt Lesben und Schwule ansprechen wollen. Laut Johnson liegt das Potenzial in Europa bei rund 20 Millionen Erwachsenen, die pro Jahr 500 Milliarden Euro verdienen.

«Dieser Markt ist zu gross und zu lukrativ, um ihn zu ignorieren.» Lesben wurden bisher zwar weniger umworben, aber dies ändert sich laut Johnson langsam.

Die Gay Community freut sich zwar über die wirtschaftliche Aufmerksamkeit, findet aber längst nicht jede Werbung gelungen – es gibt gar eine eigene Website, auf der positive und negative Anzeigen und Clips analysiert werden.

Und auch in der Hinsicht ist die Marktmacht der Schwulen gewachsen: Der Nahrungsmittelriese Mars Masterfoods sah sich im Februar nach lauten Protesten der Gay Community gezwungen, einen homophob angehauchten Snickers-Spot zurückzuziehen, der für Sportübertragungen im USFernsehen gedacht gewesen war.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Gay and Out In Sports Sponsorship

TOPICS: Gay market. UK gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in US. Sports and gay sponsorship marketing. Gay marketing. Lesbian and gay market research. UK gay market PR. UK gay marketing developments. Football. Soccer. Sport. Lesbian and gay social issues. Mainstream market. Gay PR. London. News report in yesterday's Observer newspaper in UK news article abotu gay and lesbian athletes and sports stars in football - urges players to come out. Sponsorship and marketing implications.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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As we have remarked in Gay Market News several times before there is still somewhat of a final frontier in marketing in relation to gay men and lesbians in sports.

Whilst gay sports stars are relatively thin on the ground, there are several well known precedents such as Martina Navratilova, Ian Roberts and others.

Martina Navratilova and American Express Financial Services struck one of the first gay sponsorship deals. Navratilova also has racked up deals with Do-Tell Corporation for their Rainbow Card as well as with lesbian cruise line, and gay tourism company, Olivia.

Yesterday's Observer newspaper in the UK carries an interesting article about the fact that there are many gay men playing professional soccer, yet no openly gay footballers are currently out of the closet.

The writer is himself a football player and makes the point that he is sure there are gay footballers in the closet, and urges them to come out.

In the modern socially progressive society that the UK has morphed into, and given the multi-million dollar sponsorships won by major football stars in the UK, plus the gay market's growing appeal to mainstream brand advertisers and marketers, there remains huge PR and sponsorship potential for an out gay footballer to tap into a unique marketing sponsorship and PR opportunity.

But life is not always so simple as all that. We expect though that based on other countries and other industries, once one or two high profile gay footballers do come out, the professional future will be much improved for other gay sports players in the UK.

Here is an extract of the Observer gay football sponsorship article:

Will a gay footballer ever come out of the comfort zone?

David James - Sunday April 15, 2007
The Observer

If one in 10 people are gay, where are all the gay Premiership stars? It's a question that's often asked, but there are only whispers, dodgy rumours and malicious media gossip for answers.

Football, it seems, is one of the last professional environments where you can't be out and proud. In every other entertainment industry we have gay stars. Why should football be different? Are football fans really so incapable of watching a gay player without abusing him? The same bunch of fans who are routinely homophobic always sing along to the camp-as-you-like Scissors Sisters anthems played at grounds up and down the country or the Pet Shop Boys song 'Go West'?

Famously, Justin Fashanu was the only footballer who dared come out back in 1990, and eight years later he killed himself. But football was a very different place then. Racism was still a major problem: players being covered in boot polish or given a hiding. Had Justin been white, maybe he'd have had a different experience. In those days football was also much more homoerotic, with more bum-patting and kissing - so maybe the presence of an openly gay footballer would have upset the comfort zones.

Sportsmen and women have come out in other sports, but it hasn't always been a straightforward process - although Martina Navratilova continued to be successful on the tennis court, she claims she lost out on $12million in sponsorship deals. Many athletes prefer to wait until they retire, like John Amaechi, the British former NBA player, did earlier this year. I was watching the TV when his announcement flashed up. I know John because our paths crossed working for the Special Olympics, but I would never have guessed he was gay.

But then again, how can you ever guess? Footballers are superstars these days and yet very few open their private lives up to the media. So people hear a name and the rumour that he's gay and they don't even know that he's married with three kids. Not that you can't be gay and married, but anyone can see a footballer and invent an identity for him.

No one's ever come out to me during my 18 years in football. But I must say I've seen and heard some strange things, remarks that could suggest someone is gay or bisexual. I've heard drunken footballers egging each other on to do certain things for a certain amount of money. Maybe it's routine stuff, part and parcel of what goes on in every pub team across the country, but it made me wonder why they would be talking about it if they were straight.

That's just me speculating, but speculation is half the fear factor around coming out. Gossip is a brutal thing and footballers are no better than anyone else. In the old days we used to invent rumours for a laugh and then watch them spread. We'd say, 'Did you know so and so is gay? No, he isn't really, but it would make a great rumour.' Even now rumours about certain players fly round by text message. 'Do you know who it is?' But there's no certainty in it, it's just old wives gassing over the fence.

It's the media's favourite taboo. They love to spin stories and, if they do it without naming people, it keeps the mystery going because the footballers they are hinting at cannot defend themselves. All this Player A and Player B nonsense: it's a witch-hunt. In the past I've spoken to players who have been accused and it's very traumatic for them. They feel angry. The intense speculation causes a lot of problems for their loved ones. Families have to put up with being approached in the street and taunted about it. It's scary to think that as a society we are still using such things as cheap fun.

A senior executive in football said to me he wished all the gay footballers would come out so we could just get on with it. I find that view refreshing.

In marketing terms they could make a fortune. Just imagine, football's first gay couple playing for rival teams, arguing about offside decisions over the dinner table. They would do Hello! magazine, chatshows, advertisements. Would it upset players being naked in the changing room together? What about the after-hours highly homoerotic activities - indulging in football threesomes and roastings? Would football culture ever be the same again? I can't imagine it would be possible for a 17-year-old to come out, no matter how good he was. The protective bubble of success wouldn't be there. You'd have to prove yourself first before you could be openly gay and still be accepted.

And football is a sheltered existence. Even if you're accepted for being gay as a football star, it could be different once you retire. It could come back to haunt you. Football is transient, loyalties quickly switch. Another NBA player, LeBron James, chastised Amaechi for betraying his team-mates in keeping his sexuality secret, but in football your team-mates one day could be your opponents the next.

Down the years I could easily have been accused of being gay. I was a bit different - I modelled for Giorgio Armani, sparking rumours over which designers wanted to get into my pants; I practised yoga; I read, I paint. I've been to The Boardwalk - a gay club in Manchester - although I was with my wife at the time, and I've even driven past the local gay dogging spot in Devon - there were a couple of guys in tight black shorts and vests looking like Village People try-outs.

I have a number of gay friends and although they wouldn't want me shouting from the rooftops about their sexuality, I'd like to encourage them to come out. I accept that it's easy for me to say that, but how many more years will it be before we can talk openly about gay men playing professional football? From next season homophobic chanting is outlawed, which is a start.

It'll still take some sort of new age hero to be the first to come out, but I just hope, for football's sake, that it happens soon.
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Variety: Gay Advertising - Out Now

TOPICS: Out Now. Gay market media coverage. US gay market. Advertising. Gay advertising and media market in US. Gay marketing. Lesbian and gay market research. US gay market PR. US gay marketing developments. Lesbian and gay media. Mainstream market. Gay PR. Hollywood. Los Angeles. New report in tomorrow's Variety magazine in US quotes Out Now on gay advertising developments in US, Australia and Europe.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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Since I had lunch in Hollywood with one of our US consultants today, it seems fitting that tomorrow's Variety magazine includes a feature article on gay advertising coming out of the closet, that quotes Out Now extensively.

As I write this from an LAX lounge enroute to Sydney, I will comment further on this article soon, but for now, here is the article in tomorrow's edition of Variety about Out Now, gay advertising, marketing and gay market PR topics:

Same-sex ads swim into mainstream
Industry embraces buying power of gay market
By ANDREW BARKER
Date in print: Fri., Apr. 13, 2007, Los Angeles




Paris Las Vegas' gay-friendly ad 'Jack/Jack.'

Marc Jacobs' 'Bear' advertisement works the LGBT market.

Thirteen years ago, a TV spot for IKEA caused something of a sensation: Two middle-aged men shop for a new table, speaking to one another in tones that suggest they may be a couple. The commercial prompted protests and bomb threats targeting U.S. retailers.

Times have certainly changed since then, with marketers and advertising agencies recognizing the sheer buying power of the gay and lesbian community. GLAAD has even established two advertising awards -- one for print, another for digital. Yet the market remains as elusive as it is lucrative.

For one thing, gays and lesbians are proving increasingly difficult to pigeonhole. The gay community was once seen as marginal, targeted by only a few advertisers (most often liquor companies) in a few gay-themed publications. Today, with GLAAD's advertising nominees ranging from designer Marc Jacobs and Paris Las Vegas to travel agency Orbitz and the United Church of Christ, the market has opened up considerably.

Damon Wolf, founder of the Crew Creative agency, who has coordinated print campaigns for "The Bourne Supremacy," "Entourage" and "The Sopranos," puts it bluntly: "We don't consider the gay and lesbian market a niche market anymore. We can't. It's made it to the mainstream."

Financially speaking, the market has surpassed the mainstream. According to a study released in January, the buying power of gays and lesbians in the U.S. will reach $660 billion by the end of this year. By 2011, the study projects, that number will climb to $835 billion. And demographically, gays are more likely to spend more on luxuries and travel, because so many fall into that sought-after group marketers call "dinks" -- dual income, no kids.

Identifying the market is one thing, but targeting it effectively is quite another. For Wolf, media-buying is key.

"You can take any movie and target your audience through online media-buying," he says. "I can take the '40-Year-Old Virgin' poster and run it in a gay and lesbian magazine. But as far as conceptualizing art and content to target them -- no, that doesn't work. They're too mainstream."

One concern for American companies is the threat of an IKEA-style backlash from conservative consumer groups.

Ian Johnson, whose Out Now Consulting provides gay-targeted marketing services for a range of companies in Australia and Europe, concedes that the risk is there.

"Some of the work we do for our clients in Europe and the U.K. would not be able to be done in the U.S.," he says.

Yet he cautions that trying to avoid a backlash can do more harm than good.

"Brands generally have more to fear from alienating gay customers and their supporters if they try to react to the harassment by antigay lobbying groups," Johnson says. "As more lesbian and gay people come out, and more people become supportive of gay and lesbian equality, the importance of those who support gay people is of far greater value than that of those who are rabidly homophobic."

For illustration, Johnson points to the uproar that followed Ford's decision to pull Jaguar ads from gay publications after the American Family Assn. threatened a boycott. Though Ford denied that the AFA's boycott influenced the decision, gay rights groups worldwide threatened a boycott of their own in response, and Ford quickly reinstated -- and expanded -- its ad campaign.

More recently, Snickers came under fire for a Super Bowl commercial that many complained was homophobic. Apologetic press releases were issued, and the spot has not aired since.

Wolf adds, however, that overzealously patronizing the gay market is just as dangerous: "As a gay man, I don't want to be treated differently; I want to be entertained."

Johnson admits that gay consumers "have seen some very poor efforts by certain brands seeking to get their wallets open," but he still believes there is a place for targeted marketing.

"Most members of the market share a common bond by virtue of their 'otherness,' which creates significant marketing opportunities," he says. "The challenge is to create good gay marketing that works by recognition of both the commonality that exists between gay consumers, while at the same time acknowledging the vast diversity that also exists amongst the group."

Recognizing that this is easier said than done, he adds: "It's not always straightforward, but good fun nonetheless."
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research

Gay Cars. Marketing PR Spin?

TOPICS: US gay market. Cars. Gay auto market in US. Gay marketing. Lesbian and gay market research. US gay market valuation. US gay marketing developments. Lesbian and gay media. Gay PR. New York Times. New report in New York Times suggests that certain brands of car may be perceived as gay brands.

You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.

To contact Out Now, send us an email.
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There is an interesting report on the perceived gay appeal of certain cars in today's New York Times.

Over the years, Out Now has seen many ill-conceived attempts to create a 'gay' brand for mainstream consumer goods.

These have usually been preceded by the word "Pink" or "Rainbow" as if gay consumers are influenced by just a word, or a colour swathe - rather than the product's attributes and brand characteristics.

How well does the brand fit the consumer's perception of self? Does the product have characteristics that make it particularly suited to an individual's lifestyle? And what does the choice of that brand tell the rest of the world about the consumer her- or him-self?

A New York Times report today considers whether certain brands of cars are of particular appeal to gay consumers. It then also looks further at whether a gay following for a brand is a plus or a minus for the mainstream appeal of a particular make of auto.

It is an interesting product category as cars often tend to attract the sometimes outrageous passion of many heterosexual men (although I will be the first to admit that I just broke one of Out Now's own cardinal market rules: "assume nothing" as well as "don't generalize" and also "diversity is key". But I digress.)

The claim that certain models of car are 'too gay' for some consumers seems a bit of a stretch. People - of whatever sexual orientation - are very diverse and will make brand selection decisions about particular autos based on many factors which, in Gestalt concert, will affect which model of car they actually purchase.

It may be that the 'too gay' epithet could, in this instance, have more to do with homophobia in the same way that the putdown "that's so gay" has its roots in discomfort with gay people, and is used as an insult where being gay is the assumed negative.

And quite a few gay men happily fall squarely into the obsessive 'rev-head' car fancier category. Many gay men would gladly prefer a Hummer or Jeep to a Subaru or Mini Cooper.

Stereotypes are often easy journalism and a convenient way to box in concepts that are far more complex and diverse than the hypothesis in question.

Here is an extract of the New York Times gay car brand article:

RON GEREN, an actor in Los Angeles, commutes to auditions and jobs throughout Southern California in a sleek black Mazda MX-5 Miata convertible. But for a recent date with a woman, he rented a Cadillac Escalade because he was so used to friends saying his Miata is “gay.”

“Guys say, ‘Hey, that’s cute,’ ” Mr. Geren, 40, said, adding that the comments come from gay as well as straight men. “You have to fend off that perception.”

A few years ago, Meghan Daum, an op-ed contributor to The Los Angeles Times, wrote about a promising first date with a man that never led to a second one because, she later learned, the guy saw that she drove a Subaru Outback station wagon and concluded she must be a lesbian.

At a time when car makers are marketing aggressively to gay consumers and mainstream culture has become more literate about stereotypically gay tastes through television shows like “Will & Grace” and “The L Word” (on which one of the main characters, Alice, drove a Mini Cooper), it may not be surprising that some people make such assumptions about motorists based on their cars.

But to some people, such stereotyping is homophobia, pure and simple. A poll seeking to determine the most gay automobiles, conducted by a South African Web site, was a topic of heated interest last December on Gizmodo, the New York-based technology blog, where one reader wrote: “Since when are cars gay or straight? We’re really polling people’s prejudices here.”

Others, though, including gay theorists, say many gay motorists happily embrace certain cars as reflections of identity.

Ramone Johnson is a gay journalist and former Saturn engineer who compiles an annual “Top 10 Gay Cars” list for About.com, which is owned by The New York Times Company. Mr. Johnson said that “traditionally we are used to being defined by others.” Driving a stylish car can be a way of “taking control back” and saying “this is who I am,” he said.

Mr. Johnson maintains that “soft lines” and a “vibrant personality” — say like those on a Volkswagen New Beetle — are typical attributes of a gay man’s car, and fashion-forward red gauges and other styling cues, for example, make the Pontiac G6 more of a gay car than its sibling, the Grand Am, because the features express a taste for freedom and fun.

Neither automobile manufacturers nor dealers compile statistics on the sexual orientation of buyers.

Subaru has been the most prominent company to embrace the gay market. As long ago as 2000, the automaker created advertising campaigns around Martina Navratilova, the gay tennis star, and also used a sales slogan that was a subtle gay-rights message: “It’s not a choice. It’s the way we’re built.” Little wonder that many lesbians refer to their Outbacks as “Lesbarus.”

Even General Motors recently began to include questions about sexual orientation on some internal market surveys, although data are not yet compiled, said Adam Bernard, who tracks the product strategies of G.M.’s competitors and who also coordinates an advocacy group for gay employees at the company called GM Plus. Since 2003, he said, the group has consulted with marketing executives at the company about increasing sales to gay consumers.

Company executives, he said, do not seem to feel skittish about losing market share among straight consumers if gay buyers suddenly seize on a particular model. “I don’t think internally we ever asked the question, ‘If we put Cadillac in The Advocate, are we going to lose straight Cadillac buyers?’ ”

“Frankly,” he added, “the money’s all the same color.”
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For further gay marketing information, or to seek gay market advice, please contact: Ian Johnson, MD, Out Now Consulting
UK landline: +44-20-8123 5288 BE landline: +32-2-514 6443
mobile: +32-4737 60886
web: OutNowConsulting.com
news: Gay Market News - Gay Market Updates by Out Now

Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay PR strategy, PR, training, gay advertising, lesbian and gay market research leaders.
Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - The Out Now Gay PR Market Updates.
OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com |||| Companies marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians. |||| Better understanding of the lesbian and gay consumer market. Gay market insight is Out Now.

gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research