How to Reach GLBT Market? Use Multimedia

How to Reach GLBT Market? Use Multimedia

While advertisers traditionally have tried to reach the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community (GLBT) through print marketing, many are finding today's most effective campaigns work through different media, according to a column in The New York Times (registration required).

"In this fragmented media age, everybody's demanding hyper-customized creative to talk to specialized audiences," says Brian Graden, president at Logo and at MTV Networks Music Group Entertainment. "We're all coming up to speed together on the best way to reach this audience."

In June 2005, media behemoth Viacom launched Logo, a cable-television network and complementary Web site that targets members of the GLBT community and their families. The Logo cable channel is available in 23 million households, compared with 13 million last Junes.

"In the early research we did, testing what our audience was looking for, they said they wanted to see ads on the channel to see who would be reaching out to them," says Lisa Sherman, senior vice president and general manager at Logo in New York, part of the MTV Networks division of Viacom.

To date, more than 60 national corporations have advertised on Logo, including Eastman Kodak (one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies and No. 5 in the Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities in 2006), General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Sears Holdings and Subaru.

Film festivals have become another way to reach the GLBT community. The Stolichnaya brand of vodka sold by wine and spirits producer Pernod Ricard USA is underwriting a documentary, "Be Real," and will launch a complementary Web site that profiles of six lesbians and six gay men, reports the Times.

"The project is about more than a brand," said Adam Rosen, senior Stolichnaya brand manager at the Pernod Ricard USA division in New York. "We want to showcase our commitment to the community in a culturally relevant way."

Cultural relevance is of utmost importance to the GLBT community, whose buying power is projected to increase 5 percent to $641 billion in 2006, according to the latest data from Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com.

"There was a pent-up demand for a channel to cater to this consumer," said John Nash, president at New York�based Moon City Productions�creator of GLBT-targeted campaigns for Subaru. Subaru has incorporated GLBT outreach into its marketing campaign for more than a decade, Nash told the Times. Commercial spots include subtle cues to signal the intended audience, like picturing either both men or both women when two people are shown in a shot, he added.

Subaru, Volvo and BMW are perceived as the top auto brands that extend the greatest outreach to the GLBT community, according to the American International Automobile Dealers. For the GLBT community, a perception of inclusion translates to a marketing reality.

Whether commercial advertising is presented in a magazine ad or a television commercial, greater proportions of gays and lesbians report they may be motivated to consider buying products shown in these ads, according to an October 2005 online Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs poll of 1,715 non-GLBT and 351 GLBT adults nationwide.

The study found that 49 percent of GLBTs prefer brands that target their community over brands that do not, compared with 33 percent of other consumers. GLBTs also are more likely to trust brands that have been advertised in GLBT-targeted media (47 percent vs. 34 percent).

"In today's competitive marketplace, it is no longer prudent for a leading corporation to ignore the buying power of the gay market," said Witeck-Combs President Wesley Combs, in a statement. "Marketers that do risk leaving market share on the table for others to capture."