Factors Influencing Gay Consumers’ Evaluations of “Gay-Friendly” Corporate Activities

This is a long one, but lots of good info here. A more academic perspective on LGBT marketing that examines differing attitudes and behaviors within the community. Definitely worth a read.

New Graph of LGBT Rights by State

From The Gaurdian. Click for the full interactive chart and site.

The Cost of Marriage Inequality

Superbowl Infographic

Here's a cool infographic on the SuperBowl, just in time for the big event next weekend. As usual, I don't know who's playing, but I know who's advertising and who's performing at halftime.

Provided By - Diesel Mechanic Schools

The Cost of our Prison System

Here are some interesting facts on incarceration in the US, which costs taxpayers 60 Billion per year. 

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New Stat on Support for Marriage Equality by Age

No surprises in the pattern here. Again, I'd be curious to see how the question was phrased. As I always caveat when sharing marriage equality data, in my opinion the question should be phrased as, "Do you believe same-sex couples should have the right to access civil marriage licenses?" This is because there is a difference between "favoring something" and believing people should have the right to it. As an example, some redneck American out there might not personally "favor" interracial marriage, but that doesn't necessarily mean he believes interracial couples out there shouldn't have the right to marry. Furthermore, the distinction between the two types of marriage - civil and religious - must always be made clear when it comes to polling on this issue. Language matters. 

New Stats on LGBT Affluents

Some new stats were released last week on LGBT Affluents - that is, members of the LGBT community with household incomes of $100K+. The data, which comes from the 2011 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey, shows that LGBT affluents have household incomes that are 25% higher than those of heterosexual affluents. Here are the full stats: 

New Data on Brands that Support LGBT Nonprofits/Causes

97% of LGBT Internet users say they are likely to consider brands that support nonprofits/causes that are important to them as a gay or lesbian person. That's up from 85% in 2007.

Global smartphone market penetration to exceed 50% by 2015

Read more here. 

The Top Vehicles LGBT People Buy

Read more here. 

How U.S. Ad Budgets Shifted from 2009 to 2010

LGBT Rights Around the World

Very cool chart I've never seen before. View it full-sized here. 

Companies Take Note of Growing LGBT Buying Power

Thought this was a nice chart and article from Traci McMillan:

Awareness of the LGBT community is growing due to its rising image in the mainstream media, whether in the hit TV show Modern Family, or in the news headlines on California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage.

Now, large corporations are taking notice and jumping on the bandwagon to tap into the $743 billion lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender consumer market.

Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, an early marketer in the LGBT space, said the largest companies “are the biggest change agents.”  The big brands pay more attention to trends and “are more adept at moving.”

MillerCoors is a case in point. After the merger two years ago of SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co., the combined company’s number one objective was to market to “a complete consumer base,” a euphemism for minorities, including lesbian and gay consumers, said Doug Sanborn, head of multicultural and LGBT marketing and community relations. 

The company's market research revealed that between 4 percent and 7 percent of consumers belonged to the gay and lesbian community, and in metropolitan areas this subsection was even higher --10 percent to 12 percent. More importantly, MillerCoors' research showed that 85 percent of LGBT consumers were likely to make purchasing decisions based on which companies market to them.

In 2009, the company won the Essential Piece Award from the Matthew Shepard Foundation, for being a business leader in inclusion and support of gay and lesbian employees.

Other businesses not yet reaching out to the gay community risk missing out on a lucrative market. The gay and lesbian population is expected to grow to more than 16 million adults by 2014, according to a report from Packaged Facts. That's an increase from the estimated 10.5 million gay and lesbian adults following the 2000 Census, according to research by David Smith and Gary Gates. 

Over the next several years the LGBT segment is projected to see an increase in buying power, visibility and “influence on America’s marketing landscape,” the report said.

Progressive Corp. decided to make its way into the LGBT market early in 2009. Progressive advertising director Miriam Deitcher said the company realized that few insurance companies had made any moves in the LGBT community.

“Given this segment includes an estimated 15 million plus adults, we saw a great opportunity to connect with a large number of people that, to date, have rarely felt supported by the industry,” Deitcher said.

So the auto insurance company went to work.  It began to advertise in LGBT media and sponsoring events.  It also created a “Faces of Pride” Facebook page, which has 18,500 fans.

Since the onset of Progressive’s outreach, it has seen an “increase in brand awareness from the LGBT demographic,” Deitcher said.

The company said its strategy was “not designed to make a political or social statement or to endorse or advance any political agenda or lifestyle,” it just wants to be “consumers’ number one choice for car insurance,” according to Deitcher.

Packaged Facts reports that 58 percent of LGBT consumers are more likely to buy everyday products and services that market directly to their community, a figure lower than MillerCoors estimates, yet still substantial.  Among other things important to these consumers is the “perceived ‘gay friendliness’ of companies that choose to support causes that benefit the LGBT community,” the report said.

Ken Hunt, owner of Steel Gym in New York City, said the LGBT community is a market that should be sought after because it has “a lot of disposable income despite the recession.” Hunt and his gym have blazed the trail for other gay-owned businesses.

“It is more than a gym, it is a community,” Hunt said.  The owner believes it’s important to promote safe activities, to educate the community and to give back to causes, which is why his company has taken an active role on the board of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD.

“We are not afraid to reach out, we are not afraid to advertise,” Hunt said.

The “everyone is welcome here” gym has had such strong success- it was voted No. 6 gym in the country by Muscle and Fitness magazine- that it is looking to expand to Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. 

Michael Murphy, senior vice president of Fleishman-Hillard, said the LGBT community is both influential and affluent.  That is why the international public relations company started its Out Front practice group that focuses on LGBT communications and outreach.

Murphy said the group's brand loyalty is highly coveted.  According to the LGBT consumer index by Community Marketing Inc., 53 percent of the LGBT population admits brand loyalty.

Witeck said the key to this brand loyalty is knowing that the “company is authentic” and can be trusted.

Though the community does not have higher earnings than other racial and ethnic groups, it does have greater buying power through large amounts of disposable income.  This power is mostly due to more two-earner households and fewer children, Murphy said.

But in order to really tap into the market, Murphy said a company must start by looking inward.  “You have to practice what you preach,” he said.  Murphy suggests looking at human relations and corporate responsibility to see how LGBT employees are treated within a company.  Fair policies and employee work groups supporting LGBT are key.

Murphy sees employees within a company as the best “brand ambassadors in the community.”

In making the move outward, Murphy warns against stereotypes and cliches, such as rainbow flags in advertising and marketing campaigns.  He advises businesses to complete their market research and to test the campaign to make sure it is respectful through use of employee focus groups.

“The return on investment can be exponential if [the company] does it right,” Murphy said.  The market is not only untapped over all, but Murphy pointed out that each letter within the acronym ‘LGBT’ signifies a different untouched segment.

Another segment of the LGBT population is the aging community, the boomers who are the adults that have been "out" the longest.

Murphy said it's not just corporate America that stands to benefit by getting into the LGBT space.  Fleishman-Hillard expanded its public relations skills to assist in the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago; to help market for the LGBT community center in Chicago, the Center on Halsted; and to start a public health campaign via the Ohio Department of Health. 

The Ohio Department of Health noticed that the LGBT community had specific health concerns.  They were alarmed that the LGBT smoking rate was twice the rate of that of heterosexuals, so they worked with Fleishman-Hillard to launch a prevention campaign aimed at the group.

Despite the potential rewards, many companies still fail to reach out to the group. Witeck believes the reason is an underlying homophobia. 

A few companies worry that if “they take on a gay customer, they lose a homophobic customer,” he said.  “Some haven’t gotten past the equation.”

Support for Same-Sex Marriage, State by State

According to the New York Times, as of 2010, support for same-sex marriage has risen steadily, even in conservative states. Now let me explain why these numbers are still deceivingly low. First, "same-sex marriage" is a deceiving term. We aren't seeking to redefine or create a separate institution, we just want access to the same legal right that everyone else has. We don't want a special right to "gay marry"- we just want the right to marry. Secondly, the words "do you support" are deceiving. Let me explain. Ask a typical straight man if he supports gay marriage, and he might say no. After all, he's straight and has no interest in marrying another man. But ask him if he thinks gay people should have the legal right to obtain a civil marriage license, and he might say yes. It's the same issue regarding how the question is framed that's present in the cultural debate surrounding the Islamic mosque in NYC. There's a difference between believing they shouldn't do it and believing they shouldn't have the right to do it. 


But I digress. Here's the map. Not surprising that Massachusetts is first and Utah is last. But interesting that despite having constitutional amendments banning it, the majority of people in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, and Hawaii now support same-sex marriage.

LGBT Buying Power in the U.S. Grows to $743 Billion

The buying power of the U.S. LGBT adult population in 2010 is projected to be $743 billion, according to a study by both Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts.That's an $11 billion increase over last year. The 2010 projection is slightly less than some earlier estimates due to the continued lagging economy and jobs market.

“Buying power projections are frequently a standard business measure for companies and policy decision-makers. This offers us a reasonable snapshot of the projected annual economic activity of America’s diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population even in this faltering economy,” said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications.

Social media usage skyrockets among LGBT Americans

A recent national survey by Harris Interactive revealed that 54 percent of gay and lesbian Americans read blogs, compared with just 40 percent of heterosexual Americans. That 54 percent is up considerably from just 32 percent in November 2006.

Harris also found that 36 percent of gay and lesbian respondents read blogs focused on news and current issues, versus 25 percent for heterosexuals. The figures for other types of blogs are 25 percent and 16 percent, respectively, for pop culture; 22 percent and 14 percent for politics; and 16 percent and 8 percent for travel.

As far as blogs that feature gay and lesbian news and interests, 35 percent of gay and lesbian respondents said they read those blogs, with 53 percent of those readers saying they visit the blogs weekly and 19 percent saying they do so daily.

When it comes to social-networking sites, Harris found that 73 percent of gay and lesbian respondents were members of Facebook, compared with 65 percent of heterosexual respondents. The figures for other social-networking sites: 32 percent and 22 percent, respectively, for MySpace; 22 percent and 16 percent for LinkedIn; and 29 percent and 15 percent for Twitter.

As for visiting those social-networking sites, 55 percent of gay and lesbian respondents said they do so daily, and 30 percent said they visit several times daily, versus 41 percent and 17 percent, respectively, for heterosexual respondents.

Americans' acceptance of the gay population reaches record highs

New data from Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey gives us something else to celebrate following pride weekend. For the first time ever, Americans' acceptance of gay/lesbian relations just crossed the 50% threshold
:

Also, look at the dramatic increase in the percentage of men who consider gay/lesbian relations morally acceptable. 62% of men 18-49 now feel this way vs. 59% of women 18-49. While technically this difference is not significant due to the +/- 4 percentage point margin of error, it's still pretty shocking that it's so close and possibly even higher among men in this age range:

The research goes onto reveal that regardless of religious persuasion or political affiliation, acceptance is increasing across the board. For more information and the methodology, click here. 

Neiman Marcus tops the list for gay and lesbian bridal registries

Source: Experian Simmons Fall 2009 LGBT Consumer Study (index vs. non-Hispanic adult population)

LGBT-Targeted Census Ads Are Being Debuted Now

The first-ever PSAs from the U.S. Census Bureau to be tailored for the LGBT community are being unveiled right now in New York City at a news conference featuring out Star Trek star George Takei. The PSAs include six different videos featuring a spectrum of community leaders. One PSA is in Spanish, and all encourage LGBT people to mail back their census forms. Click here to watch the live press conference. 

How does Lady Gaga like her steak?