Logo programming to become less gay

But it's not necessarily a bad thing. Logo's GM, Lisa Sherman, said, "we are increasingly more interested in entertainment that is for us than entertainment that is exclusively about us." This came in a nicely written article in the Huffington Post that provided interesting rationale for the programming shift. The decision was influenced by research conducted by Starcom Mediavest group indicating that less than a third of us want to socialize exclusively with LGBT people, and a majority are proudly out but don't necessarily see being LGBT as something that is always front and center in our lives. But not to worry - your favorites, including RuPaul's Drag Race, aren't going anywhere. 

Gays and Lesbians Leading the Nation in Mobile Internet Usage

Some new data was just published showing that gays and lesbians are among the leading groups in the nation when it comes to mobile internet usage. And no, hours spent on Grindr was not one of the survey metrics. It turns out that we're more likely than the general population to own Smartphones, and more than twice as likely to make purchases from them. In fact, in the past week, 28% of us have made a purchase using our Smartphone, 63% of us have found info on a local business using it, and 36% of us have used it to receive or redeem deals or specials like Groupons. The data was published in 5th Annual LGBT Community Survey by Community Marketing, Inc., which can be found here. 

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: 

Study Concludes Gays Make Better Bosses

Here's an interesting Details Magazine article highlighting results of a research study indicating that gay male bosses produce 35 to 60 percent higher levels of employee engagement, satisfaction, and morale than straight bosses. No word on why women were not included in the study.

Largest Ever Gay Market Research Study to Launch in 14 Countries

Stretching through 14 countries right across Latin America and Europe, the world's largest gay market research study ever to be undertaken is about to launch.

Developed by Out Now -- a leading specialist global marketing agency -- the new study will survey lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in fourteen countries. From Mexico's border with Texas right across the world to Israel and to the top of Sweden -- this will be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever to be undertaken.

With an overall population of three quarters of a billion, these regions are home to more than 35 million lesbian and gay people living diverse lives.

It is the first time a gay community targeted market study has been conducted across so many countries at one time.

The countries being surveyed in the '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study' are: in Latin America - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay; and, in Europe -- France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The study will cover many areas including consumer habits, incomes, education levels, media usage, parenting, relationships, travel, employment, discrimination, equality concerns, aspirations and more.

The research has attracted corporate attention: the European arm is being sponsored by Berlin Tourism Marketing and the Latin American research is being sponsored by Delta Air Lines. In Latin America, the research is also being undertaken in conjunction with GNETWORK360, the region's leading LGBT networking organisation.

Learn more here

Fame Friday

“I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination.” -David Ogilvy

Keeping Up With Gay and Lesbian Consumers

Recession or no recession, LGBT consumers continue to spend. A new report (conducted between July and September 2009) from San Francisco based Community Marketing showed that within the previous 12 months, 29% of gay and lesbian consumers purchased a laptop computer, 28% purchased PDA's or smart phones, and 17% purchased cars. More findings from the report can be found in this AdWeek article. 

HRC Launches "Buying for Equality" iPhone App

The Human Rights Campaign just launched a new tool in the fight for corporate dignity and fairness towards LGBT American's. Their new iPhone app will allow shoppers to access the Buying for Equality guide as they enter a store to see how hundreds of popular American brands are rated based on the businesses’ treatment of their LGBT employees.  The iPhone application is available for download at www.hrc.org/iPhone.  Both Apple, and the iPhone’s exclusive service provider, AT&T, score 100% on the 2010 Corporate Equality Index.

The LGBT community is estimated to have $712 billion in buying power this year, according to research by Witeck-Combs Communications and Marketresearch.com. A recent study by Witeck-Combs/Harris Interactive also found that 78 percent of LGBT people are extremely or very likely to consider brands that are known to provide equal workplace benefits for their employees, including LGBT workers.

Buying for Equality is an annual publication of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that directs consumers to support fair-minded businesses through their purchasing decisions. The guide draws comparisons between products, services and retail outlets that consumers use on a daily basis. The ratings are based upon the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index which, this year, rated a record 305 at 100 percent. The CEI is the foremost method for businesses to evaluate their diversity and inclusion efforts toward recruiting and retaining LGBT employees, customers and investors.  To learn more about the HRC Buying for Equality guide visit www.hrc.org/BuyersGuide.

Vegas is the Second most Frequented Leisure Destination by American LGBT Travelers

Community Marketing Inc. just released the data from their annual survey ranking U.S. destinations most visited by the LGBT community. The top five leisure destinations for 2009 were as follows:

    1)    New York
    2)    Las Vegas
    3)    San Francisco
    4)    Los Angeles / West Hollywood
    5)    Chicago

New York is no surprise. But Vegas as number two? That surprised me. Yes, Vegas is a huge tourist magnet, but the gay scene there sucks. Certainly if this were a survey taking each city's gay scene into consideration, the findings would be very different.

The full list, which accounts for both business and leisure trips, is as follows. The figures represent the percentage of the 4,726 American LGBT survey takers who traveled to the city in the past 12 months and spent at least one night in a hotel. I'm surprised Seattle and Philadelphia did as well as they did. Perhaps Philadelphia's gay tourism campaign is working.

    1)    New York City: 32%
    2)    San Francisco: 27%
    3)    Las Vegas: 26%
    4)    Chicago: 25%
    5)    Los Angeles / West Hollywood: 24%
    6)    Washington, DC: 23%
    7)    Fort Lauderdale: 17%
    8)    San Diego: 15%
    9)    Orlando: 14%
    9)    Seattle: 14%
    11)   Boston: 13%
    11)   Philadelphia: 13%
    13)   Palm Springs 12%
    13)   Atlanta: 12%
    13)   Miami: 12%
    16)   Dallas: 11%
    16)   Denver: 11%
    16)   Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale: 11%
    19)   New Orleans: 10%
    20)   Napa County, CA: 9%
    20)   Provincetown, MA: 9%
    20)   Sonoma County, CA: 9%
    23)   Portland, OR 8%
    23)   Baltimore: 8%
    23)   Tampa/St. Petersburg: 8%