Rivendell Media is the leading gay and lesbian media placement company in the United States and Canada. Helping agencies, media companies and advertisers reach the gay market since 1979, Rivendell serves as the national advertising representative for over 200 gay and lesbian newspapers, magazines and entertainment guides. In 1984, Rivendell Media organized the National Gay Newspaper Guild, now with twelve member publications representing some of the nation’s most frequently read local gay media with a combined readership of nearly one million people.
Todd Evans has been involved with the gay and lesbian press for many years, first working for and then taking over as president and CEO of Rivendell Media. In 2001, he purchased Q Syndicate, the leading content provider for gay media. As president and CEO of both Q Syndicate and Rivendell Media, Todd brings a unique perspective to the gay and lesbian publishing industry. Todd is also the publisher of Press Pass Q, a newsletter for the gay and lesbian press professional.
Steve: Rivendell Media has been helping companies and advertisers reach the gay market for more than 25 years. How different is Rivendell’s role and its operations now compared to when it started in the 1980s?
Todd: Well, we used to have to sell the market which was a lot harder in the beginning. Most agencies said they were not interested so we had to go directly to clients to sell them and get them to direct their ad agencies. Marketing to the gay and lesbian community was seen as risky at the time and no agency wanted to propose anything risky to a client. Now there are other companies that specialize in research and gay and lesbian corporate outreach so we no longer need to sell the market. We just provide expert media advice and sales.
Steve: Tell us about NGNG as the organization has become a mark of excellence in local LGBT media. How has membership grown in the past two decades? Is there room to grow Guild membership further?
Todd: The National Gay Newspaper Guild was really what started all the interest in the Gay Market, and so they will always stand out from the crowd for that reason. All the original publishers paid their dues and so continue to be some of the best LGBT publications in the United States. Membership make-up has changed but the Guild members have been conscious of the fact that "less is more" and have kept membership to top US markets, which is what most marketers are interested in most.
There has been lots of talk about adding members but so far membership has always been at about a dozen. I believe that if they do their work and concentrate on being the very best then additional members are not necessary. As we all know, bigger is not necessarily better.
Steve: How did the NGNG readership survey get started? You also now produce an annual Gay Press Report. Tell us about that. Are you amazed at times how much attention the survey data receives these days?
Todd: The study of the NGNG readership was first conducted in 1984 from whence all the interest in the market started. This is why every gay publication should be indebted to this group of publishers. At the time we started pitching the publications in 1979 we really only had common sense stats, double income, no kids and a metropolitan concentration.
As we made headway, buyers and companies wanted to buy advertising but needed reliable statistics. We approached every major gay publication at the time to see if they could get a readership study going and eventually got the top 8 publications to put up 15K each which was quite a sum at the time. The rest is history.
The Wall Street Journal at the time called the gay market "the most potentially profitable untapped market in the US" and so it all began.
That is where the real interest came from. It gathered a lot of attention, and the national advertising sales started rolling in. The NGNG reader study is conducted every four years and to this day provides a great insight into the consumer habits of the readers of NGNG publications.
Of course, now there is a lot of information out there. So the studies need be more frequent and less intensive, but what sets this group apart is its history and how you can compare information over the years.
The Gay Press Report is a study that comes out annually and tracks all advertising in all gay and lesbian print publications, which I produce with Prime Access Inc. (a multicultural advertising agency). This is another broad-based study on just advertising and is designed to show trends and track spending primarily to promote gay media as a whole.
Since the numbers are so good, I am not surprised at the attention this annual report garners. For 2006 spending was up 5.6% to an all time high of $223 million.
Steve: As companies become more engaged with our community and in marketing directly to our community, how do you see Rivendell or NGNG adjusting?
Todd: Well, Rivendell will naturally need to expand to online sales and NGNG needs to invest in itself to stand out from the crowd. There are over 200 gay publications in North America, and technology makes it a lot easier to put out a quality publication. NGNG will need an online presence and continue to provide statistical information that makes the group attractive.
We all have challenges, and for my company it will really depend on the publications themselves keeping up with the times. Out Front is a good example of keeping up with both technology and keeping itself relevant to its market. Where else are you going to go for timely information?
Gay media in general needs to become more professional and follow more mainstream practices for advertising. Now that the publications are included in regular media buys and not just gay specific media buys, it means the gay publications need to have their yearly information ready when everyone else does, e.g. 2008 info should be done and ready in August 2007. Changes in rates, sizes, focus and so forth should not be made on the spot but thought out well in advance so that the whole of the press reflects the same practices as larger mainstream books do. This is really easy but it is also easy to slack in this regard.
We’ll have more from Todd tomorrow.
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