Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

Unicorn Booty Gives Businesses of All Sizes a New Channel for Reaching the Gays

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Pride Month brings with it a renewed or heightened fascination with the LGBT consumer for marketers and communicators. To start off your week right, here's the thoughts from one of the newest, provocative businesses leveraging social media and a unique business model to reach and engage LGBT consumers.

Nick Vivion and Kevin Farrell recently founded Unicorn Booty, a social media marketing platform that connects consumers with gay-friendly businesses. Nick spoke at the Community Marketing Inc. LGBT Marketing and Advertising conference in New York back in April. I personally remember being intrigued simply by the name at first, but quickly became impressed with Nick and Kevin's business model and thoughts on LGBT consumers and communications. Read on for the first portion of our Q&A with Unicorn Booty's Nick.


1. So just what is Unicorn Booty? How did you develop the concept and the name?

It's simple: Meet gay-friendly businesses every day. Unicorn Booty is an interactive marketing platform that connects the community with gay-friendly companies, so that we can support those companies that support us. Every day we feature a different business, and we give away a product or service from that business in our Daily Gay Giveaway. We then promote them through a custom video, photos, social media mentions and a complete takeover of our homepage. Each business gets an integrated social media campaign which is shared with an engaged, active and loyal audience. And our community gets a chance to win free stuff while learning cool products from gay-friendly businesses. It's a really cool symbiotic system!

After volunteering at the No on 8 campaign in California, and seeing how well-funded and organized anti-gay groups are, I realized that aggregating the LGBT buying power is more important than ever. After looking around, I couldn't find a solid resource to learn about gay-friendly businesses. Sure there was the HRC Buying Guide, but what about the small-to-midsize businesses that many of us frequent everyday?

Unicorn Booty was born out of the desire to encourage equality by allowing all businesses to be gay-friendly.

Since we believe that supporting businesses that support the LGBT community is the surest way to real and lasting change, we had to come up with a concept that would facilitate that.  We had seen a couple of interactive marketing websites that used social media and giveaways to promote a different company every day, and we thought that was the perfect model for what we wanted to accomplish. So Kevin and I put our heads together and we came up with Unicorn Booty. As we were brainstorming the name, we wanted something that was appropriately gay, had some magic in it and suggested bounty or prizes. Everyone loves unicorns and booty has the delicious double-entendre.

2. What’s your definition of the LGBT consumer/market today? What defines them, their purchasing decisions, and their communications?

The LGBT market is in many ways like any other market: It is fractured and affected by the current state of the economy. There is no longer one LGBT marketplace. They are segmented into groups along various lines: racial, sex, age, income, preferences. "Marketing to the gays" is pretty much meaningless, because it is a nearly impossible to create meaning for such a diverse group. For example, we have a different product every day. Not every product appeals to every one of our fans. But we are doing our best to diversify and reflect the varied interests of our community.

From our experience at Unicorn Booty, the most unique characteristics of the LGBT consumer community is that they are fiercely loyal. Once you have them on your side, they become instant evangelists. Brands are pieces of their identity, and so it's increasingly important to create an emotional connection with your customer. We knew that we had a powerful brand with Unicorn Booty, and know that a strong part of our success has been our brand. We wouldn't have been able to reach 8,000 fans on Facebook in 8 weeks with a different name!

3. What response have you seen to Unicorn Booty – both from consumers and businesses? What role do you play in the communications between the two?

The LGBT community is more well-connected than their straight counterparts. We know the Web, and we use it to our advantage daily. Whether for dating or shopping, for staying in touch or finding what to do this weekend, we are using the Web to discover and connect with the world around us. I think it's the nature of being a minority: You use all the tools at your disposal to connect with like-minded folk. We are working hard to leverage this affinity with the Web, so that people can really start seeing Unicorn Booty as a place to discover cool products from gay-friendly businesses.

As such, both businesses and consumers are responding.  Businesses look to the LGBT market for their engagement, loyalty and brand-consciousness. The LGBT market is looking for businesses that reflect their community. They don't want to be marketed to, they want to feel like the business is a permanent part of their community. We are helping facilitate that connection for businesses, acting as another conduit to the gay community. By being featured on Unicorn Booty, businesses are announcing to the world that they support the gay community.

We also see ourselves as a bit like a translation service: We take the business, synthesize its' core attributes through our filter and then present them as they appeal to us as gay consumers. We are a mix between a CoolHunting-style blog and a marketing firm. Interactive marketing is all about presenting information in unexpected ways, and we are working to position ourselves as a resource to any company that wants to engage with the gay market.

4. Is this business model sustainable for other target audiences? What plans can you share on Unicorn Booty’s growth and future?

There are most definitely opportunities within other niche markets for similar services. We are always looking towards the future and how we can grow this beyond the Daily Gay Giveaway. The gay market is incredibly underserved, and as it's estimated to be a $825 billion market by 2011, we are eager to serve.  There really are no good resources for consumers trying to learn about, and spend money with, gay-friendly businesses. We want to develop into a localized resource that empowers and enables the gay community to aggregate their buying power in a fun and unique way. This isn't a chamber of commerce, but a way of life.

Definitely be sure to check back tomorrow for the rest of our interview with Nick and more on their new ways of engaging the LGBT community.

| June 7th, 2010 No Comments »
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Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

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Happy Monday all. Hope you were able to enjoy the weekend.

Many thanks to Bryan for doing a great job blogging from the New York City Gay and Lesbian Marketing Conference on Friday. If you take the time to read through his posts, you'll see that we were able to network with some great minds in the LGBT space and share some best practices for outreach, and inreach, to our community. It was a terrific opportunity to hear about the latest LGBT data and trends to help inform our own work and recommendations.

As Bryan promised, I wanted to share my thoughts on the conference and key learnings. In no particular order:

  • The aging LGBT community needs specific attention. Members of this community were pioneers for us and our movement, and require tailored messaging to get their attention and to retain their loyalty. Lots of opportunities for companies to be first to market in this segment.
  • The young LGBT generation is a moving target. They are wiser regarding marketing strategies, and are incredibly informed and connected and don't follow the traditional LGBT media outlets. Additionally, this is a much more ethnically diverse generation. Harnessing their interest and plugging into their trusted forums is the best way to start a conversation.
  • There are still opportunities for companies to be first to market in the LGBT community, especially first to market in the lesbian community. According to some of the focus group data shared at the conference, lesbians feel that we are too focused on gay men, and that a majority of clients looking to engage with this community are advertising in magazines with an 85% male demographic. We need to market with them as women first, and appeal to their interests. We need to also be very careful with imagery in the lesbian space, because this community really notices when companies are using clip art/stock imagery and "hetero-cropping" images to fit the lesbian community.
  • There is no longer one catch-all LGBT demographic. It is vital that as communicators, we determine which segment within the LGBT demo that we are targeting, i.e. older vs. younger, gay vs lesbian, single vs. parents, and then tailor our outreach accordingly.
  • My new favorite terminology? DINKS = Double Income, No Kids segment
  • LGBT is now the term of the future, but let's make sure we don't forget about the B and T, even though there is not a lot of data out there to help guide these interactions.
  • Measurement with LGBT communications is key– make sure that you establish at the beginning how you will measure success and make sure your clients and colleagues understand the various ways you can measure your work.

Lots of key learnings, but even better, lots of great handshakes and new relationships formed. I look forward to working with Bryan to impletment all of these great ideas, and sharing more insights with you on here.

Have a great week.

  

| May 3rd, 2010 No Comments »
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Inreach — Community Marketing Breaks Down the Complex Diversity within the LGBT Market

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One of this great conference's organizers, Community Marketing Inc. (CMI), followed Barrios this morning. Known for their Gay and Lesbian Indices, leading materials that provide essential information about the LGBT community. In addition to typical stats on our community's buying power, loyalty and the like, they provided qualitative results from their focus groups. 

They opened up the session talking about Inreach — the need to market and look inside at your company or target market before marketing outwardly. With that, the went through 30 minutes of important statistical and qualitative affirmation of what we've been seeing in the LGBT market. The information from their study of 50,000 self-identifying LGBT individuals is overwhelming and I can't wait to get home and download the full presentation. In the meantime, below are the highlights from this morning's discussion:

Basic Stats

  • The largest portion of their respondents (41.1%) live in urban areas, giving marketers easier access through media and local events to reach our community
  • LGBT and loyalty is common knowledge among marketers. The most recent study found that 51 percent are loyal to brands that are committed and engaged with them, as well as willing to try new brands (the concept of early adoption)
  • Almost all – 95 percent – favor cause marketing
  • The LGBT community is well-educated – nearly 70 percent have a bachelors degree or higher – and were largely unaffected by the recession, with 82 percent employed.

LGBT in Business

Our community works hard — to serve employers and additionally in the movement for equality. This year, CMI's study found out that nearly half (45%) of survey respondents were owners or officers of their companies. With that purchasing power, 60 percent of these individuals noted they were influenced to purchase from other LBGT businesses or those that support their community. We focus so much on the Out Front Blog on business-to-consumer communications, but these stats show the importance of remembering to market to other businesses your company's commitment to LGBT equality.

Focus Group Highlights

If I say "LGBT communications" do you think of shirtless, muscled guy with immense sex appeal? If you do, you're not alone. But these images, though fading thankfully out of all LGBT ads, only touch one letter of LGBT (and actually only one segment of the G, to be honest). CMI's biggest point they drove home over and over is — LGBT is diversity. We represent a complete slice of the world's diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and culture. There's many opportunities (and some challenges) when targeting us with communications.  Below are some notes from their discussions with the under represented "letters" and segments:

  • Lesbians are largely tired and even angry of being left out of "gay" advertising that's largely male-dominated. Marketers must remember to market them as women first. Imagery is crucial, too. Check out a future post on new terms to learn the evils of "hetero-cropping" and its use in advertising to lesbian.
  • Gay parents are growing in recognition, given recent legislation. In Chicago, we've seen a gay couple on the cover of Chicago Parent and the famous Food Network Hearty Boys reached out to former governor Mark Huckabee and his abrasive comments about gay adoption with an invitation to experience their family dinners. Of the survey respondents, 5 percent were gay percent and 20 percent were lesbian parents. Market these individuals through direct media such as Gay Parent and Proud Parenting.
  • The under 30 focus groups really resonated with me. We're ethnically diverse, as opposed to our largely out white predecessors. LGBT millennials differ by location, are less influenced by LGBT media and look for integration of LGBT content. We don't need a separate gay advertising, show or channel — we want to see ourselves in everyday media and marketing. And we want to see all the colorful faces of our community, too.
  • Out Front's Erin Grohs recently talked about the plight of LGBT individuals older than 55. CMI covered this demographic as well. They're turned off by ads that focus on youth and sexuality, but rather prefer accurate images of older LGBT couples and individuals. They also prefer gay-exclusive locations and channels — a stark difference from the following generation.

CMI didn't stop there and also covered other slices of our community including ethnic, personal identities (circuit, bears, etc.), professional organizations, bisexual, transgender. 

For communicators, this information echoes more general trends we're seeing — mass advertisements and communications won't achieve the same results if you directly speak to the age, ethnicity, and interests of your target consumer.

| April 30th, 2010 No Comments »
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GLAAD-itude for Amplifying Our Community’s Voice

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Live from New York…it's the opening keynote of the Gay & Lesbian Marketing Conference. Sitting in the front row (yes, I'm still that nerd), I met and listened to GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios' address on the organization's current efforts and the role of storytelling in bringing about equality — whether between a mother and son or between a celebrity and the public. He opened with a story about a young man in Chicago (actually a good friend of mine — small world) he had mentored before whose family for more than 10 years had been uninterested in his life, his relationships, his hopes and dreams.

And two weeks ago, it changed. The young man's mom asked about his being gay. And why? Two words. Ricky Martin. 

GLAAD understands the power of media to create bridges at the personal and national level. Barrios noted that while the U.S. media (and as we covered here) noted the event as "obvious" or "coming from some time," the story continues in Spanish-language media today. It continues to open that community to greater awareness of a leading celebrity's  life and sexuality, very similar to Ellen's coming out in the United States many years earlier. He also highlighted the results from GLAAD's recent study with Harris Interactive in which they found that 20 percent of those surveyed view gays more positively than they did 5 years ago.

So what led this change? No surprise, this change was largely led by individuals coming out to friends, family, and others in their community. I life lived out front and transparent is help moving the minds and hearts of America. And following personal storytelling, is the media. Barrios painted a quick and clear picture. Think back 30 years ago — you know, Three's Company on TV, Anita Bryant and the movie Cruisin were some of the only images or quasi-images of LGBT people. The LGBT community, as many of you know, was doing so well at that time. 

Fast forward to today. News stories are growing more fair, accurate and inclusive. We've got Ellen, LOGO-TV, and major brands such as Levi's, Bertolli, Progressive and long-standing LGBT supporter Absolut with inclusive corporate advertisements that present our community in both LGBT and mainstream media. 

Barrios covered in his address and in the following Q&A many of the organization's leading work (many of which we've covered on the Out Front Blog) in recent months with CNN's story on the young boy in Arkansas who won't pledge allegiance until there's LGBT equality, CNN's error on their ex-gay story, their stance on the recent Tribeca film Ticked Off Trannies With Knives. Read more on GLAAD's work at those links — also check out their new brand, which we totally dig!

Barrios summed it up well. We, the LGBT community,  are part of the phrases "We the people" and "United, we stand" and others that are the foundation of the United States. He place the work ahead for greater equality change on us — as individuals and marketers within Corporate America. Equality is achieved through media and Corporate America, not legislation first.  That's what follows. 

So we'll keep being out front and hope you will too. We're changing hearts and mind. We'll lead, and (I hope, soon) the government will follow.

More too come…

| April 30th, 2010 No Comments »
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True Financial Reform

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There is a lot of talk about Wall Street reform this week. The financial sector has always been just outside of my comfort zone—I know enough to be able to follow industry news, but I wouldn’t call myself a dangerous expert in it (my savings account reflects this as well).

The financial reform news I have been following this week comes from London and Hong Kong. According to the Financial Times, Galileo Capital Management has launched “LGBT Capital,” a corporate advisory and investment management company focused on the LGBT consumer market. The firm will initially provide two primary services: corporate advisory and business development consultation to companies that serve the LGBT sector and a fund investing in companies providing services to the LGBT sector.

The design of the business is rooted in proprietary research and conversations within the LGBT community. According to a survey commissioned by LGBT Capital, 30 percent of LGBT sector businesses felt they needed to adopt a degree of secrecy when setting up and seeking funding. Additionally, while a majority of these businesses have expansion goals outside of their current geographic location, 80 percent lacked specialist advice on how best to secure funding.

Who will benefit from this new service? According to the story, the company will be looking for good quality businesses that give investors – gay or straight – access to a market segment whose already substantial potential is set to be boosted by expanding gay liberation in both the developed and developing markets. And, what’s really great about LGBT Capital’s business model is that the company has committed to donating 10 percent of profits back into the LGBT community.

In today’s economy, we know that many small businesses are struggling. However, data keeps showing us that the LGBT community represents an affluent, untapped market. LGBT Capital clearly recognizes the value proposition of not only working in the LGBT community, but working with the community by funding big thinkers and innovators and helping LGBT business-owners realize their full funding potential. And the company is not just capitalizing on our community—they are giving back as well. Talk about a smart “return on investment.”

What do you think about LGBT Capital’s business proposition? “Innovative” or “It’s About Time”?

Self promotion moment… Remember when I blogged that I would be presenting at the New York Gay and Lesbian Marketing Conference? It’s tomorrow—and we’ll be blogging live, providing the latest trends, case studies and best practices on marketing to the LGBT community. Mr. Blaise will be providing real-time coverage, so check back throughout the day for news. Perhaps you’ll even get a picture of me looking like a pundit on cable news. That alone is worth bookmarking.

Have a great Thursday.

| April 29th, 2010 No Comments »
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