Posts Tagged ‘The UK perspective’

True Financial Reform

Posted by Michael Murphy

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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Sticks and Stones…and Homophobia

Posted by Bryan Blaise

London Homophobia has been at the center of stories coming out of the U.K. this week, both of with jumped off my screen at me. Today, BBC reported a recent study from the Metropolitan Police (Met) that found a nearly 20 percent increase in homophobic crimes in London. There have been 1,192 homophobic offenses through September this year, including the paralysing of a 21-year-old man after multiple stabbings outside a bar and gangs of kids with bottles and sticks attacking people. That's up from the 1,008 the previous year. I frankly don't know which number is worse — a 20 percent increase in violence or nearly 1,200 people attacked!

Two days early, the AP ran a story about Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir's piece last Friday on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Galey — and the more than 21,000 complaints it received for being "homophobic" and "insensitive." Moir's column asserted the singer's death as "not, by any yardstick, a natural one," and said he died in "sleazy" circumstances. The Press Complaints Commission is reaching out to the newspaper, as their code practice binds all newspapers to adhere to the commission's code of practice which includes respect for privacy and avoiding perjorative references.

These stories reminded me of the false childhood "stick and stones" rhyme. Sticks, glass bottles, knives and words — all can incite thousands and cause immense pain. For a country typically seen as more LGBT friendly and forward, the recent news from London begs the question: have we made progress there anymore than we have here in America? And if not, how do we address homophobia — is it stopping the violence or stopping the words?

Frankly, I don't believe many people, no matter what side of an issue they fall, would argue that paralyzation from stabbing by another human being is reprehensible and against human decency. Yet, words seem more ephemeral, less dramatic, yet I believe this is where communicators and allies must be inserting a transformative message of love.

In America, we are blessed with the freedom free speech in addition to many other freedoms. Yet, we must respect this freedom and understand the power with which it holds. Simple words, possibly even those in a newspaper, can lead to actions, possibly for good or for bad. What was spoken or even thought could ultimately end with the ending of a human life. As LGBT communicators, we must raise awareness of homophobic remarks and actions, instead inserting messages of understanding and cooperation. For these are the message that translate cultures and continents.

| October 21st, 2009 No Comments »
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Come Out — and See the Brits!

Posted by Bryan Blaise

LondonJust days after National Coming Out Day on Oct.11 in the United States, our friends overseas will open the doors of the first and only dedicated LGBT visitor centre, The Gay Tourist Office, in London on Oct. 22. With a full and part time staff well-versed on LGBT issues, news and opportunities within London, the centre hopes to become a first-stop destination for both tourists and residents looking to connect and experience gay London.

After grabbing a drink at the bar and checking e-mails at the laptop hub, The Gay Tourist Office's guests can get information on accommodations and attractions around town, as well as peruse resources on local community events, charities, sexual health organizations, cultural events and maps. Employees, who will experience first-hands all LGBT destinations in the city, can also assist with deals to theatre and sporting events, as well as other perks through a visitors card programs.

According to former client Community Marketing Inc.'s latest Tourism Demographic Profile, gays and lesbian respondents took a median of four leisure and business trips over the course of year. With London being a top destination internationally for gays and lesbians, The Gay Tourist Office can definitely communicate the city's offerings and help ease concerns or troubles many LGBT travelers face when planning a vacation that meets their needs. However, some might debate the value of segregating LGBT travels and services from the city's general tourist office.

What are your thoughts — as a gay or straight traveler? Do you like having a tourist center customized for you or do you wish understanding and knowledge of LGBT services were integrated within other traveler's venues and resources? Tell us in the comments below.

| October 7th, 2009 No Comments »
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Change, Part 2

Posted by Ben Finzel

J0400966We’ve had a fair amount of change on this blog as we’ve grown up. Good friends have come and gone. And so it is again. Sadly (for us, anyway), this month the Out Front Blog is losing two good friends: Eddy Evans and Rich Ferraro will become Out Front Blog Alumni (note the new name for this section). Eddy is moving back “home” to London and Rich is moving to a major LGBT advocacy organization to work on public relations (he’ll have more to say in his final post next Monday). 

With their departures, we are losing two determined, distinctive and defining voices. We’re going to miss them both a great deal. Fortunately, we won’t have to do without Eddy’s musings on Project Runway or updates about the latest cultural developments in London.  And we’ll still have Rich’s keen analysis of advertising and reports on the New York social scene. To relive any of those moments, readers need only click on the biography pages for Eddy and Rich to see a complete list of all of their posts. 

If you’d like to offer farewell wishes for Eddy and Rich, please feel free to do so in the comments below.

Happily, we have found two new bloggers to add to our team. I’m pleased to announce that Michael Murphy and Bryan Blaise will be joining us on the Out Front Blog over the next few weeks. Michael is a former broadcast news media relations executive who joined the Cleveland office of Fleishman-Hillard in 2007. He has a strong background in healthcare and corporate reputation work and is an Ohio native. Bryan is a corporate reputation and media relations expert and has worked with Rich on Commercial Closet Association outreach. He joined the Chicago office of Fleishman-Hillard in 2007.

Oh, and there’s one other change. In addition to renaming the Former Contributors section “Alumni,” we’ve moved the entire blogging team under one category. So now, we’re all Bloggers instead of the distinction between “Bloggers” and “Contributors.”  If you’re looking for a specific post by a specific writer, it should be even easier to find it now because we’re all in one alphabetical list. 

Stay tuned for Michael and Bryan’s debuts coming soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to welcome them to our team, go for it in the comments below.

| August 19th, 2008 No Comments »
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Adweek: The Joke’s Over

Posted by Rich Ferraro

Logo_adweekAdweek magazine ran a great feature story today that serves as a state of “gay ads.” Our client Mike Wilke, Executive Director of Commercial Closet Association, was interviewed for the piece and explains that the idea that “homophobia sells” is on its way out the advertising industry’s door.

In addition to Wilke, reporter Ellie Parpis quotes several winners of the Images in Advertising Awards including the VP of Marketing at Levi’s and a creator of the Garden State Equality ad that we wrote about previously.

An interesting comment was posted in response to the online version of the story from a reader in the UK. He said that the two ads that were recently pulled in the UK were found offensive due to “differences in humour”  – one for Heinz mayo which was attacked by anti-gay groups and the other was the ad for Snickers that received complaints from gay groups including the HRC that Laura wrote about last week.

He argues that America should “let the UK determine the suitability of ads” shown on UK television, however especially in today’s internet age – I would have to disagree. As Laura mentioned, the Snickers ad was defamatory to a segment of our community and promoted negative gay stereotypes. These stereotypes are international in nature, and any action that can be seen as an example of violence to the gay community is never “humourous.”

International homophobic ads have already made their way onto YouTube and are seen by users all over the world. If anything, the “buzz” around the ad only being released in the UK can result in the ad becoming a viral hit. American audiences read the media reports and actively look to see why the ad is controversial. And while it was US based groups like HRC that issued responses to the ad, it was the UK viewers who took action. 

More importantly, these are international brands who should not risk alienating part of their audience – regardless of location. If a brand releases a homophobic ad overseas but is friendly to the domestic gay community, it calls into question their true intentions.

Perhaps what the reader is getting at is the need for an international agreed upon best practices that advocates against global homophobia by some of the leading gay rights groups.

The bottom line for brands is that education is still needed – and is rewarded. I’ve seen a large amount of the coverage that Nike received for its homophobic ads, but I’ve also seen the positive mentions that Levi’s has received for winning this year’s Images in Advertising Award for “Outstanding Commercial” – not only is Levi’s portrayed as gay-friendly, but is heralded as a smart and ethical marketer.

| August 11th, 2008 No Comments »
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