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Open an advertising kit for some of Canada's bigger gay publications and given a couple of minutes, you'll come to realize what's missing...the lesbian population. One of Canada's publications doesn't list a male/female split. Another lists their female readership at 5%. And still another lists their female readership at 25%. Late night programming for PrideVisionTV caters to men four nights a week, the general gay population one night per week, and to the lesbian population only two nights a week. Circuit parties and dance clubs, the mainstay of the gay weekend feature more writhing, glistening, naked dancing torsos than any Sopranos episode set at the strip club, but they're attached to the chiseled bodies of gay men. It's not hard to see where the boys are, but given a general population base of an approximately 51% female to 49% male ratio, it should be slightly easier to find women. But when it comes to marketing to the gay population, that's not the case. Look hard enough and you will find them. Subaru has managed. So has Olivia Cruises, who ran a specifically lesbian targeted commercial during the "Ellen" show coming out saga in 1997. John Hancock, American Express and others have also had success in reaching out to this elusive market. In fact, the WNBA has started encouraging lesbian attendance at their games, advertising in alternative publications and even planning post-game events for the lesbian community. And they're there at the Melissa Etheridge concerts. And at the restaurants in the gay community. And in urban areas sustaining a large enough population base, they're there at their own clubs and bars. Reaching out to the gay community requires a marketing sophistication, and a willingness to go beyond the traditional. Reaching out to the lesbian community is that much more challenging. It would be stereotyping and facile to say that lesbians forsake image-conscious glossy publications, but they tend to be more issue oriented, and for that reason, marketing campaigns targeted specifically to lesbians may achieve more success in alternative publications in addition to gay publications. Marketers would also do well to take a page from Young & Rubicam's Intelligence Factory report: The Single Female Consumer, in addition to the Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census in understanding the role of the Internet in the lives of lesbians. As with other early-adopter segments, "out" lesbians tend to be more wired, and use the Internet more frequently than other online subsets, however, because of the "invisible" nature of the lesbian consumer market, their lesbian online destination options tend to be fewer than those of their gay counterparts, or the straight population in general. That by no means implies that they are not online. At first glance, in the gay community, where the boys are doesn't tend to be where the girls are. Keep looking. You're in the right neighbourhood. About Wilde Marketing Wilde Marketing is Canada's gay marketing agency offering comprehensive advertising, marketing communications, strategic and public relation services to companies who understand the value of engaging gay consumers in this country. The company is located at 2722 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 2H9, 416.821.3074 phone, 416.483.3513 fax. For more information, email Wilde Marketing. |
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© 2002 Wilde Marketing - Lesbian Consumer Marketing |