Pink Banana Media & LGBTBrandVoice.com

Pride and Prejudice - The Automotive Industry and "The Gays" It wasn't that long ago that it was considered heresy to utter the words "gay" or "lesbian" in the halls of the world's automotive headquarters. It is amazing what a difference time and the efforts of a few daring people can make. Not only are automotive manufacturers recognizing the importance of providing safe and equitable work environments for their GLBT employees, a select few are courting them aggressively in print, TV, online and through grassroots efforts. The GLBT Consumer - What the Data Says The country is slowly acknowledging that the "gay movement" is far from detrimental to the fabric of society and in fact, adds color, texture and panache to the weave. This comfort level brings awareness which leads to curiosity and ultimately the desire to know more about the GLBT consumer. There has been anecdotal evidence of the purchasing power of this demographic...

Made famous by Showtime’s Queer as Folk , Toronto has one of the strongest gay & lesbian communities in all of Canada. The first, Church Street , between Gloucester and Carlton Streets , has some of the most famous gay bars and establishments including Woody’s & Sailor , Zelda’s and Priape . Additional gay neighborhoods developing in Toronto include the College/Parliament area and College West. In terms of business, including finance, tourism and advertising, Toronto is one of the primary business centers of Canada with an incredibly diverse population from all over the world. Toronto also has a very mixed community in terms of age, with a large population of young people attracted to the region’s universities including the University of Toronto adjacent to Church Street. Toronto has taken some strong steps in marketing itself to the GLBT community, including hosting the IGLTA Convention in 2009 . Tourism Toronto is also making outreach in marketing to the ...

Integrating banner advertising with blogs & editorial, social networking, and search engine optimization Now I could start here by simply outlining how to reach gay people on Facebook, MySpace, Blogs or even banner advertising, but I won’t. Rather, I would like to illustrate how all of these components can now fit together into one complete online marketing solution, using some of the most advanced concepts in online marketing today and designed to maximize a campaign’s online reach, its effectiveness and its bottom line. In summary, your starting point becomes a “story to tell” (we define this as EDITORIAL) about your organization, product or service. The most common stories to tell are either educational or entertaining in nature. Examples of editorial are endless… if you’re a destination, you could blog about local restaurants that have just opened, local events happening in your area, etc. If you are a wedding planner, doing stories about wedding tips and resources, as wel...

In terms of gay friendly U.S. cities San Francisco is most likely to rank at the top of anyone’s list. The city, however, is more than just an ally to the gay community, rather, its politics and culture have been drastically shaped by a long history of GLBT community involvement. With nearly 500,000 in attendance at last year’s Pride Parade and an average local age of 31, San Francisco’s gay and lesbian community is large, predominantly young, and very political, establishing the city as a virtual “Gay Mecca.” Though the entire city is considered a home to the gay community, the heart of GLBT life and history really begins in the Castro . Having been first settled by gay men back in the 1970’s, this 14-square-block area, named for its location along the famed Castro St. thoroughfare, has come to be seen as a symbol of gay American culture. Numerous annual events take place there and a variety of gay historical landmarks attract visitors from all around the world. The Castro Stree...

In This Issue Buying Power of Gay Men & Lesbians in 2008 Marketers, economists and journalists often puzzle over guesstimating the purchasing power of America's gay and lesbian households. Some tend to ballyhoo the gay market as a dream market precisely because of its presumed affluence. But is it really true? Over the past several years, we've given this question considerable thought and research. We conclude that projections of gay wealth are likely overstated or simply a flat misconception, and therefore we come to rely most often on the excellent analysis conducted by economist and academic Dr. Lee Badgett and the work of the Williams Institute at UCLA.... PressPassQ.com Feature Story The year of the lesbian: Female journalists welcome findings in Lesbian Consumer Index, but wonder where to go from here Is 2008 the year of the lesbian? San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. seems to think so - and the firm has published a study to prove it. In fact, many women wo...