FH Out Front Blog Interviews Tom Roth on GLBT Advertising
FH Out Front Blog has a three-part series from an interview they did with Tom Roth of Community Marketing, Inc. It’s interesting because it’s by one of the leaders from GLBT advertising, but also because some of the things he says resonate so far through all multicultural advertising. Almost everything he says about marketing to the GLBT community, I’ve heard someone else say about Hispanic advertising or any of a number of multicultural niches.
Examples:
“One of the most common assumptions is that marketers already reach the LGBT community via their existing mainstream marketing initiatives. It’s true, of course. Gays and lesbians read the New York Times, Newsweek and People, for example, as much as anyone, if not more. However, when this assumption leads them to believe that they don’t need to engage in LGBT-dedicated messaging in LGBT media, it’s misguided. Gays and lesbians want to see themselves in ads, and in their own community’s media.”
“…another potentially costly assumption is that marketers can use their existing (i.e. straight) creative and collateral and be impactful in the LGBT market.”
“A decade ago, it was enough for a marketer to simply “show up” in a gay magazine, and instantly earn brand loyalty and related new business. They didn’t need dedicated creative, or they could use lame art and be forgiven. Now, however, with so many market leaders pushing the envelope with award-winning creative concepts and offers, it takes far more ingenuity to be noticed.”
And there’s more where that came from. Go to the post to get the rest.
The question is, does anybody in advertising disagree with these statements? Does someone out there think that they do general market advertising well enough that they capture Middle America, Hispanics, Gays & Lesbians, African Americans, Asian Americans and everybody else? Surely somebody has to think they do, and I think it would be interesting to hear them make their case. Obviously, I am skeptical that anybody can really do that, but maybe they can.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for linking to our Q&A with Tom Roth. I’m really glad to hear that you found it relevant to the broader world of multicultural outreach: there are definitely some common themes, as you point out. I also agree that you can’t do all of this with one approach, particularly with “general market advertising.” I was not familiar with your blog before this post, but I definitely plan to check back and look forward to more such posts. Thanks!
Ben Finzel, The Out Front Blog (www.outfrontblog.com)