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LGBTQ marketing
LGBTQ marketing is the act of marketing to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBTQ organizations and events, or the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.
The LGBTQ market comprises a group of customers who buy goods and services from a broad range of companies across industry segments and in many countries.
One of the first instances of the impact of the LGBTQ community in the marketing world was in 1973 when Coors Brewing Company was the subject of a boycott by the LGBTQ community. The LGBTQ community joined to protest Coors' hiring practices, since Coors used a polygraph test when going through the hiring process and specifically asked an employee about their sexual orientation. Coors ignored the boycott for several years, but made some concessions in 1978, and in 1995 began several countermeasures, including dropping the questions regarding homosexuality and extending domestic partnership benefits to its LGBTQ employees. The company also hired Mary Cheney as a marketing representative and began advertising in The Advocate and at events such as Denver's PrideFest.
Marketing to the gay and lesbian community faces statistical obstacles in that few credible peer-reviewed estimates of the gay and lesbian marketplace have been published. In particular, the use of non-random "convenience surveys" on attendees at gay resorts and subscribers to gay or lesbian newspapers has resulted in unreliable statistical estimates of LGBTQ buying power. [citation needed] The exact number of gays and lesbians in a given market is generally, if not always, unknown.
However, some national governments have started to publish data that include demographics of sexual orientation from census results. In the 2000 United States census, two questions were asked that allowed same-sex partnerships to be counted, and the Census Bureau reported that there were more than 658,000 same-sex couples heading households in the United States. In 2013, the American Marketing Association reported that 3.5% of adults in the United States identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and .3% of adults as transgender. At that time, the LGBTQ consumer market was estimated to have an overall buying power of more than $835 billion.
Major ad categories include travel, financial services, alcoholic beverages, automotive, entertainment, hair and skincare, luxury goods, pharmaceuticals, and fashion. For example, American Airlines has launched a specific LGBT-targeted vacations website. While over 50 years old in the United States, LGBTQ marketing is a relatively newer marketing phenomenon elsewhere in Australia and Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands.
Many brands that have previously ignored the existence of this segment of society now increasingly target LGBTQ customers. In August 2006, Time magazine carried a Business article on growing interest amongst brand name advertisers in Europe to target LGBTQ customers.
In 2013, the Human Rights Campaign issued the Corporate Equality Index 2013, which provides a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ employees in the United States. This is also used to determine a company's level of gay-friendliness. The index includes "marketing and advertising to LGBTQ+ consumers" as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility section of its annual scoring system, and in 2025 72% of companies rated did so.
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LGBTQ marketing AI simulator
(@LGBTQ marketing_simulator)
LGBTQ marketing
LGBTQ marketing is the act of marketing to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBTQ organizations and events, or the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.
The LGBTQ market comprises a group of customers who buy goods and services from a broad range of companies across industry segments and in many countries.
One of the first instances of the impact of the LGBTQ community in the marketing world was in 1973 when Coors Brewing Company was the subject of a boycott by the LGBTQ community. The LGBTQ community joined to protest Coors' hiring practices, since Coors used a polygraph test when going through the hiring process and specifically asked an employee about their sexual orientation. Coors ignored the boycott for several years, but made some concessions in 1978, and in 1995 began several countermeasures, including dropping the questions regarding homosexuality and extending domestic partnership benefits to its LGBTQ employees. The company also hired Mary Cheney as a marketing representative and began advertising in The Advocate and at events such as Denver's PrideFest.
Marketing to the gay and lesbian community faces statistical obstacles in that few credible peer-reviewed estimates of the gay and lesbian marketplace have been published. In particular, the use of non-random "convenience surveys" on attendees at gay resorts and subscribers to gay or lesbian newspapers has resulted in unreliable statistical estimates of LGBTQ buying power. [citation needed] The exact number of gays and lesbians in a given market is generally, if not always, unknown.
However, some national governments have started to publish data that include demographics of sexual orientation from census results. In the 2000 United States census, two questions were asked that allowed same-sex partnerships to be counted, and the Census Bureau reported that there were more than 658,000 same-sex couples heading households in the United States. In 2013, the American Marketing Association reported that 3.5% of adults in the United States identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and .3% of adults as transgender. At that time, the LGBTQ consumer market was estimated to have an overall buying power of more than $835 billion.
Major ad categories include travel, financial services, alcoholic beverages, automotive, entertainment, hair and skincare, luxury goods, pharmaceuticals, and fashion. For example, American Airlines has launched a specific LGBT-targeted vacations website. While over 50 years old in the United States, LGBTQ marketing is a relatively newer marketing phenomenon elsewhere in Australia and Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands.
Many brands that have previously ignored the existence of this segment of society now increasingly target LGBTQ customers. In August 2006, Time magazine carried a Business article on growing interest amongst brand name advertisers in Europe to target LGBTQ customers.
In 2013, the Human Rights Campaign issued the Corporate Equality Index 2013, which provides a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ employees in the United States. This is also used to determine a company's level of gay-friendliness. The index includes "marketing and advertising to LGBTQ+ consumers" as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility section of its annual scoring system, and in 2025 72% of companies rated did so.