LGBT Marketing

It's nothing new. In fact many companies, including airlines have discovered that 'Same Sex Sells'. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community are money makers. Consider this: If we take a conservative estimate that 6% of the world's population is gay, the estimated potential incomde goes in the billions it said in a recent survey. Openly gay men in western countries in full-time jobs earn about $18,000 a year more than the male national average; among lesbians, the premium is $12,000. Hence, for advertisers — whether dreaming up mainstream publicity fit for a gay audience, or appealing directly via gay media — it's cool to 'think pink'.

In light of my work, I try to keep up with wat's going on around me in the business. I suscribe to magazines about airlines, airports and travel. I always browse through FlyerTalk to see what frequent travellers are saying about the companies they fly with. In my opinion they form the best indicators, because they travel constantly and are high demanding people. So somewhere along the way, I also got into following gay marketing.

Within the gay community it seems that airlines can get away with much more! They can be blunt and ditrect. But when thee gays like a company, the cash rolls in. KLM, for example, is highly aware of that and sponsor a lot of gay events and advertisments. As do other airlines as well. KLM even hired a Out Now Global which is a team of specialised marketers with high levels of expertise in understanding gay and lesbian customers. And according to a Marketing executive I spoke with at KLM, they are worth every penny. Here are some ads; all images are clickable.

Air Canada... enjoy the ride. Guess what the aircraft's fuselage represents ;-)

American Airlines' Everybody's Something Special

Delta's Black Pride

Delta Air Lines

KLM

Lufthansa

Swissair

KLM

British Airways








That being said, I often wonder if people would chose a company based on its LGBT standpoint. Your thoughts?