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Public Relations Strategies for Reaching the LGBTQ Community

+Leveraging “Earned Media” to Reach Consumers

n  Watch trends in media coverage – mainstream and LGBT;

n  Look at diversity of the LGBTQ community at every level, including age, race, geography, socio-economic status, ethnicity;

n  What new audiences are there to reach?; and

n  Remember not simply LGBTQ people but allies as well – friends, family, community – are increasingly sophisticated and mobilized as a demographic and as consumers.

+Earned media as a model and guide for marketing and advertising

n  LGBTQ community wants to see itself portrayed in advertising and marketed to in a fair, accurate, diverse and authentic manner;

n  Authentic images are increasingly common; and

n  Diversity still a challenge and not as prevalent as it could be.

+The Icon: Edie Windsor

n  Visibility of Windsor v. U.S. was about a lot more than marriage equality;

n  Marketing to LGBT seniors – we are breaking new ground – data coming later this year; and

n  More than just nursing homes and retirement homes.

+Mainstreaming: LGBT Parents

n  Increasing visibility of LGBTQ families in the past decade

n  2006 – White House Easter Egg Roll event drew unprecedented coverage of diverse families

n  Statistics show high numbers of same-sex couples with children, most of whom are people of color

n  Recent examples: Barilla controversy when CEO said he would never have a gay family in an ad, created a show of international support for LGBT families that went viral ……

+Barilla? No grazie…

+Or with even more feeling….

+And more pasta companies weigh in, with humor….

+Reaching New Markets - LGBTQ Youth

n  “Labels are for Soup Cans”

n  Completely new way of looking at identity – beyond the binary, fluid and multi-faceted;

n  Influence of allies, in growing numbers on issues related to LGBTQ equality;

n  Reaching young people is primarily about social media and mainstream media; and

n  Note there is not a great deal of LGBT focused youth media.

+Reaching new/emerging markets: Trans Bodies, Trans Selves

n  Recent and tremendous uptick in interest and visibility of transgender people in popular media;

n  GLEE

n  “Orange is the New Black”

n  “Redefining Realness”

n  Soon to be released “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves”; and

n  Just beginning to understand size and diversity of transgender community and allies, although alliance with gay, lesbian and bisexual communities is clear.

+Questions?

Cathy Renna

Senior Vice-President

Target Cue

cathy@targetcue.com